The Writing and Public Speaking Center has three GradCon conference skills workshops scheduled to help you with your GradCon presentation and preparation skills. Each workshop will take place in the Theta Rho Room at the Mansfield Library from 12-1PM.

• Feb 27 – So what?!? Explaining the significance of your research to a broad audience
• Feb 28 – PowerPoint primer. Designing and delivering your research talk.
• Feb 29 – Poster-making primer. Designing and delivering your research poster.

About the Conference

GradCon is the University of Montana's graduate student research conference and will be held in person on Friday, March 8, 2024 in the University Center (3rd floor). UM GradCon is interdisciplinary and welcomes presentations from all disciplines and departments. It is organized annually by the UM Graduate Student Research Council and is sponsored by the UM Graduate School. The conference is free and open to the public. All members of the UM campus community are encouraged to attend and participate. 

For more information on past GradCon conferences and to view submissions, please visit the Archive Pages in ScholarWorks.

Call for Submissions

The call for submissions opens on December 18, 2023 and closes on Sunday, February 4, 2024 at midnight. Please review this document for detailed submission instructions and the Submissions page for requirements and guidelines.

GradCon attracts students, faculty, staff, and community members from across disciplines and departments, and with diverse backgrounds. Therefore, your project must be communicated in a manner accessible to a broad audience.

The conference welcomes works-in-progress as well as talks or posters previously presented elsewhere. GradCon presentations may include a portion of a thesis, dissertation, or a successful seminar; final results or conclusions are not required to submit or present.

Each poster or oral presentation must include an introduction that provides an overview of the topic’s significance to a general audience. This general introduction should be followed by a discipline-specific presentation, with modest adjustments in terminology and focus to make the topic more accessible to a broad audience.

You will be asked during the submission process to choose one of three broad discipline categories for your submission: STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), Social Sciences/Humanities, and Visual and Performing Arts (includes Creative Writing). You will also be asked if you want to opt-in to be eligible for a “Best of Grad Con” award (see Award Eligibility and Judging in the Submissions page).