About
Our 10th annual research symposium, to be held on May 5th, 2026, is open to all current EEB students, post-docs, staff, undergraduates, and faculty. This one-day event will be composed of oral presentations, poster presentations, and lightning talks which may be on completed work or work in progress.
🎟️ Want to Attend?
Space is limited at our venue, so attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis – register early! If you can only attend for part of the day, that's perfectly fine, just indicate that on your registration form. An evening reception will follow the symposium.
🎤 Ready to Present?
If you register to present, you do NOT need to complete a separate attendee registration form.
Time is also limited, so oral presentations and lightning talks will be on a first-come first-served basis as well. When you register, you'll rank your presentation preferences (oral presentation, lightning talk, or poster) in order of priority. We will assign presentation slots based on availability at the time of registration. If your top choice is full, we'll offer your next preference. If neither oral presentations nor lightning talks are available, you'll be placed on a waiting list in case of cancellations. We encourage those on the waiting list to prepare a poster presentation.
All presenters (oral and poster) must submit by the registration deadline:
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A presentation title
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A 250-word maximum abstract (due by the registration deadline)
Oral (15-minute) and poster presentations will be judged by your peers in the EEB community, and prizes will be awarded to the top presentations in each category. Here are judging rubrics for these presentations:
📊 Presentation Formats
All EEB members can present in one of three different categories:
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Oral Presentations (15 minutes = 12 min talk + 3 min Q&A)
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Oral presentations will be 15 minutes in length, so plan on speaking for 12 minutes with 3 minutes for questions. We highly recommend graduate students and postdocs to present an oral presentation.
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Lightning talks (5 minutes)
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We encourage faculty and staff to present an overview of their research during this session. This is a great way to inform the EEB community about what's happening in your lab.
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Poster presentations
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Open to all EEB members (graduate students, post-docs, and faculty). We encourage faculty to take this opportunity to create a "lab poster" showcasing all current research in your lab. This is also a great recruiting tool – hang the poster outside your lab space to encourage undergraduates and visitors to inquire about your work and maybe even join your lab! Lab posters do not require an abstract. Feel free to submit a poster recently presented at another meeting. Posters should use a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio and are recommended to be no longer than 4 feet on any side.
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🤝 Make Your Presentation Accessible to All
To ensure that all attendees can fully engage with your presentation, please follow these accessibility guidelines:
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Auto-Generated Captions
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Captions are available in Google Slides and PowerPoint, and we ask that you use one of these options when preparing your slides to enable auto-generated captions and improve accessibility for all viewers.
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Digital Accessibility Resources
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Presenters are encouraged to use colorblind-friendly palettes and other accessibility best practices in their slides.
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The following resources provide guidance on making presentations more accessible:
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MSU’s Digital Accessibility Guidelines
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Colorblind-Friendly Palettes & Related Resources
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🌱 Community Engagement Session
This year we're excited to continue our Community Engagement Session! We’d love to hear about community building, outreach, and DEI initiatives, both focused within EEB and in other communities. EEB members can present in both the community engagement session and a research presentation/poster.
Feel free to contact Katrina Culbertson (culber23@msu.edu) or Esther Wong (wongesth@msu.edu) if you are interested or have any questions.