Sign up for the 2025 BERC Symposium Research Expo!

ABOUT THE research EXPOSITION

The Research Expo is a research poster exhibition and prize contest, where attendees and participants can enjoy light refreshments and drinks while learning about innovative water research from the student researchers themselves! Attendees range from startup founders and funders to world renowned scientists, to community members and student peers interested in learning about the fascinating water research happening right here in the Bay Area. 

The Research Expo will be held in the Spieker Forum in Chou Hall on Thursday October 30th from 10:30am - 12:30pm. Our judges are experts in water management and conservation related fields.

RESEARCH POSTER AWARDS

• First place: $1,000

• Second place: $500

• Third place: $250

APPLY TO PRESENT HERE  

Abstract Submission Early Deadline: Oct 6 Abstract Final Deadline: Oct 14th

The BERC Resources Symposium Research Expo is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your ideas, research, thesis, or project to the entire community. Entries are welcome from all students across all disciplines and departments, and winners will share in a substantial prize pool. Registration for the BERC Resources Symposium is free if your poster is accepted, and we’ll even print the poster for you at no cost! 

GENERAL GUIDELINES

Target Audience: Members of the water community, University of California Berkeley, and the public at large. Posters and presentations should both make an impression on the judges and be understandable to the majority of Research Expo attendees.

Project Parameters: A good project is at a point where outcomes or conclusions can be reported, and a question is being answered. Projects are welcome from all departments and universities, granted that the topic relates to water in some fashion.

Effort to engage non-experts: The Research Expo is a way for all participants (including non-experts) to learn and engage with student research. We are also hoping that this offers researchers a new way of thinking about presenting their research to a broader audience than they might encounter in a standard academic conference, including investors and industry experts.

Application Specifics: For participation in the Research Expo, a separate abstract and poster will need to be submitted. All abstracts and posters are subject to approval. Please submit a concise abstract of 4-6 sentences that conveys the overall topic area, methods and conclusion. If a high-school science student was reading the abstract, would they have a good sense of what your research is trying to accomplish?

Poster Design Specifications: For BERC to print your poster it must be submitted in PDF format, size 36″ x 48″ (or 48” x 36”). We cannot print any other sizes or formats. We cannot provide any quality control for your poster regarding picture quality, etc. If you bring your own poster, we can be more flexible with the poster size.

Judging: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place poster prizes will be determined by a panel of expert judges in water management and related fields.

CONTACT US 

Email rashel_bajaj@berkeley.edu with any questions!