Applications for the 2025 Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol, taking place in Jefferson City on March 13, 2025, are now open.
To submit this application, which is due by Sunday, November 10 (midnight), you should be prepared to submit and/or upload:

• Your project’s title
• A 250-word lay abstract of your project
• The name and contact information of your research mentor
• A brief summary of the societal relevance and importance of your work, in easily-understandable language

Your research advisor will receive an automated request for an endorsement of your application after you submit, which will be due Tuesday, November 12.

Each spring, the University of Missouri System seeks undergraduates students to share their university research experiences with state lawmakers in Jefferson City for the UM System Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol. The event is a system-wide activity with space for 40 projects, 10 from each of the four campuses of the UM system.

The purpose of this event is to demonstrate to lawmakers in Jefferson City the unique opportunities undergraduate students have to participate in faculty mentored research or creative scholarship at the University of Missouri. Many lawmakers do not differentiate between regional colleges and public research universities, and we hope this opportunity to showcase our undergraduate researchers will help make the distinction.  We will also use this event to underscore higher education’s role in developing educated citizens and preparing a work force with the necessary skills to further the economic growth of the state.

We seek undergraduates who have been significantly involved in the research enterprise of the university either with their own project or through meaningful involvement with an on-going faculty project.  To qualify for participation in this event, nominees must meet the following criteria:

• Students must be undergraduates at MU during the Academic Year.
• Research or scholarship must have been completed under the guidance of an MU faculty member.
• Research projects or displays of creative scholarship must represent significant investment of time by the student outside of normal course requirements and class projects.
• Research projects or displays of creative scholarship must follow the methodology and technique of the appropriate academic discipline.
• The research project or display of creative scholarship must be of sufficient quality to be presented at a professional academic meeting or showing.

Additionally, consideration in the selection of undergraduate students to represent MU will be

• Experience of students presenting their research project in an oral or poster format or displaying their creative work at an MU event or a regional, national, or international professional conference or showing completed before December 1, 2024;
• Geographical distribution across the state, relevance of project to the state, and topic of the project.

MU students selected to present are expected to 1) work with Mizzou staff to draft revisions of their abstract and poster for a lay audience, 2) attend two in-person meetings before the event to prepare to engage with legislators, and 3) be present in Jefferson City for the entire day on March 13. Meeting topics include presentation skills, how the state legislature works, how to meet and greet lawmakers, and other protocol. 

For additional information or questions, please contact the MU Office of Undergraduate Research.