The fifth annual Student Research & Creative Activity Fall Forum is dedicated to students who wish to present their research and studies to the public, according to Sacramento State’s website.

The forum will take place Friday in the University Union’s Redwood Room.

The forum was created in 2014 by Sac State’s Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development, according to Hanh Tran, the student research center program coordinator.

According to Tran, the forum exists to provide an opportunity for undergraduate students and alumni to gain practice in presenting research and creative activities they have conducted.  

Mark Samuel Abbott, a recent Sac State graduate, won the competition earlier this year, according to the Sac State website.

“The best thing about the win is that I can list it on my CV and help me get into graduate school,” Abbott said. “It shows that the research I did was relevant and helpful and that it made a contribution.”

Students can team up in pairs of two or present alone, according to the website. All Sac State undergraduate, graduate and recently-graduated students from spring and summer 2018 can participate.

The forum requires presentations to be on posters that are 4 feet wide and 3 feet high, according to the website. Students can get assistance with printing and creating their posters at Sac State’s Academic Technology Center.

“The number of students participating in the fall forum has increased as the years passed,” Tran said in an email. “Last year we had 67 poster presentations and this year we have 84, that is a 25 percent increase in participation.”

Students must have a Sac State faculty member sponsor their work for it to be presented, according to Tran.

“The goal of this annual event is to give students the chance to gain speaking and presentation experience without the pressure of being judged and to have a chance to test run their work,” Tran wrote.

The event is split into two sessions of student presentations — the first starting at 9 a.m. and the second at 2:30 p.m.

This event prepares students for the Student Research & Creative Activity Spring Symposium in March, according to website. However, instead of printed posters, students are expected to prepare oral presentations at the symposium.

At the spring symposium in March, participants get judged for their presentations and have the opportunity to win cash prizes, as well as have the chance to represent Sac State at the CSU Student Research Competition in May, according to the website.

“I think the more Sac State students win, the more Sac State students are going to be competing,” Abbott said. “It keeps it going so that everybody is trying hard and keeps everybody competing.”

Sac State students have won awards at each year’s competition since 2015, according to Tran.