The Science Undergraduate Research Symposium
Belmont’s College of Sciences & Mathematics hosts the Science Undergraduate Research Symposium (SURS) each fall semester. The first annual event was held December 2, 2004, with 27 presenters and has grown to over 85 presenters in 2024. SURS is the culmination of many hours of undergraduate research work done during the summer and fall with faculty advisors and peers and offers these research students the opportunity to show the Belmont community the interesting research that is being done.
The Tentative 2025 SURS Schedule
The Science University Research Symposium provides Belmont students an opportunity to present the findings of their independent research projects and enjoy the company of fellow researchers.
- 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
- Science Communication Workshop: How many school buses fit on the Juno spacecraft’s solar panels? Relating complex ideas to your audience.
- Stephen Ornes
- 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
- Student Presentations
- 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | 4094 Ayers
- Keynote Address: The Messy Frontiers of Scientific Research
- Stephen Ornes
- 5:00 PM– 5:30 PM
- Reception
- 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
- Student Presentations
Keynote Presentation | Stephen Ornes | 4094 Ayers
The Messy Frontiers of Scientific Research
Description: Basic and applied science research drive innovation. New ideas, smart experimental design, and solid analyses can push science and technology forward—and reveal parts of nature that lie beyond our imagination. But despite the polished presentation of published papers, science is always messy. Things always go wrong. Plans fall apart. Uncertainty is guaranteed, and it’s almost impossible to predict the trajectory of scientific ideas.
Maybe it’s time to embrace that gray area, argues Nashville-based science writer Stephen Ornes, a Writer in Residence at Vanderbilt University. Drawing on historical stories and nearly two decades of interviewing scientists from a range of disciplines, from astronomy to computer science to microbiology, he will take us on a selective, whirlwind tour of the ever-changing frontiers of scientific research and talk about how uncertainty shapes discovery. He'll also make the case for why we need the next generation of research to continue pushing the boundary forward.
Brief Bio: Stephen Ornes is a Nashville-based, award-winning independent science writer whose work has appeared in Scientific American, Discover, bioGraphic, Quanta, PNAS Front Matter, The Washington Post, and other outlets. He is also a Writer in Residence at Vanderbilt University's Communication of Science and Technology program. Visit him online at stephenornes.com .
Abstract Submission Instructions
The 2025 SURS Abstract Submission Form is now open, but closes at the end of Nov 10th
We are excited to have you present at the Science University Research Symposium (SURS). Please follow the link above to submit an abstract for SURS. Your abstract will be published to the SURS Repository, which is a searchable archive of research, scholarship, and artistic works. Your submission must be approved by your faculty mentor prior to submission; however, it will also be sent to your faculty mentor for one final review. While your submitted abstract should be the finalized version, any changes your faculty mentor would like you to make must be done within 2 days of receiving feedback. Following your presentation, you may add on full-length manuscripts, videos, or images following SURS to better represent the entirety of your work.
You will be notified if there is a problem with your submission.
The submission process consists of the following steps:
- Read and accept the Submission Agreement below
- Provide information about yourself and any co-authors
- Upload your electronic file, if any, and associated files
- Download, print, sign, scan and upload the Copyright Distribution Agreement
- Submission is sent to Faculty Mentor for final review
- Changes requested by Faculty Mentor must be submitted within 2 days of receipt.
- The submission’s title
- The abstract
- A list of keywords (10 maximum)
- (Optional) An electronic format of additional full-length documents such as manuscripts, videos, or images
- Copyright Distribution Agreement signed and ready to upload
- You may change the order of authors by changing the number next to the author name. The first author of a submitted abstract is assumed to be the SURS presenter. Please email if that is not true or if there are multiple presenters.
- The abstract submitter may chose to not have your submitted abstract published to the internet by selecting “Metadata Only” under Presentation Type.
- If you are only submitting an abstract with no other documents needed, you can skip the option to upload a document.
- Either the student presenter or faculty mentor may submit the symposium abstract; however, we encourage students and their faculty advisor to consider the opportunity a student submission will provide.
- Oral presentations have a hard 15-minute cap. Planning for a 10-minute talk and 5 minutes for questions is ideal!
The SURS Abstract Submission Form will be available until the end of Nov 10
Detailed Submission Instructions
Questions?
Contact: beth.bowman@belmont.edu
Contact Us
College of Sciences & Mathematics
1900 Belmont Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: (615) 460-6417