This year's Graduate Student Research Day will be the largest in its 21-year history, according to Graduate Student Council President Josh Brooks.
More than 100 presentations will be given, representing more than half of the Ph.D. granting departments at Vanderbilt.
The fair begins at 9 a.m. today in the Student Life Center and continues until 4 p.m.
More than 25 departments are participating in the research day, Tim Panosian, GSC vice-president of Social Affairs said. According to Panosian, students will present their work in various sessions throughout the day.
"There'll be everything from humanities to biomedical sciences to physics to math to every department we could get represented," Panosian said. "It's a great representation of a variety of departments on campus."
Panosian encouraged undergraduates to attend and learn more about the different graduate departments.
"We really hope undergraduates will attend, especially those remotely interested in attending graduate school," Panosian said. "It's the best chance to get a whole bunch of graduate students together in one place and learn more about what they're studying and the different Vandy grad departments."
The event consists of oral, panel and poster presentations that reflect the diversity of research conducted by graduate students on Vanderbilt's campus, Brooks said.
"The panel discussions are given by three or four students in related fields on a related topic that (is) discussion-based," Brooks said. "The presentations are designed to be complementary while providing a number of different viewpoints on a singular topic."
According to Sarah Kelsh, vice-president of Academic Affairs on GSC and coordinator for the event, the purpose of the day extends beyond the presentations.
"The purpose of Graduate Student Research Day is to give graduate students a venue to get valuable feedback on their work and research," Kelsh said. "Also, the purpose is to really expose Vanderbilt to the breadth and quality of research going on here on campus."
Receptions will be held at 11:45 a.m. after the morning sessions and 4 p.m. after the afternoon sessions to honor the participants. There will also be a raffle for attendees to win one of more than 10 door prizes, including gift certificates to Target, Office Depot and the Vanderbilt Bookstore.
"The purpose of the reception is to celebrate the participants and encourage people to come out throughout the day and get involved with research on campus," Brooks said.
