National Conference on Undergraduate Research

National Conference on Undergraduate Research
Abbreviation	NCUR
Merged into	Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and NCUR in 2010
Formation	1987
Type	professional academic organization
Purpose	annual conference for undergraduate students to present their original work in all fields
Location	Washington, DC;

The National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) was established in 1987 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville to promote undergraduate research in universities throughout the United States. Undergraduate students are invited to submit abstracts to present their work at NCUR, which is currently one of the events sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) umbrella organization.

Mission

The mission of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) is to promote undergraduate research scholarship and creative activity done in partnership with faculty or other mentors as a vital component of higher education.^[1]

History of NCUR and Association with CUR

The National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) was established at University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1987 with 400 students from campuses countrywide presenting their work. From its inception, NCUR included students from the sciences, the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences. Students were encouraged to present their work in collaboration with faculty members in a variety of media and formats from posters to performances. NCUR continued and expanded, beginning to move to different campus hosts in 1989. Currently approximately 4000 students participate annually, drawn from all fields and from any college or university. The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) was established in 1987 also with a focus on faculty chemistry research at primarily undergraduate institutions that included the students as co-investigators with their faculty mentors. Over time, CUR welcomed other sciences and then non-sciences and also added an At Large group. The two organizations co-existed until 2010 when they decided to combine forces. Currently, the combined organization is called CUR and it sponsors a NCUR each year.