This week, the sixth annual Research Days at Binghamton University will showcase various student and faculty projects through seminars, poster presentations and art exhibitions to celebrate scholarship.

Research Days will take place Wednesday through Friday and are intended to give students the chance to present their work. According to Rachel Coker, the director of the Division of Research, the Research Days are made to both show the work students have done and inspire other students to get involved in research of their own.

“Research Days give the entire Binghamton University community an opportunity to celebrate research, scholarship and creative activities,” Coker said. “It’s a moment to show each other some of our best work, get to know each other as scholars and appreciate the way this campus contributes to the creation of knowledge.”

All of the Research Days events are co-sponsored by BU Academic Affairs, the Division of Research, the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, McNair Scholars Program and the Undergraduate Research Center.

Among the various events is the Art of Science contest, which occurred on Wednesday. This new event gave students with science-related art, predominately photography, an opportunity to showcase their work. The contest drew over 65 entries and featured photos of cells, science projects, wildlife and organisms seen under microscopes.

Other events new to Research Days are a research roundtable discussion and a creative performance showcase. The creative performance showcase will consist of undergraduate and graduate students singing, dancing and performing poetry readings.

All undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty have the opportunity to sign up to present their research during the poster sessions, which will be held Friday afternoon in the Mandela Room in the Old University Union. According to Janice McDonald, the director of the Undergraduate Research Center, these sessions are the most popular events of Research Days.

“On Friday, there are two poster sessions,” McDonald said. “Between the two there are 130 posters, which represents the work of around 250 students because some are co-authored and others represent the work of a research team. Last year, around 600 people attended the poster sessions to learn more about the students research and creative work.”

According to McDonald, Research Days are an integral part of the success of research at BU.

“I think that all of the activities during Research Days demonstrate the range of research and creative activities that our students pursue,” McDonald said. “All undergraduates in all majors can pursue research or creative work that takes them beyond what is required in a course. These experiences benefit them in so many ways.”