STEM Research Conference

Overview

The STEM Research Conference is an academic platform designed to showcase the research achievements of scholars across the full educational spectrum, from high school students and undergraduates to graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career professionals, as well as faculty mentors who support their work. This annual conference provides participants with an opportunity to present their original STEM research and scholarly work to the university community, fostering a culture of inquiry, collaboration, and academic excellence.

By bringing together researchers at different stages of training and across a wide range of STEM disciplines, the conference fosters a culture of interdisciplinary exchange, mentorship, and professional development. Attendees gain valuable experience presenting in a formal academic setting, receive constructive feedback from faculty and peers, and contribute to UTRGV’s mission of advancing scientific inquiry and innovation.

The STEM Research Conference serves as an important institutional forum for recognizing emerging talent, supporting the development of future STEM professionals, and highlighting the breadth and strength of research activity within the university and surrounding community.

Students and researchers from all STEM-aligned fields are encouraged to participate.

Event Details

The 2026 STEM Research Conference is a collaborative effort between the College of Sciences, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Division of Research at UTRGV to provide students with the opportunity to showcase their research in a professional setting.

The event will be held on April 24th, 2026 at the Region One Education Service Center Edinburg, Texas. 

Register before January 31st to enter a giveaway!

CoS Awards

The College of Sciences recognizes and celebrates outstanding student research through competitive presentation awards. These awards honor excellence in research communication, clarity, and scholarly impact across academic levels. One winner will be selected in each research category, with each awardee receiving a $50 gift card.

Students may compete in the following categories:

Best Oral Presentation For:
High School
Undergraduate
Graduate

Best Poster Presentation For:
High School
Undergraduate
Graduate

B3 Awards

For the first time this year, the Office for Bilingual Integration is collaborating with the STEM Research Conference to provide four awards. The categories are Best B3 Undergraduate Poster, Best B3 Undergraduate Presentation, Best B3 Graduate Poster, and Best B3 Graduate Presentation. To qualify for this award, your research should include at least one of the following or something similar:

• Showcase bilingualism, biculturalism, or biliteracy (B3)
• Present the work in Spanish or bilingually
• Feature bilingual or Hispanic communities as part of the study population or research focus
• Center regional, cultural, or contextually relevant or place-based perspectives in the project design or findings
• Demonstrate how language or culture intersects with the project

Keynote Speaker

 Speaker's Abstract

STEM Research in the Age of AI: Challenges and Opportunities

Artificial intelligence is transforming STEM research. While AI promises to accelerate discovery, it also introduces substantial challenges. New AI tools are being rapidly developed which require time to learn, validate, and integrate into existing research workflows. As certain tasks are done faster with AI, new bottlenecks in research and development pipelines arise, slowing knowledge discovery. Perhaps most concerningly, AI models are adept at producing voluminous quantities of unverified output, potentially leading to an erosion of trust in research results. In this talk, I will share how AI has reshaped my work as a biostatistician and data scientist over the past 5 years. I will discuss two recent projects motivated by AI: first, overcoming bottlenecks in the drug development pipeline using external control arms in clinical trials; and second, developing biologically motivated performance metrics for in-silico cellular perturbation models. I will conclude with thoughts on how AI may reshape the next 5 years of STEM research.