About CAURS

The Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium (CAURS) was founded in 2005 by an undergraduate at Northwestern University who wanted to promote, encourage, and celebrate the efforts and dedication of undergraduate students conducting research. What started as a small conference with only 70 presenters has grown to what is now one of the largest undergraduate research conferences in the country. Not only has CAURS received consistent praise over the years, a substantial majority of our participants have continued on to become successful graduate and professional school students, with many winning prestigious awards such as the Goldwater and Churchill scholarships.

Students from all Chicago-area schools are invited to attend and present at the symposium, and abstract submissions from all academic disciplines are welcome. The day-long event consists of two poster sessions featuring all student participants, as well as oral presentations from a number of students selected to give 10-minute talks. In addition, a dedicated time for poster-viewing, a networking session with graduate and professional school representatives, and informal roundtable discussions with various other academic and industry representatives provide students ample opportunity to discover the work being done by their peers and to meet and network with other students and faculty. The event concludes in the evening with dinner, a keynote address from a distinguished researcher from one of the CAURS member institutions, and an awards ceremony recognizing the achievements of the day’s outstanding presenters. Additional details about this year’s symposium can be found here. For more information about past symposia, please click here.

CAURS would not be possible were it not for the continued contributions, efforts, and devotion of many individuals, institutions, and organizations. We are grateful to our six sponsor institutions, DePaul University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, Loyola University Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, for providing generous financial and logistical support. In addition, our corporate sponsors have been invaluable to the success of CAURS as well, and we are greatly appreciative of their generosity. Finally, CAURS is truly unique in that it is organized and run almost entirely by undergraduate students. Months of planning and work done by the dedicated students of the Inter-School Board and the CAURS faculty advisors ensure that the event runs smoothly and successfully each year. Without these combined efforts of these individuals and institutions, CAURS as it is today would not be a reality.