The idea for holding an undergraduate science poster competition that would draw participants from across Canada was first proposed in 2007 by Dr. François Jean in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology (MIIM) at UBC. Dr. Jean had worked with many promising undergraduate researchers and thought a national event would be an exciting way to support and encourage their ongoing development as scientists.
The idea was to create an event that would boost participants’ expertise, skills and enthusiasm for research, and excite them about continuing on into graduate study.
In 2008, 90 participants from 31 different Canadian universities attended RSR. In 2009, 107 participants from 28 Canadian and 2 Hong Kong universities competed. In 2010, 120 participants from 35 Canadian institutions and 3 Hong Kong universities participated. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive for both events and participants loved the opportunity to visit beautiful Vancouver. RSR is a truly unique event, in that it gives participants the opportunity to meet other like-minded students across a wide range of disciplines who are all excited about the possibilities of research.
“I thought it was so inspiring and energizing to meet so many other young undergraduate students who were passionate about research and their studies. I learned a lot about many disciplines, and I loved the feeling of camaraderie we all felt for one another.”- Selina, University of Victoria
“It was very thrilling to be able to discuss aspects of my research that also happened to be important in a faculty PI’s studies. It was gratifying to talk to someone who was really
personally interested in specific aspects of my research.” – Meng, McMaster University
