The Science Undergraduate Research Symposium
Belmont’s College of Sciences & Mathematics hosts the Science Undergraduate Research Symposium (SURS) each fall semester. The first annual event was held December 2, 2004, with 27 presenters and has grown to over 97 presenters in 2025. SURS is the culmination of many hours of undergraduate research work done during the summer and fall with faculty advisors and peers and offers these research students the opportunity to show the Belmont community the interesting research that is being done.
2026 SURS will be held on Monday, November 23rd
The 2026 SURS Schedule
The Science Undergraduate Research Symposium provides Belmont students an opportunity to present the findings of their independent research projects and enjoy the company of fellow researchers.
- 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM; Ayers Conferene Room
- SURS Keynote: Dr. Stephen Chew, Samford University
- "Critical Thinking in a Time of Rampant Misinformation"
- Hosted by the Department of Psychological Sciences
- More session information coming soon!
Keynote Presentation | Stephen Chew | 4094 Ayers
Ayers Conference Room | 10:00
"Critical Thinking in a Time of Rampant Misinformation"
Description: Misinformation is not new, but in recent years it has become pervasive and weaponized to mislead, confuse, scam, demean, and polarize. People use social media to navigate their daily lives, but it also bombards them with misleading information. Agencies that were once trusted sources of valid information now promote misinformation, disinformation, and pseudoscience. Modern misinformation is designed to play on our biases, making it difficult to distinguish between credible and non-credible sources. Scams and conspiracy theories target people’s vulnerabilities. Practicing critical thinking has never been more important, but we need to adapt our definition of critical thinking to match technological developments. In this talk, I will discuss how to detect misinformation and to understand how it appeals to our fears and biases. I will define critical thinking in terms of information literacy, science literacy, and intellectual humility. Finally, I will show how we can teach it and practice it ourselves.
Brief Bio: Stephen L. Chew, a cognitive psychologist and professor at Samford University since 1993 (and department chair until 2019), is a nationally recognized expert on the cognitive science of effective teaching and learning. His research covers topics like cognitive load, the use of examples, student curiosity and trust, and persistent student misconceptions, and his widely used YouTube series on how to study has drawn millions of views at schools worldwide. His many honors include being named a Carnegie Scholar, the 2011 U.S. Professor of the Year for master’s institutions, and recipient of the APA’s 2022 Award for Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology, and he is a frequent keynote speaker at teaching conferences. Visit him online here.
Abstract Submission Instructions
The 2026 SURS Abstract Submission Form is open until November 9th
We are excited to have you present at the Science University Research Symposium (SURS). Please follow the link above to submit an abstract for SURS. Your abstract will be published to the SURS Repository, which is a searchable archive of research, scholarship, and artistic works. Your submission must be approved by your faculty mentor prior to submission; however, it will also be sent to your faculty mentor for one final review. While your submitted abstract should be the finalized version, any changes your faculty mentor would like you to make must be done within 2 days of receiving feedback. Following your presentation, you may add on full-length manuscripts, videos, or images following SURS to better represent the entirety of your work.
You will be notified if there is a problem with your submission.
The submission process consists of the following steps:
- Read and accept the Submission Agreement below
- Provide information about yourself and any co-authors
- Upload your electronic file, if any, and associated files
- Download, print, sign, scan and upload the Copyright Distribution Agreement
- Submission is sent to Faculty Mentor for final review
- Changes requested by Faculty Mentor must be submitted within 2 days of receipt.
- The submission’s title
- The abstract
- A list of keywords (10 maximum)
- (Optional) An electronic format of additional full-length documents such as manuscripts, videos, or images
- Copyright Distribution Agreement signed and ready to upload
- You may change the order of authors by changing the number next to the author name. The first author of a submitted abstract is assumed to be the SURS presenter. Please email if that is not true or if there are multiple presenters.
- The abstract submitter may chose to not have your submitted abstract published to the internet by selecting “Metadata Only” under Presentation Type.
- If you are only submitting an abstract with no other documents needed, you can skip the option to upload a document.
- Either the student presenter or faculty mentor may submit the symposium abstract; however, we encourage students and their faculty advisor to consider the opportunity a student submission will provide.
- Oral presentations have a hard 15-minute cap. Planning for a 10-minute talk and 5 minutes for questions is ideal!
The SURS Abstract Submission Form is now open.
Detailed Submission Instructions
Questions?
Contact: beth.bowman@belmont.edu
Contact Us
College of Sciences & Mathematics
1900 Belmont Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: (615) 460-6417