Grad Student Appreciation Week & Excellence in Graduate Research Symposium
GSAW & EGRS 2024
The Graduate Students’ Society (GSS), in partnership with the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS), Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation (VPRI) and UVic Libraries, is once again hosting a graduate student research day (Excellence in Graduate Research Symposium – EGRS) as part of Graduate Student Appreciation Week (GSAW)!
Graduate Student Appreciation Week is a week-long event series for UVic grad students, with opportunities for socializing, studying, self-care, and sharing your research!
The 2024 GSAW will run from October 21 – 25. Please view the schedule below for dates & times of individual events.
EGRS will be hosted on Wednesday, October 23.
Applications for EGRS will open on September 3, 2024.
Please see below for more information about EGRS & application deadlines!
Grad Student Appreciation Week
- Morning Coffee
- 9:00am – 10:30am in Halpern Centre’s Side Project
- Free coffee, tea, muffins, & fruit!
- Cider & Citations with UVic Libraries
- 2pm – 4pm in Halpern Centre’s Side Project
- Free hot apple cider to enjoy while you study!
- Connect with UVic Libraries, who will be joining us!
- GSS AGM
- 5pm – 7pm in Halpern Centre’s Side Project
- Attend the GSS Annual General Meeting to learn about what we’ve been working on, and what the Executive Board has planned for the coming year!
- Meet Your GRC Rep
- 7pm – 8pm in Halpern Centre’s Side Project
- Share complimentary beer & mocktail jugs and connect with your department’s Graduate Representative Council member!
- Excellence in Graduate Research Symposium
- 9:00 am – 4:00 pm in Halpern Centre & the Grad House
- Morning & afternoon poster sessions & presentations will be held in the Grad House and Side Project. A timeline of the day will be posted closer to the date.
- Open to all!
- Panel: ‘Getting the Most out of your Supervisory Relationship’
- 4:00pm – 5:00pm
- Hosted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies
- Post-EGRS Happy Hour
- From 2pm – 6pm in the Grad House
- Naloxone Training
- 10:00 am – 11:00 am in room 108, Halpern Centre
- Basic Naloxone Training provided on a drop-in basis, with free Naloxone kits for participants.
- Self-Care Workshop
- 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm in room 108, Halpern Centre
- Hosted by Wendy Lum, a Registered Clinical Counsellor (BCACC) from the Wellness Centre
- Hot Chocolate & Board Games
- 5:30pm – 8pm in Side Project
- Enjoy free hot chocolate & learn to knit / spend some quiet time colouring.
- GSAW Wrap Party
- 6pm – 9pm in the Grad House / Side Project
- Free samosas for the first 100 grad students! Come celebrate the end of Grad Student Appreciation Week with us!
- Door prizes supplied courtesy of Hoyne Brewing Co, UVic Bookstore, & Cinecenta!
Excellence in Graduate Research Symposium
The Excellence in Graduate Research Symposium (EGRS) is a multi-disciplinary research showcase held in the Halpern Centre for Graduate Students. There will be poster sessions, presentations, and a multiform virtual session. Applications to participate are welcome from UVic graduate students at any point in their research. Please see the FAQ’s below.
Applications for EGRS are closed.
EGRS Participant Information Sheet
EGRS FAQ's
FAQ for Faculty
The Excellence in Graduate Research Symposium (EGRS) and the surrounding events of Graduate Student Appreciation Week (GSAW) are organized by the UVic Graduate Students’ Society (GSS) in partnership with the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS), with support from the Vice-President Research and Innovation (VPRI), and UVic Libraries.
Yes! If you attend EGRS, please stick around for our extended Happy Hour from x-xpm!
This is an opportunity for students to engage with ideas and methodologies outside of their own department, and to make connections with other graduate students conducting research across the UVic campus. Our participants and attendees last year highlighted how rare a truly multi-disciplinary research day can be, and gave great feedback on their enjoyment and the value of this event and events like it. Participating in EGRS can naturally go on a student’s CV, or (as relevant) annual progress report, and in particular can be an excellent opportunity to gain more experience in presenting their work.
We are looking for faculty members to volunteer as panellists and judges! Please email gssinternal@uvic.ca or contact Dr. Robin Hicks if you are interested.
Also, please spread the word to your students to either participate or attend, and encourage your fellow faculty members to attend EGRS as well.
FAQ for Applicants & Participants
All of them! This is an interdisciplinary research day. Please come with an open mind and be prepared to learn lots outside of your field!
Please send your completed application form to gsslife@uvic.ca by September 30th at the latest. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, with preference given to those received by the first deadline, September 13th.
If you spend your valuable time to make a poster for this event, we will pay for the printing charges! Once you’re registered, please send us your poster at gsslife@uvic.ca by October 9th and we will handle the printing, as long as you comply with the printing requirements (listed below & on application form).
Please first ensure that your poster file meets all the requirements listed below and/or in the application form before submitting. Posters that are the incorrect size will not be printed.
Please send us your poster at gss3@uvic.ca by October 9 and we will handle the printing!
If you have a poster already printed, anything is good as long as it will fit on a 4’ x 4’ rolling tack board.
If you are submitting a file to be printed through us, it must be 48” x 36”. Please follow Blink printing’s Poster Design Guidelines, which include templates. Ensure the template you choose is 48” x 36”.
If your poster is the wrong size, we will be unable to print it for you.
Please submit your poster as a print-ready PDF. All posters will be printed on 40LB Premier Bond Matte Paper.
In order to be able to offer printing services for all poster session participants, we need to be able to stick to our budget and anticipate our costs.
Having even one or two posters of a different size will increase the costing of the whole order. Choosing to print the posters on 40LB Matte Bond Paper, as opposed to Polypropylene or GF Photopaper also allows us to keep costs down, so that we can showcase the work of a greater number of graduate students.
If you would prefer to have your poster printed to a different size or on a different paper, you are more than welcome to submit your file to be printed yourself, but the GSS will be unable to cover the printing cost.
Presenters should have slides prepared, as relevant to their presentation. Once you’re accepted, you’ll receive information about where to submit these ahead of time so our facilitator can have them ready for you.
Slides should be shared with us by October 21st.
Yes, if you can make a poster/presentation you are more than welcome to present. We do encourage first-year presenters to select a 5-minute presentation slot, as this may feel more comfortable and easy to fill. Presenting your research proposal is perfectly acceptable and welcome!
We welcome creativity in poster designs, but if you are still uncertain, sign up for a presentation slot! Please indicate this as your preference in your application, along with any special requirements you may need.
The options for presentation length are a 20 minute slot (15 minute presentation, 5 minutes for questions), or 5 minutes (no question period).
We suggest if you’re in your first year, perhaps a 5-minute talk would be best. Otherwise, we encourage you to present for 15 minutes and take questions! But whatever you’re comfortable with. This is an interdisciplinary event, so remember that presentations of either length should be digestible to students outside your field.
5 minute presentations and 20 minute presentations will be judged separately.
We will have a projector available for the presentations. We will also have USB-C – HDMI adapter. Please tell us if you require anything else and we will try to accommodate you!
We encourage you to treat this as an academic conference on your CV and (as applicable to your discipline) annual progress report! We will send out digital certificates of participation after the symposium, or printed copies upon request. All participants will also receive a drink ticket for the Grad House.
Yes, there will be prizes for top posters and presentations.
For both poster and presentation sessions, if there is a time slot that will not work for you, please indicate this on your application form. Participants are expected to be present for the entirety of their session.
Please email gss3@uvic.ca if you have any questions about time conflicts.
Yes, we will have a virtual session just for students like you! Please indicate this as your preference on the application form.
Generally, the posters and presentations will be judged on the following:
- Organization and Flow
- Clarity of Content
- Quality of Presentation
- Overall Efficacy of Communication
The 15 minute presentations will be judged separately from the 5 minute presentations.
Members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and UVic Libraries will be the principle judges.
A detailed itinerary of the day will be sent to participants in advance, including times for set-up and take-down.
Can’t find the answer to your question? Reach out to gss3@uvic.ca or gsslife@uvic.ca