The seventh annual showcase of Ohio University's undergraduate, graduate, medical and post-doctoral student research is set for Thursday, May 15, at the Convocation Center.

Wednesday is the last day to register as a judge or student participant.

As of Friday, about 60 individuals had registered as judges (100 are sought). And as of Sunday, 350 students had signed up to display their research and creative activity (last year, the event drew about 450 student participants).

Judging teams consist of at least two faculty/administrative staff members with expertise in a particular topic session. Some interdisciplinary teams also will be included.

In past events, sessions have featured roughly 10 presentations lasting about 10 minutes each in which judges may ask the students questions about their work. Judges are provided with a form to record their appraisals and can use any number of measures, including attractiveness of the presentation, explanation of the methodology and justification for the presenter's results and conclusions to score the presentations.

"It is a wonderful and amazing experience as a professor to get to see both the creative activity and the research that is being done by our students," said faculty member Stan Alost, assistant director of the School of Visual Communication. "Some of it is as good as, if not better than, what is going on in the industry."

A judge for the past two years, Scott Titsworth, a faculty member in the School of Communication Studies, appreciates the opportunity the expo offers to interact with students outside the classroom. He is impressed that students are approaching their research in a way that drives the bar higher for others.

"One of the cool things about this event is that students get to talk to really accomplished people in their field about their research," he said. "It's a great opportunity to grow as a young scholar."

Formal judging sessions will begin with an orientation at 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, in the Convocation Center.

The expo is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Office of the President and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.

Click here for additional details or to register as a judge or participant. For more information, contact Anna Rankin, a member of the Communications Studies 405 (Meeting and Conference Planning) class organizing this year's event, at 740-593-0802 or researchexpo@ohio.edu.