2025 Western Research Forum
The Society of Graduate Students is proud to host the 39th annual Western Research Forum: Interdisciplinary Research in the Digital Age.
With this theme, we wish to highlight research made possible by the advancements of the digital era. The digital age (also known as the information era) brings us advantages through the form of Artificial Intelligence and allows us to analyze large collections of data made possible through advancements in computing power. It also allows us to collect data and collaborate with other researchers on a worldwide scale.
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- 📆 Friday, March 14th, 2025
- 🕰️ 8:45 AM to 4 PM
- 🏛️ Physics & Astronomy Building (PAB) atriums (upper & lower)
- 🗣️ Keynotes & 10-minute oral presentations
- 📝 100 poster presentations
- 🏆 Prizes Awarded to the Top Two Oral and Poster Presentations!
2025 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Dr. Mark Daley
Dr. Daley is the Chief AI Officer at Western University and a Professor in the Department of Computer Science with cross-appointments in five other departments, The Rotman Institute of Philosophy, and The Western Institute for Neuroscience. He is also a faculty affiliate of Toronto’s Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
Mark was named in the Maclean’s magazine “Power List 2024” of the top 100 Canadians shaping the country.
Mark has previously served as the Vice-President (Research) at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), and Chief Digital Information Officer, Special Advisor to the President, and Associate Vice-President (Research) at Western.
Mark is the past chair of Compute Ontario and serves on a number of other boards.
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Sidath Rankaduwa
Sidath is currently a PhD student in Neuroscience at Western University. He studies the effects of psychedelics on consciousness and cognition. His talk will discuss how psilocybin can create a shared global experience.
JUDGES:
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- Dr. Bertha Garcia, MD’72 – Vice-Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
- Dr. David Drysdale, PhD’11 – Arts & Humanities, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation, Canada Life
- Dr. Dorian Lo, MD’90 – Business & Physician Executive; Former President, Express Scripts Canada; Former Executive Vice President, Shoppers Drug Mart
SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT:
We are looking for abstract submissions that showcase how research at Western is leveraging the tools of the digital age, such as social media, big data collection/analysis, AI and deep learning, computational advancements or international collaboration.
For more information, please read the submission guidelines.
DEADLINE to submit your abstract: January 6, 2025
QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS? Contact academic.committee@sogs.ca.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE:
Established in 1987, the WRF is the largest multidisciplinary graduate research conference at Western. Organized by the SOGS Academic Committee, the conference is held annually in March.
The aim of this conference is to provide a platform for graduate students to share their innovative work to a wide audience and discuss how their research transcends academic boundaries.
The Western Research Forum is valuable and unique in that it is designed for researchers to engage with others outside their field, with the goal of exchanging thoughts and exploring ideas from various perspectives.
SPONSORS:
Special THANK YOU to our sponsor WorldDiscoveries for their support providing refreshments for this conference!
GET INVOLVED!
If you would like to get involved and volunteer your time with the Academic Committee, please contact the Academic Committee chair (academic.committee@sogs.ca).
Past Conferences
2023 Western Research Forum
38th annual WESTERN RESEARCH FORUM
- 📆 Friday, March 15th, 2024
- 🕰️ 8:45 AM to 4 PM
- 🏛️ Physics & Astronomy Building (PAB) atriums (upper & lower)
- 🗣️ Keynotes & 5-minute oral presentations
- 📝 100 poster presentations
- 😍 Everyone is welcome to attend!
- 🌐 Scholarship@Western
For more information about the Western Research Forum, including current and past conference abstracts, supplemental material, photos, and videos, please visit Scholarship@Western.
2023 Western Research Forum
The annual WESTERN RESEARCH FORUM will take place on Friday, March 17th from 9:15am to 3:30PM. The conference will be held in the IGAB atrium. Everyone is welcome to attend.
For more information on the 2023 WESTERN RESEARCH FORUM, head over to Scholarship@Western.
Check out the 2023 PROGRAM to see who is presenting posters, short talks, and keynote presentations.
2022 Western Research Forum
This year, the 2022 WRF will provide graduate students the opportunity to deliver a keynote presentation, 10 minute oral presentation, or an interactive poster presentation! Prizes for best oral and poster presentations will be given out, along with participation giveaways throughout each day. Further details can be found below:
- Dates: Tuesday, March 15 and Wednesday, March 16, 2022
- Cost: Free (funded by the Society of Graduate Students)
- Location: Virtual, hosted through Whova (desktop and mobile app versions available to download for free)
- Peer Reviewed Abstracts: Yes
- Format: Open to all campus community members to attend
For more information, please email the SOGS Academic Committee Chair at wrf@sogs.ca OR the SOGS Vice-President Academic at academic@sogs.ca.
CHECK OUT THE PROGRAM HERE! Learn what your peers are up to and see who is presenting.
Not presenting, but want to attend? Download the Whova app and read below:
2019 Western Research Forum
The Western Research Forum 2019 will take place on Friday, March 22, 2019.
Extended deadline: January 25, 2019
Abstract Guidelines
Applicants will be required to indicate their preferred format(s) for presenting their abstract. The presentation options are (can choose more than one):
1) 5-minute oral presentation: These presentations will be 5 minutes long with no time for questions. Applicants accepted for this type of presentation will also be given the option to present a poster on their abstract during the poster session.
2) 12-minute oral presentation (keynote): These presentations will be 12 minutes long with 3 minutes for questions. Applicants accepted for these spaces will not be given the option to present a poster during the poster session.
3) Poster: Presenters will be asked to be available to answer questions during a dedicated poster viewing time.
4) Poster and 1-minute lightning talk: Presenters will be asked to be available to answer questions during a dedicated poster viewing time, and will be given 1 minute and 1 slide to present their research prior to the poster presentations presentations.
Other important information:
- Abstracts at any stage of research (proposals, interim, or completed studies) may be submitted.
- Each author may only submit one abstract as the first author, but may be listed as a co-author on an unlimited number of abstracts.
- There is a 250 word limit for abstracts (excluding title and headings).
- Abstracts are not required to include headings. However, if you would like to include them, the following headings (if applicable) are an example of how you may want to organize your abstract: Background, Hypothesis, Methods, Results, Discussion.
- Proper spelling and grammar are required.
- Figures, tables and pictures are not permitted in the abstract, but may be included as supplemental information during the submission process.
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Oral presentations and a workshop by the Centre for Teaching and Learning will take place in the morning from 9:00-12:00 pm in WIRB 1170, followed by lunch at the Grad Club.
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The poster session will take place in the Physics and Astronomy Atrium from 1:00-2:30 pm. The event is free to attend and all are welcome.
The deadline to submit an abstract is January 25, 2019 (deadline extended). To submit an abstract, go to “Author Corner” on the sidebar menu and select “Submit Abstract”. To create a Scholarship@Western account, please click HERE and select “Sign up”.
All abstracts will undergo a blind, peer-reviewed process. Spaces are limited, but all accepted abstracts will at least be given the option of presenting a poster. Authors will be notified of their abstract acceptance/rejection by early February, 2019.
If you have any questions regarding these guidelines, please contact academic.committee@sogs.ca
2018 Western Research Forum
The SOGS Academic Committee is proud to host the annual Western Research Forum on Friday, March 16, 2018 (9am-3pm). As a university-wide interdisciplinary conference, we offer all graduate students the opportunity to present their work to researchers from various fields. This year’s theme is “Controversy: Challenging the Boundaries in Research”, featuring research that invites discussion and transcends academic boundaries.
Morning talks will take place in North Campus Building, Room 113.
9:00 – 10:15am – Graduate Oral Presentations
- Navigating Through the Challenges of Healthcare Simulated Education, Ryan Chan and Adam Morse
- Clarifying Dopaminergic Projections of the Ventral Tegmental Area and Substantia Nigra in Humans using Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nicholas Handfield-Jones
- Ceilometer Measurements from The University of Western Ontario of Smoke from the Extraordinary Fires of 2017 in Western Canada, Achini Abayakoon
- Creative Subversion: Challenging Sociocultural Silencing in Schools, Kelly Bylica
- Improving Canadian Indigenous Health: Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease, Sukhmeet Sachal
10:30 – 11:00am – Featured Graduate Speaker, Amber White, Faculty of Education
11:00 – 12:00pm – Keynote Speaker, Shelley McKellar, Department of History; Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
At noon, the Forum will move to the Grad Club for a free buffet lunch.
Following the lunch, the rest of the Forum will take place in the Physics and Astronomy Building Atrium.
1:15 – 2:30pm – Graduate Poster Presentations
2:30 – 3:00pm – Awards Ceremony and Closing Remarks
For the full program, please see this link.