The 2013 Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium kicked off at the Walter A. Buehler Alumni Center on Thursday, April 4, 2013, giving UC Davis graduate and professional students the chance to present their research and compete for monetary awards.

After opening remarks from Provost Ralph J. Hexter, a poster session was held. Student presenters, faculty, and members of the campus community got a chance to meet and share their research while also enjoying a wine and beer tasting reception, which was also attended by assistant vice chancellor for alumni relations, Richard Engel.

Friday, April 5 was reserved for individual talks and panel presentations held at the UC Davis Conference Center. Over 200 graduate and professional students participated in the two-day event, marking the largest symposium to date, with the number of presenters growing consistently since the inaugural event three years ago.

The symposium concluded with an awards dinner with the winners of each prize category announced. The Chancellor’s Grand Prize for Best Oral Presentation went to Thomas Williams, a graduate student in Food Science Technology. Gabriel Rodriguez, a graduate student in Chemistry won the Graduate Studies and Graduate Student Association Grand Prize. A written paper category was added for the first time this year, and was won by Grant Eckstein a graduate student in Linguistics. Read about all the winners. 

The closing ceremony also included a keynote speech by Steve Hollingworth. Hollingworth is the current President and CEO of Freedom from Hunger, a non-profit organization that uses innovative solutions to fight hunger in 24 countries around the globe.

Visit the IGPS web page and Storify for more information on this year’s event. See a gallery of photos on Facebook.

Save the date for next year’s IGPS symposium… to be held April 3-4, 2014 at the UC Davis Conference Center.