The Committee on Diversity will sponsor the 11th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at the 2021 AAPA Meetings. Any abstract with an undergraduate as the first author is welcome. 

Please encourage your undergraduates to apply for this event!

Deadline: COD Undergraduate Research Symposium abstracts are due TBD.  

Abstract Preparation and Submission: The COD Undergraduate Research Symposium now has an online application process; the application is available here.

The Undergraduate Research Symposium will require submission of structured abstracts, following the format used in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. This format includes a few sentences each on Background, Methods, Results, and a Conclusion. Note that this format is different than has been used in the Undergraduate Research Symposium in previous years and is different than the AAPA abstract format used in the main meetings.

Any abstract submitted to the main meeting that has an undergraduate as first author can be considered provided that 1) the abstract is rewritten to comply with the structured format; and 2) it is submitted for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by the February 1 deadline. Note that the COD Undergraduate Research Symposium abstract application is a separate process from the main submission. If you have also submitted your abstract to the main meetings, you will be asked to notify the committee during the application process.

Mentoring Process: Each undergraduate will be paired with a graduate student who will provide mentoring advice on poster development and the poster ‘talk’. Graduate students are encouraged to volunteer to serve as reviewers/mentors (please see below).

Event: Posters should be hung at 5pm on the Wednesday of the meetings. From 5:30 – 6 pm a private reception will be held for the undergraduates, their mentor, their graduate student mentors and AAPA officers during which participation certificates will be awarded by AAPA officers. The reception and posters will be open to the association members from 6:00-8pm. Undergraduates are expected to attend the entire event. Refreshments will be provided!

Graduate Student Volunteers: Graduate students interested in abstract review and undergraduate mentoring should please contact Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler ([email protected]).

Registration: Undergraduates participating in the symposium will receive complimentary AAPA meeting registration. This will take the form of a reimbursement following participation in the symposium.

Travel Awards: Undergraduates are eligible to apply for the Pollitzer Student Travel Awards. Applications are due no later than TBD. All Undergraduate Research Symposium participants not presenting at the main meeting are also considered for smaller symposium travel awards based on a separate application. Students may not receive both of these awards. Undergraduate Research Symposium travel awardees are notified in advance of the meeting and checks are provided at the symposium. You must be present for the entire symposium to receive the award.