Two dozen Wayne State University students presented on oral panels and at poster presentations during the 22nd annual National Conferences on Undergraduate Research, held at Salisbury University in Maryland. The Office of Undergraduate Research coordinates WSU\'s delegation each year to a conference that lasts for three days and, this year, brought together more than 2,800 student researchers and faculty mentors.

Wayne State senior Shivani Agrawal, an Honors student who will attend WSU\'s School of Medicine this fall with a full tuition scholarship, presented her work, Long Term Secretion of GDNF for Nerve Regeration Application, as part of a bioengineering panel. Agrawal presented alongside students from the University of Memphis and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Student research is not entirely science-focused, however. Senior Cevan Castle presented Rooms and Views: 20th Century Architecture and Social Interaction during a panel on material culture, museum and architectural studies.

"It\'s a powerful experience for our students to present alongside equally-talented peers in an environment that celebrates undergraduate research," says Kevin Rashid, coordinator of the Office of Undergraduate Research. "Undergraduate research thrives because of the power of faculty mentoring and applied student work. Presenting at a national conference takes student work to the logical next level and prepares undergraduates for graduate school."