U of L hosting Meeting of the Minds today, Saturday

Today and Saturday, southern Albertans can get a glimpse of the wide range of research underway at the University of Lethbridge. Progress on about 40 projects will be outlined during sessions organized by the Graduate Students’ Association at U of L. Music, awards presentations and social events are also part of their annual Meeting of the Minds conference in Markin Hall.

Final rounds in the “Three Minute Thesis” competition will held today, starting at 5:45 p.m., with the public invited. A reception will follow.

Saturday’s program provides presentation time for nine graduate students — three in each session room — sharing time in hour-long blocks running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Following lunch, an hour of music will include selections on piano, trumpet and flute, as well as a jazz combo.

More research presentations will follow at 3 p.m., concluding with a “poster walk” at 4:30 p.m.

The conference’s keynote address, by noted U of L neuroscientist Brian Kolb, is set for 5 p.m.

Robert Wood, dean of the university’s School of Graduate Studies, says the conference will demonstrate the breadth of the research conducted here.

“The U of L is a comprehensive university, a status that is unequivocally affirmed today in the outstanding scholarship being presented by U of L graduate students in a wide range of disciplines,” he says. Those include education, fine arts, health sciences, humanities, social sciences, management “and across the physical, computational and life sciences.”

Grad student association president Emma Jing praises the enthusiasm shown by students for the group’s varied projects.

“The Meeting of the Minds Conference aims at providing our students a platform to share and promote their academic achievement.”

It’s an example of the “friendly and mentoring atmosphere we are committed to nurture,” she says.