Submit a Research Project 2023

• Applications Open: January 17, 2023
  To submit an application, you will need to provide an abstract or summary of your research project, along with a few other details.
  
  To submit a study: you must include an APA-style abstract. Tips for writing a good abstract can be found here.
  
  To submit an essay-style assignment: you must include a summary that introduces the topic, and that includes a thesis statement, main arguments, and a conclusion.
  

  For more information about what to include in your abstract or summary, jump to What To Include in an Abstract/Summary.

• Applications Close: February 17^th, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

• Submissions Screening
  Submissions will be anonymized by a Luminate Leadership Team Member who is not affiliated with the screening process. Next, the anonymized submissions will be screened by a student panel using a specific set of selection criteria.

  
  Learn about our screening criteria on our Student Research Fair page.

• Application Decisions sent out two weeks after the deadline.
  Accepted applications will receive an email outlining the next steps for their conference presentations.
  
  Important:
  For submissions to remain eligible, accepted applicants must submit an academic poster and/or a voice recording of a brief audio presentation of their project (1-3 minutes) by the date outlined in the acceptance email. Failure to provide an academic poster and/or an audio presentation by the stated deadline will result in the disqualification of the project, and the project will not be included in the Student Research Fair.

  Any applicants interested in taking part in the Data Blitz must submit their slide deck by the date specified in the acceptance email. Failure to submit a slide deck by the stated deadline will result in the inability to take part in the Data Blitz.

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  Academic Poster – An APA-style poster that outlines the main components of your research project visually.

  Audio Presentation – A two to three minute voice recording explaining the important parts of your research project.

  Both – An APA-style poster with a voiceover of your brief audio presentation.

  Data Blitz – A short slide deck (1-5 slides) discussing the poster being presented at the Student Research Fair.

  (You will receive further details in your acceptance email.)

• Conference Days
  Selected submissions will be available for online viewing during the Student Research Fair. All applicants are welcome to participate in the conference events.

  Submissions taking part in the Data Blitz will be presented at an in-person event and be judged by a panel of senior researchers and professionals in the field. All applicants are welcome to come to watch the presentations.

To submit a project, you will need to provide an abstract or summary on the application form. The information required in your abstract depends on the type of project you are submitting.

Learn more about project eligibility here.
Learn more about writing a good abstract here.

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1. For Honours Theses/Empirical Research Studies

Please be sure to include the following sections in your 250-500 word abstract.

Introduction/Background – Background research to contextualize the research and orient the reader to the current state of the research.

Objectives & Hypotheses – Outline the reasoning and purpose of your study. Why did you conduct this project? If there were hypotheses, what did you predict?

Methods – Outline the key components of the project’s methods. What kind of methodology was used (e.g. experiment, survey, etc.)? Include key information on participants, materials, measures, procedures, and analyses. Be as detailed as possible.

Results – What were the main findings?

In Progress Projects: offer some potential results you would expect to find based on your evaluation of the current literature. Be sure to indicate that these results are only hypothetical as the analysis has not yet been completed.

Discussion – Put the results in context. What conclusions can you draw from the results? Were your hypotheses supported? What does this mean in the context of the real world?

In Progress Projects: Expand on the anticipated results you outlined in the results section of the abstract by discussing how these results would fit into the existing literature and what these results would mean in the context of the real world.

Future Directions & Limitations – What should future research look at? How has this research added to the current state of research in this field? Describe what future research should investigate to expand on the current research on the field. What were some of the methodological limitations of your study? Outline a few limitations and how they could be considered when conducting future research.

In Progress Projects: Based on the anticipated results and the overall project, what should future research investigate? Describe what future research should investigate to expand on the current research on the field. Identify a few apparent limitations of your methodology and offer a few ways these limitations could be considered in future research.

Citations – Include a reference list of at least 5 citations in your abstract to support your introduction, rationale, and conclusions. Please include in-text citations as well as a separate reference list. While 5 citations is the minimum, you can include as many more as you see fit. Please use proper APA 7.

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2. For Review Papers (literature reviews, systematic reviews & meta-analyses)

Please be sure to include the following sections in your 250-500 word abstract.

Rationale/Objectives – Outline the reasoning and purpose of your review. Why did you conduct this project? What were you hoping to learn from your review?

Methods – How were the studies you reviewed selected? What was the general approach and overall methodology for the review?

Results & Analysis – What were the main findings in the research? What were the re-occurring themes? Evaluate the reviewed literature.

In Progress Projects: offer some potential results and themes you would expect to find based on your preliminary evaluation of the current literature. Be sure to indicate that these results are only hypothetical as the analysis has not yet been completed.

Discussion – Put the findings in context. What conclusions can you draw from the major themes in the research? What does this mean in the context of the real world? What does that mean for the state of the current literature? Critically evaluate the reviewed literature.

In Progress Projects: Expand on the possible results you outlined in the results section of the abstract by discussing the conclusions you could draw from the themes and what these would mean in the context of the real world.

Future Directions & Limitations – Based on the current state of the literature, what should future research look at? Based on the type of review you chose and the inclusion/exclusion criteria, what were some of the methodological limitations or concerns of your review?

In Progress Projects: Based on the anticipated results and themes in the literature, what should future research investigate? What gaps emerged? Based on the type of review you chose and the inclusion/exclusion criteria, what were some of the possible methodological limitations or concerns of your review?

Citations – Include a reference list of at least 5 citations in your abstract to support your introduction, rationale, and conclusions. Please include in-text citations as well as a separate reference list. While 5 citations is the minimum, you can include as many more as you see fit. Please use proper APA 7.

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3. For Research-Informed Essay-Style Projects

Please be sure to include the following sections in your 250-500 word summary.

In Progress Projects: If your essay-style project is not yet finished, outline what you plan on writing in the completed version. Be sure to include all sections of the project summary including arguments, evidence and a conclusion. Be sure to cite all evidence.

Introduction – Introductory statement(s) to contextualize the research and the argument you will be making.

Thesis Statement – What is your argument or the main point of your project?

Supporting arguments & reasoning – Each of your arguments/counter-arguments that support your thesis statement, and a brief explanation of the reasoning behind them. Include a minimum of two to three arguments.

Conclusion – Put your arguments in context. What are the main takeaways from your project and suggestions for future directions in this topic area?

Citations – Include a reference list of at least 5 citations in your summary to support your introduction, rationale, and conclusions. Please include in-text citations as well as a separate reference list. While 5 citations is the minimum, you can include as many more as you see fit. Please use proper APA 7.

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