“Thinking Big: Graduate Research Making a Difference” is the theme for this year's University of Oregon Graduate School's Student Research Forum.

The second annual event will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 11, in three campus locations: Gerlinger Hall Alumni Lounge, the EMU Fir Room and the EMU River rooms. This year’s Research Forum will also include faculty moderators.

The focus will be on research that connects to one of the five “Big Ideas” themes adopted as part of the UO's 2009 Academic Plan and/or research that encourages discussion and interaction with a broad audience. Proposals from more than 80 graduate students have been accepted for presentation as part of the forum's 12 faculty-moderated paper-panel sessions and two large-scale poster sessions.

The first Research Forum was held last spring in response to requests from graduate students for more opportunities for interdisciplinary intellectual exchange and networking.

“The Graduate School is committed to providing ongoing opportunities for our graduate students to not only share some of the incredible intellectual work going on at the university, but also to get exposure to their peers’ research," said Sandra Morgen, vice provost for graduate studies and associate dean of the Graduate School. "Interdisciplinary, cross-unit forums like this are an ideal setting for learning, research collaboration and professional development."

Sessions are open to the public. The full program and abstracts are available online.