INSPIRE Research Symposium

The Interdisciplinary Series for Professional Intellectual and Research Engagement (INSPIRE) initiative:

is an interdisciplinary graduate initiative which is led by a team of graduate students at the University of Regina;
hosts events and workshops to enhance student success in professional and academic domains.

2026 INSPIRE Interdisciplinary Research Symposium

Feb. 25, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

What is the INSPIRE Research Symposium?
The INSPIRE Research Symposium strives to engage students at the University of Regina from all disciplines in a full-day research conference. A main goal of the INSPIRE Research Symposium is to function like a formal academic conference so that students can gain exposure to an academic conference within a friendly setting.

What sessions will the INSPIRE Research Symposium have?
There are three types of sessions that students can register for:
1) Paper presentation (i.e., a 10-minute presentation with various slides to illustrate while you narrate your research to the audience orally)
2) Data Blitz (i.e., A 5-minute presentation with approx. 3-5 slides to address research that is in development, in progress, or completed)
3) Poster session (i.e., discuss your research using an illustrative poster). INSPIRE will be printing the posters and paying for the posters.
** Please note, if an undergraduate applies for an oral presentation, they will only be accepted if there is room in the
oral categories after Graduate+ students

Why should I engage in the INSPIRE Research Symposium?
The INSPIRE Research Symposium will allow you to talk about your research in a very comfortable setting and network with other students and faculty from diff erent departments. Importantly, there are monetary prizes for those that place in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for the paper presentations and Data Blitz presentations. These are as follows: Paper Presentation (1st: $500; 2nd: $250; 3rd: $150) and Data Blitz (1st: $300; 2nd: $200; 3rd: $100).

Ready to Register? Register here. Participants will need to submit an abstract.

Have a Question?

Email: INSPIRE@uregina.ca

Shaelyn Carr – INSPIRE Co-Founder: shaelyncarr@uregina.ca

Andy McLennan - INSPIRE Co-Founder: aim421@uregina.ca

Faculty of Graduate Studies & Research: grad.engagement@uregina.ca

2025 INSPIRE Winners

(Shown here with the INSPIRE team.)

2025 Event Program

2023 INSPIRE Winners

1st Place:

Poster: Amara Kohlert (Psychology)
Data Blitz: Stephanie Flaman (Biology)
Paper: Zohra Zahir (Biology)

2nd Place:

Poster: Laura Schnell (Biology)
Data Blitz: Emma Blanken (Biology)
Paper: Ashlyn Kirk (Biology)

3rd Place:

Poster: Mohammed Quraishi (Biology)
Data Blitz: Riley Herman (Computer Science)
Paper: Colin Rieger (Biochemistry)

2023 Event Program

Thank You!

For Making the 2023 INSPIRE Research Symposium a Success

We hope that you enjoyed attending our Symposium as much as our team enjoyed putting it on. The INSPIRE Research Symposium started as a simple idea but our team was unsure of how much engagement it would receive or how successful it would be. Needless to say, we are blown away by the level of engagement from students, faculty members, supervisors and other professional staff.

We would like to say a huge and special thank you to all the presenters. Simply put, without you, the Symposium would not have been successful. We would also like to thank:

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Melanie Unrau. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and guidance with everyone. Your academic success is a strong motivation for students;
Dr. Maria Velez and Dr. Chris Oriet for your presentation on graduate studies at the University of Regina; and
our poster session judges, Dr. Alex Oehler, Dr. Raymond Deschamps and Dr. Stephen King.

We would also like to extend a huge thanks to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, especially Dr. Aziz Douai, Dean, and Roberta Bell, Manager of Engagement. Without your continued support and guidance, this INSPIRE Research Symposium would not have happened. This concludes the first INSPIRE Research Symposium, but stay tuned for future events from INSPIRE!