Louisiana State University is excited to welcome you to our campus for our undergraduate research conference, LSU Discover Day 2024, on Friday, April 19th!  Discover Day will be held in rooms throughout the LSU Student Union located on the corner of Highland Rd and Veterans Drive. 

No registration or fee is required to attend Discover Day as a guest. Just show up at the LSU Student Union on Friday, April 19th and follow the signs to the Discover Day check-in desk!

See a map of the Student Union building at this link: https://www.lsu.edu/as/files/event-management/student-union-floor-plan-2018.pdf 

Discover Day organizers rely on dozens of volunteers to help with set-up, registration, check-in, and clean-up. You can sign up for as little as one hour and all volunteers will be given a t-shirt.

Click here for link to volunteer sign-up form

We also invite faculty, staff, doctoral students, and industry partners to judge student presentations.  You can sign up for as little as one hour of judging. If your student is presenting, you will not be assigned to score your own student.  All judges will be contacted a few days before the event with instructions.

Click here for link to judges sign-up form

Please note that we have transitioned to an online judging format.  You will need a smart phone, or tablet with wi-fi capability, to participate as a judge.

• When you click on the link above, you will first be asked to create an account.  After creating an account, go back to this form link and you should be able to sign in and access the judges sign-up form.
• Judges will be contacted with their assigned students 1-2 days before the event.

LSU Discover is seeking faculty or staff to serve as moderators for our oral presentation sessions.  Moderators are responsible for keeping student presenters to the time schedule, announcing the next presenter, and taking questions from the audience for the presenter to answer.  Moderators must be available for the entire 2-hour oral presentation session.

Those interested in moderating should contact Sarah Ferstel at sferst1@lsu.edu 

For visitors, there is no registration form or fee.  Just show up at Discover Day at the visitor check-in desk located on the 2nd floor of the student union near the ballroom (room 250).  You can attend any presentation event for free.

For presenters,

• For LSU student presenters, there is no presenter registration fee.
• For visiting student presenters, there is $20 non-refundable fee which covers your breakfast, lunch, and conference bag.

Presentation Formats

Students applying to present at Discover Day 2024 can choose from the following presentation formats.  

1. Poster Presentations

This presentation format is for students who wish to present a poster which summarizes their research. Our poster stands are 4 feet by 4 feet in size and your poster cannot be any larger than the poster stand. The standard conference/symposium poster measure 3 feet x 4 feet and can be built in PowerPoint or similar programs.

For students who plan to present a poster larger than our poster stands, please select the Visual Display presentation format described below so that we can accommodate your poster. 

Poster presenters must be in attendance for the duration of their assigned 2-hour poster session.  Poster presenters should be prepared to give a short explanation of their poster to judges and visitors.  

All posters must remain on their poster stands until 3:00 PM to allow visitors and judges time to read or re-read them.

All posters should include the presenter(s)’ and co-authors’ names and email addresses. All funding sources should be acknowledged in an “Acknowledgments” section on the poster as well.

Group presentations: Due to the set-up of the poster sessions, no more than 2 students from a group presentation may stand in front of their poster at a time.  If your group has 3 or more presenters, you will need to rotate presenters.

Free poster printing: Discover Day presenters (poster and visual display) can request to have their poster printed for free by emailing a PDF copy of your poster to lsudiscover@lsu.edu before Thursday, April 11th.  Posters must be no larger than 36" by 48" and in a .pdf format to be acceptable for free printing.  

LSU A & M students who miss the free poster printing deadline are encouraged to have their posters printed at the Main Library's Print Desk on the 3rd floor which offers the most affordable poster printing.

Poster workshop:  We will offer a free poster workshop on March 27th at 5:00 PM in 151 Coates.

Click here for tips on how to create and present posters.

Click here to watch the video “Building Your Research Poster: Design and Construction”

Click here to watch the video “ Building Your Research Poster: Delivery”

2. Oral Presentations

Students who wish to deliver an oral presentation, with or without visual aids, should choose this format. Oral presenters will each be given 15 minutes for their presentation.  Presentations should be 5-10 minutes in length leaving at least 5 minutes for questions from the judges and audience members. As a courtesy to the other presenters, oral presenters must be present for the hour in which they are scheduled to present.

Oral presenters will be grouped into a schedule based on their discipline.  A moderator will be present to call students when it is their turn to present and to take questions from the audience.

Oral presenters who wish to present a slideshow must email a copy of your slides in PowerPoint format to lsudiscover@lsu.edu by April 17th @ 5:00 PM.  Students will NOT be allowed to open files from cloud or thumb drives during the event as this slows down the schedule and technical issues typically arise eating away at the presenter's alloted time.  When you arrive at your assigned room, your presentation will already be loaded onto the presentation computer by our staff.

3. Visual Display

This presentation category is for students who wish to present non-art objects for display.  Examples of such items include, but are not limited to: models, specimens, laptop/screen displays, prototypes, and oversized posters (larger than 4 feet x 4 feet).

Visual Display presenters may also present a poster alongside their object(s) but this is not required.

Visual Display presenters must be in attendance for the duration of their assigned 2-hour session.  Visual Display presenters should be prepared to give short (3-5 minute) presentations to judges and visitors who stop by their displays.  Visual Displays must remain up until 3:00 PM to allow visitors and guests time to view them.

4. Arts Presentations

• Visual arts presentations (Art Show): Students may apply to present a piece, or pieces, of visual art such as paintings, sculpture, photography, ceramics, etc.  Students must upload images of their pieces into their application for review by the Art Show Jury for acceptance. Presenters in this category must be in attendance for the duration of the 2-hour Art Show.  Presenters should be prepared to speak briefly (3-5 minutes) about their piece(s) and answer any questions from judges and visitors.  Set up and take down instructions will be emailed to Art Show presenters after acceptance to Discover Day.
• Performing arts presentations:  This format is for students who wish to present a musical, theatrical, or dance performance.  Students may present an original or authored piece.  Performers will have a maximum of 10 minutes for the performance with 5 minutes allotted for questions from the audience.  As a courtesy to the other performers, student must be present for the hour in which they are scheduled to perform.
• Poetry readings: This category is for students who wish to recite an original piece of poetry.  The presenter will have a maximum of 10 minutes for the recitation with 5 minutes allotted for questions from the audience.  As a courtesy to the other presenters, students must be present for the hour in which they are scheduled to perform.
• Film presentations: This category is for students who wish to show an original short film of up to 10 minutes in length and allowing for 5 minutes of questions from the audience.  It is recommended that students upload their film to YouTube for presentation during the event as the presentation equipment will have limited software for video play. As a courtesy to the other performers, student presenters must be present for the hour in which their film is scheduled to play.

5. Panels

• Students who have been invited by a faculty member to take part in a Discover Day panel should select this presentation format.  Presentations instructions will be provided by the faculty member.

Professionalism:

• Arrive early to your presentation.  It may take some time to set up so arrive at least 15-30 minutes early to make sure that you can begin your presentation promptly at the scheduled time.
• Make sure to be prepared for your presentation several days in advance of the event.  Don’t wait until the last minute to print a poster or prepare materials.

Decorum:

Student presenters are expected to act as representatives of their university/college. Politely answer questions from visitors and judges, and be courteous to your fellow presenters. When you are not scheduled to present, make sure to view other student presentations and ask questions.  Should an issue arise, you should contact the event organizers before the event day (email: lsudiscover@lsu.edu) or by visiting the Discover Day Check-In Desk during the event.

Dress Code:

It is advised, but not mandated, that you dress in business casual or business professional for the event.  Click here for more information about Attire Guidelines.

Below are the rubrics that the judges will use to review and score each presentation or poster. Please feel free to look over the rubrics and familiarize yourself with the different areas and categories to help you better prepare for Discover Day 2024.

Art Show Rubric

Humanities & Arts Oral Presentation Rubric

Humanities & Arts Poster Presentation Rubric

STEM Oral Presentation Rubric

STEM Poster Presentation Rubric

Visual Display Rubric

Overall winners - all presenters are eligible*

Award plaques engraved with the winner's name will be given to the top students in these categories:

• Poster presentation                                                       
• Visual Display presentation 
• Oral presentation 
• Visual & Performing Arts 

Collegiate Monetary prizes - restricted to LSU- BR students 

The following LSU A & M colleges will award $125, $75, and $50 to the top 3 scoring students from their colleges.

Manship School of Mass Communication
College of Music and Dramatic Arts
College of Art and Design
College of Agriculture
College of the Coast and Environment
College of Human Sciences and Education
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
College of Science

The top 3 students from the LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business will be awarded:

1st place - $200

Two runner up prizes of $100 each

The LSU College of Engineering is offering the following prizes for top scoring engineering majors:

Up to 5 of the top individual presenters: $100 prize each.
Up to 5 of the top design teams: $100 per team.

• Undergraduates from any accredited college or university.
• Undergraduates of any classification (Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior).
• Undergraduates from any major.
• There is no GPA requirement.
• Applications will be sent to your designated faculty mentor or instructor for approval.
• Students must be currently enrolled undergraduates with a graduation date of spring 2024 or later.
• Each student must submit an abstract or artist statement of 250 words maximum with the online application.
• Click here for tips on how to write an abstract. 

Please note

We understand that some projects will not be complete by the application due date. Students are welcome to submit applications for incomplete projects.

Students whose work is not complete by the event date can present a “progress report” or “state of my project” presentation.

Don't know how to write an abstract?  Click here for instructions.