For Students

Exhibition Categories

Ready to be a part of the Graduate Exhibition?

Registration for the 2025 Graduate Exhibition will open in January 2025.

Eligibility

• Must be a degree-seeking Penn State graduate student. Students in law, medical, and physician assistant degree programs are not eligible to be exhibitors.
• Open to graduate students from all Penn State campuses.
• Penn State employees who are graduate students can participate but are not eligible for awards

Registration Instructions

1. Get Your Faculty Adviser's Approval: Discuss your topic with your faculty adviser(s) and get their approval on your participation. They will need to formally approve your participation as part of the registration process.
2. Review the Evaluation Criteria: Review the rubrics for the Exhibition, so you know the judging criteria.
3. Plan your Exhibit and Presentation. Exhibitors should be ready to give a five-minute presentation about the background and importance of your research or creative scholarship. Please view your Exhibition category page for more guidance.
4. Have Contact Information Ready: Make sure you know the Penn State account ID (e.g., abc1234) of your faculty adviser. If you are co-presenting or have co-authors/co-performers, make sure you know their Penn State account ID (e.g., abc1234) as well.
5. Prepare Statements: Prepare an abstract (250 words maximum) and a statement of importance (120 words maximum), which are required for registration. The abstract is a concise summary of the basic content and scope of the presentation or performance without including extensive detail. It should include the project's objective, methodology, and findings, conclusions, or intended results. The statement of importance is a nontechnical explanation of the significance of the research, design object, artwork, or performance piece to the field. Additionally, if you plan to be considered for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Award, please prepare a statement about how your work addresses DEI-related topics (120 words maximum).
6. Get Compliance Protocol Numbers: Have compliance protocol numbers ready if your research involves human participants, vertebrate animals, bio-hazard materials, or radioisotopes. If you are unsure about these, check with your faculty adviser.
7. Know about Intellectual Property: If your project has commercial potential or contains new intellectual property, make sure you know if an invention disclosure has been filed with Penn State's Office of Technology Management. If unsure about this, check with your faculty adviser.
8. Complete the Registration Form: Fill out the registration form online. You can find your deadlines on the Exhibition schedule page.

What Can I Present?

Graduate students can participate in the Graduate Exhibition at any stage of their time at Penn State. Honing public communication skills can benefit you throughout your career, and we strive to make the Graduate Exhibition a safe and comfortable space. Presenting in the beginning of your research can help you think about your research question in different ways. Getting feedback in the middle or toward the end allows you to practice highlighting the importance or impact of your work.

What Will I Need to Register?

To complete your Graduate Exhibition registration, please have the information below available. Additionally, please be aware that all registrations must be approved by a faculty adviser before a student can participate in the Graduate Exhibition.

• Your faculty adviser's Penn State account ID (eg., abc1234)
• Abstract (250 or fewer words): a concise summary of the basic content and scope of the presentation or performance without including extensive detail. It should include the project's objective, methodology, and findings, conclusions, or intended results.
• Statement of Importance: a nontechnical explanation of the significance of the research, design object, artwork, or performance piece to the field.
• If applicable, all protocol numbers for studies, including:
  • Institutional Review Board (IRB) number if the research involves human participants
  • Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee number (IACUC) for studies involving vertebrate animals
  • Institutional Biosafety Committee number (IBC) for studies involving bio-hazard materials
  • University Isotopes Committee number (UIC) for studies involving radioisotopes
• Optional: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award Statement (120 or fewer words) on how the research or scholarship addresses issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion (only for students opting in to be considered for this award)

Awards

• Awards given in each category, and in each Research Poster Presentation subcategory
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award
• Data Visualization Award

Rubrics

View the below rubrics to make sure you understand how you will be judged for the competition.

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