2025 SSIRCA

Location: UC Tejas Lounge
Time: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

What to expect:

• All participants will check-in at the UC Tejas Lounge. 
• Presenters will receive their participant packets, which will include their name badge and a copy of the symposium schedule.
• Judges, Volunteers, and Committee Members will receive their name badges.

• Consult your mentor.
• Be sure to review the Judging Rubric and Symposium Awards.
• Oral Presenter Tips
  • Arrive before your session and ensure your presentation file is on the computer in your room.
  • All presentations will start promptly at the time listed in the program.
  • The session moderator will introduce you.
  • Oral presentations are 15 minutes: 12 minutes for content, 3 minutes to answer questions, with a 1-minute buffer.
  • Moderators will:
    • Signal the presenter with 3 fingers when 3 minutes are remaining
    • Stand at one minute remaining.
    • Stand next to the presenter when their time is up.
• Poster/Artwork Presenter Tips
  • Hang your poster/set up your artworks between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Friday, April 25th, in UC Anchor 147 CD.
  • Poster hanging supplies (binder clips) will be provided.
  • Poster presentations have a 3-minute elevator pitch.
  • Try to not clutter the poster area with your bags; there isn't much room.
  • Stay near your poster/artworks during the poster/art gallery. Evaluators will be visiting you between 1 and 2:30 p.m. You can’t win if you aren't evaluated.
  • For artists with artwork, consult your mentor.
• Performance Tips
  • Arrive early to get set up.
  • Consult your mentor.
  • Moderators will:
    • Signal the presenter with 3 fingers when 3 minutes are remaining.
    • Stand at one minute remaining,
    • Stand next to the presenter when their time is up.

The Optimism of Scientific Uncertainty Featuring
Dr. Stuart Firestein

Dr. Stuart Firestein is the former Chair of Columbia University's Department of Biological Sciences where his laboratory studies the vertebrate olfactory system which serves as a model for investigating general principles and mechanisms of signaling and perception in the brain. His laboratory seeks to answer that fundamental human question: How do I smell?

Dedicated to promoting the accessibility of science to a public audience Firestein serves as an advisor for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s program for the Public Understanding of Science, where he reviews scripts for the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Science and Technology Program, and for the Tribeca Film Festival. In 2011 he received the Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award for excellence in scholarship and teaching. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, an Alfred Sloan Fellow and a Guggenheim Fellow. He recently joined the Santa Fe Institute as a member of the (visiting) Fractal Faculty. At Columbia he is on the Advisory boards of the Center for Science and Society (CSS) and the Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience – both centers for interdisciplinary work between the sciences and the humanities.

He has published two books on the workings of science for a general audience, Ignorance, How it Drives Science and Failure: Why Science is So Successful. They have been translated into 12 languages. He is a board member and regular contributor to Nautilus magazine.

SSIRCA judging is conducted electronically via Judgify. Judges will evaluate all presentations using the following rubrics, on a scale of 1 to 10 for each question (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest):

Undergraduate and Graduate Oral/Poster Presentations

1. Knowledge/Proficiency of Subject/Discipline: Did the presenter demonstrate knowledge/proficiency in their project?
2. Effective Use of Methods or Medium: Did presenter use appropriate methods or medium for the study?
3. Effectiveness/Organization of Presentation: Is the project presented clearly, free of grammatical errors, and in a manner that connects with the audience?
4. Graphics/Visual Aids: Were appropriate graphics used to help explain and reinforce the topic?
5. Clarity of Responses to Questions: Did the presenter answer questions with explanations and elaboration?

Undergraduate and Graduate Artistic Displays

1. Knowledge/Proficiency of Subject/Discipline: Did the presenter demonstrate knowledge/proficiency in their project?
2. Effective Use of Methods or Medium: Did presenter use appropriate methods or medium for the study?
3. Effectiveness/Organization of Presentation: Is the project presented clearly, free of grammatical errors, and in a manner that connects with the audience?
4. Graphics/Visual Aids: Were appropriate graphics used to help explain and reinforce the topic?

Symposium awards are distributed based on scoring in each presentation category. The presentation categories are:

• Undergraduate Oral Presentations
• Graduate Oral Presentations
• Undergraduate Artistic Displays
• Graduate Artistic Displays
• Undergraduate Poster Presentations
• Graduate Poster Presentations

Additionally, select student organizations will provide prizes to applicable presentations. These select organizations will award prizes during the SSIRCA Mixer.