We are very excited to announce the upcoming 32nd Annual Massachusetts Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference, which will take place on Friday, April 17th, 2026 at UMass Amherst. Undergraduate students from public colleges and universities all across the state of Massachusetts will come together to present original research in their respective fields via poster sessions.
This is an opportunity for students to present academic work in a formal setting, receive feedback from faculty and scholars in their field, exchange ideas with other undergraduate scholars, and enhance their résumés. Last year, nearly 1,000 students presented their work at the conference, in relation to their research and theses. Presenters need not be Honors College students, but for Honors students, please note that presenting at this UMass Amherst conference will fulfill the public presentation requirement for your Honors College thesis!Key dates and deadlines are included in full on the e-flyer below.
For students who are interested in submitting an abstract to present their research at the conference, registration is now open on the UMass Amherst research conference website athttps://honorspaths.honors.umass.edu/massurc. The registration and abstract submission deadline is Friday, February 20th, 2026 at 11:59pm, which is three weeks from this coming Friday, so there’s plenty of time remaining to prepare and submit your brief research abstract (of 250 words maximum) and confirm your faculty sponsor for your research abstract.
For full and detailed instructions on submitting an abstract to present your research at the conference, please visit the following webpage, and also note all of the important tips and information that are provided on the conference website as well:https://honorspaths.honors.umass.edu/massurc/home/writing_and_submitting_your_abstract
- Please consult with the faculty sponsor for your research, who must also review and approve your abstract online after your conference registration is submitted and your presentation abstract is accepted:https://honorspaths.honors.umass.edu/massurc/home/your_support_team
- Only poster-session presentations will take place at this year’s conference (there will be no panel presentations available at the conference this year), so here are the details about poster preparation: https://honorspaths.honors.umass.edu/massurc/home/creating_your_poster
- If you plan to present a poster session with a group of students, then all group members must register online for the conference, and your group must also select only one student as the designated group leader to submit your group’s research abstract online, in order to prevent duplicate abstracts from being submitted in the online conference system. Further instructions are here: https://honorspaths.honors.umass.edu/massurc/home/group_presentations
- Finally, we will be providing a free charter bus to and from the conference for our UMass Boston students who will be presenting their research at the conference. Our charter bus will depart UMass Boston on Friday, April 17th at 7am and will be back on our campus by around 5:30pm.