SURE Symposium highlights Emory undergrad research across the liberal arts
July 21, 2026 April Hunt
The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience symposium provides Emory undergraduates an opportunity to share their faculty-mentored research across a range of disciplines with the community, including through poster presentations. Photo by Emory Photo/Video.
Attend the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium on Wednesday, July 29, beginning at 5 p.m. in Cannon Chapel. Oral and poster presentations will continue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, July 30, in the Emory Student Center Multipurpose Rooms.
They’ve spent their summer devoted to researching everything from the weaving techniques of ancient looms to how vibration-assisted breathing shifts the body out of fight-or-flight mode.
Next week, more than 130 undergraduates in the Emory College Pathways Center’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program will present results of their scholarly work across those and other disciplines at the annual Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium.
The two-day event kicks off at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, at Cannon Chapel, with a reception that includes performances from student researchers in music and visual displays of student creative research and art. An RSVP is required for the opening reception.
The symposium — featuring brief research talks and poster sessions — continues from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday in the Emory Student Center Multipurpose Rooms. It is free and open to the public.
“This symposium marks the end of the summer and the culmination of our students’ projects,” says Diana Wrenn Rapp, the Pathways Center’s assistant director of undergraduate research. “Through SURE, these students gained the confidence to call themselves researchers and scholars.”
SURE is the most immersive of the Pathways Center’s undergraduate research programs, providing free housing, a stipend and career development workshops in addition to 10 weeks of independent research working directly with faculty mentors. It is a centerpiece of Pathways programs, which also include experiential learning, internship funding and Career Treks, all designed to help students develop the skills and experience to pursue meaningful careers after Emory.
For the SURE program, Pathways leaders work with professors in each department to encourage applications, starting each fall. First-year students receive an overview of the application process and all students can use ForagerOne to discover faculty research expertise and then strategize on connecting with those experts.
Many SURE participants are continuing work they began in the previous academic year or will build toward more in-depth projects in the coming year.
“Many of them will continue to research and work on more advanced projects with faculty and research teams in their respective disciplines,” Wrenn Rapp says. “We could not be prouder of what they have accomplished this summer.”
For a closer look at this year’s research, watch Meet the Researcher, a new video series featuring SURE scholars and their faculty mentors.
