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Frequently Asked Questions |
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APPLICATION PROCESS
Q: Will you take late applications?
A: We will not be taking any more applications for the 2008 conference.
We are currently in the processing of selecting our participants and
cannot accept additional submittions.
Q: Does my
application need to be received before February 29th, or sent by February 29th?
A: All abstracts need
to be e-mailed by February 29th and all materials need to be postmarked by
February 29th or delivered in-person to the UCLA Psych Advising Office (1531
Franz Hall) by 5:00 on February 29th. As long as your abstract has been
e-mailed and your materials postmarked or delivered by February 29th, you've
met the deadline.
Q: Can I apply if my study won't be finished before the application deadline/conference?
A: Yes. Many of the projects presented at this conference are
in-progress during the application deadline and some incomplete at the
time of the conference. Despite inconclusive results, applicants must
submit abstracts that are up to APA standards. Please consult your
faculty advisor or graduate mentor on how to write your abstract if
your study in-progress.
Q: Can applications have more than the 3-presenter limit?
A: Unfortunately, there isn't room for more than three people to stand
next to their poster without disrupting the presentation of those to
the left and right. We prefer projects presented by one or two
students, but will accept no more than three per poster or paper talk.
Q: If I apply to present in a 10-minute paper talk and don't get accepted, can I be considered for a poster presentation?
A: Yes. We determine our paper-talk presenters first
(for applications that indicate this preference). Then we
determine poster presentations from all of the remaining
abstracts.
Q: My faculty sponsor cannot attend the event. Can I still apply?
A: Yes. We prefer that UCLA faculty only sign applications if they
intend to be present for the conference. Applicants from other campuses
may apply even if their faculty sponsor cannot attend.
Q: If I'm unsure about who my group members are at the time of the application, can I make changes later?
A: No. Changes cannot take place after presenters have been determined
due to a variety of logistical reasons. Please be organized about who
will be presenting with whom at the time you apply.
Q: Who should be signing my application?
A: Ideally, your faculty research advisor should sign it if he/she
supervised your research (this mandatory for UCLA students). If the
faculty sponsor is no longer available, please have another faculty
sponsor or principal investigator sign it as an indication that the
research is academically qualified to represent your department.
Q: Can I apply if I've already graduated but worked on this when I was an undergraduate student?
A: Only undergraduate students enrolled during the 2007-2008 academic
year can participate. If you graduated before Fall of 2007, you are not
eligible to apply to this event. Students enrolled in Fall 2007, Winter
2008, and/or Spring 2008 may apply.
Q: Can I submit a project that is not psychology-related?
A: No. Applications for projects that are not psychology-related will
not be considered for this conference and the connection to psychology
must be apparent in the abstract.
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SELECTION
PROCESS
Q: What criteria are used for determining accepted projects?
A: The applications are evaluated based on a blind read of the
submitted abstracts. The highest scored abstracts are selected for
participation. It is important that only clear, quality abstracts be
submitted for consideration.
Q: What is a 'blind read?'
A: Those reading the abstracts are providing with your personal
information. Your name, your co-author's names, your faculty sponsor's
name and your school have all been removed from the reading list. These
will not affect the scoring of the abstracts.
Q: Who reads my abstract?
A: We have made a practice of not sharing information on who reads the
abstracts, just as we do not share your personal information with them.
I can assure you that anyone scoring abstracts is a qualified,
unbiased graduate student or faculty member with many year's of
research experience.
Q: How long will I wait to hear my results?
A: We will take no longer than 3 weeks to inform you of our decision.
Because we are using a paper application process it does take some time
to prepare the materials for the reading committee. After the abstracts
are read and scored we must determine the entire schedule before
responding to the 100+ applicants. You will receive our decision by e-mail no later than March 24th.
Q: What are my chances of acceptance?
A: We have 95 spots for this year's conference. We have received 147
applications so we will accepting 65% of the applicant pool.
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PROJECT & EVENT PREPARATION
Q: Can I make changes to my abstract after I'm accepted?
A:
Possibly. The abstract will be printed in a conference program. At some
point, we will not be able to take revisions since we must send this
program to print shortly after making the acceptance announcements. You
can ask permisison to submit a revised version but there isn't a
guarantee that your abstract can be updated before our proofing
deadline.
Q: How should I prepare my poster for my presentation?
A:
If you are accepted to this conference, you will be e-mailed directions
on how to prepare your poster or paper presentation. This website will
also be updated with additional information in late March.
Q: Do I have to RSVP for dinner?
A:
Yes! We do have a maximum capacity for the event which exceeds the
number of people who will present. This usually isn't a problem since
not everyone can stay through the course of the day. However, we do
need to keep a close eye on the guest list so we know how many UCLA
Psychology faculty, graduate students, and staff members can be invited
to host the event. It is important that all presenters help us keep the
event organized by responding to the e-vite invitation.
Q: Is my faculty sponsor invited to the dinner?
A: Your faculty sponsor will be sent his/her own e-vite invitation
which he/she must respond to if attending the dinner. Presenters and
their sponsors are our priority for dinner seats.
Q: Can I bring my guests to dinner?
A: Because our preference is to include as many presenters as possible,
we cannot promise to accomodate your guests for dinner. When you RSVP
using the e-vite invitation, you can write the names of your guests in
the comment section and they will be added to the guest wait-list. If
we can accommodate them, we'll let you know one-week prior to the
conference.
Q: Can I invite guests to observe my presentation?
A: Yes. You can invite as many people as you like to attend your paper or poster presentation. Dinner is the only closed event.
Q: What should I wear to PURC?
A: Business casual attire is recommended. Suits are okay but not
necessary. Do not wear jeans, t-shirts, casual attire, athletic shoes,
or flip-flops (though I'd recommend bringing a pair for late in the
day).
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THE CONFERENCE
Q: Why is this conference held so late in the semester?
A:
UCLA is on a 10-week quarter system. If were to hold this conference
too early, it would conflict with UCLA mid-terms and make it
impossible for UCLA students to participate. A later conference date
would conflict with other similar conferences or conflict with finals
and commencement.
Q: Why isn't the size of the conference increased to accomodate everyone?
A: In 2007 we increased the size of the conference by 25 presenters. We
did so by creating an additional poster session in the morning. We
cannot further increase the size of the conference for two simple
reasons: (1), our conference space is limited and (2), there isn't
enough time in the day to create another poster session (the conference
already spans 10 hours).
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