![A group of Indiana University Bloomington students stand in front of the IU trident logo and the words "Indiana University Southeast"](https://blogs.iu.edu/ovpue/files/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-14-at-11.07.17-AM-300x222.png)
Indiana University Bloomington sent 11 students to the 29th annual IU Undergraduate Research Conference on Friday, December 8, at the IU Southeast campus.
The students were accompanied by IUUR director Melissa Blunck, who stressed the importance of the conference and its emphasis on creative inquiry.
“It is a chance for students from all disciplines to share their research with the larger IU community,” Blunck said “Many students use IUURC as their first conference experience either attending, presenting a poster, or giving an oral presentation. I am thankful to have been able to travel to IU Southeast this year to see the amazing work our undergrads at IUB are doing and the undergrads at the other IU campuses represented.”
Students from across the IU system were invited to present their research through a poster or talk. In total, 186 students from five IU campuses gave 140 presentations at this year’s conference.
IUB’s Lilia Brunetti and Askar Mazitov were among the 8 presenters who received awards for outstanding poster presentations.
Brunetti’s presentation was titled “Modulation of FXR Response Genes by PFOA in a Pancreatic Cancer Cell,” with associate professor Barbara Hocevar assisting as a mentor. Mazitov’s was titled “The Effects of Nodule-Associated Bacteria on Clover Growth” with professor Jennifer Lau as mentor.