Students’ conference efforts commendable

EVEN AS THE school year winds down, student initiative in the academic arena is going strong, as evidenced by a successful — and completely student-run — conference last weekend. The Undergraduate Psychology Conference — the first-ever conference put on solely by undergraduates in the department — featured a number of professors and students from around the country and showcased the research of many hard-working undergraduates. We congratulate the conference planners for the bold step of organizing this conference and for bringing a professional level of academic sharing for undergraduates to this campus.

The conference, which attracted undergraduate students from 27 schools in six states and four countries, provides a much-needed opportunity for many undergraduates to show off their academic research and their department’s commitment to sharing the work that they do. A conference for graduate students in the Philosophy Department earlier this month also provided similar benefits to philosophy graduate students throughout the state. Conferences like these send a strong message to the community: Stanford students aren’t just working hard in their research, they are also creating opportunities to share their research with others in a very professional way.

The undergraduate community, with faculty support, has long been working for advances in many fields, and these conferences provide an environment in which undergraduates can present their own work to an admiring and interested public. The psychology conference alone brought more than 200 students and faculty. Bringing this level of academic focus is important to show faculty, staff and graduate students the research contributions of undergraduates.

The academic environment of the conference also provides a chance for feedback and collaboration among students — both undergraduate and graduate — that probably would not happen otherwise.

And the psychology conference had more than just an academic focus; education and outreach were also built into the program. The proceeds from the conference were donated to a South San Francisco high school in order to update 20-year-old psychology textbooks. This additional outreach is just one of the added benefits of a student-run conference.

Furthermore, the successful execution of the conference gives testament to the efficacy of undergraduate leadership on campus. The conference was well organized and well run, right down to its Web site with helpful information for prospective presenters. The student organizers likely had dozens of other things to worry about at this busy time of year, but they planned a large-scale conference with confidence.

Congratulations to the students who worked so hard to make this and other student conferences a success this year. By demonstrating their determiniation, these students set a clear precedent for the upcoming year. Stanford is a research university, and many students here are involved in meaningful and fascinating projects. We encourage students in other departments to consider hosting research and conferences in the future. Such conferences not only provide benefits to the student presenters and the audeince, but also to Stanford as a whole — which is something that truly speaks to the power and promise of all of our students.