The UNLV 2026 Interdisciplinary Research Symposium will be held on Nov. 9, 2026, from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. in the Student Union. This is a great opportunity for faculty and staff from all areas of campus to come together around research.

Sponsored by the UNLV Division of Research, the goal of the Symposium is to provide attendees with opportunities to:

• Build knowledge and capacity for participating in interdisciplinary research, creative activity, and scholarship.
• Foster collaboration across disciplines, units, and external partners.
• Develop skills for seeking and securing funding for collaborative and interdisciplinary research.
• Learn from colleagues about innovative research, scholarship, and partnership models.

The Division of Research invites participation from the campus community in two session types offered at this year’s Symposium: capacity-building sessions and poster presentations (find more details below).

All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2026. Presenters will be notified of acceptance by October 2, 2026.

Use this SUBMISSION FORM to register for the 2026 Interdisciplinary Research Symposium and to submit a capacity building proposal or poster presentation.

Capacity-building sessions
Capacity-building sessions are 50-minute sessions focused on practical strategies, tools, and approaches that help faculty and research teams strengthen interdisciplinary research and scholarship.

Proposals may address any topic relevant to interdisciplinary research development. This year, we especially encourage sessions that align with one or more of the following areas:

1. Building Interdisciplinary Research Teams and Programs
   Forming effective collaborations, integrating perspectives and methods across disciplines, developing research clusters or centers, establishing team structures, and sustaining long-term research programs.
2. Pursuing Large-Scale and Strategic Funding
   Developing competitive approaches to center grants, multi-investigator proposals, research consortia, large federal opportunities, and other complex funding mechanisms.
3. Finding and Positioning for Emerging Funding Opportunities
   Identifying emerging federal and foundation priorities, understanding funding landscapes, developing relationships with agencies and sponsors, and positioning research teams before solicitations are released.
4. Translating Research to Economic, Community, and Policy Impact
   Moving research toward commercialization, entrepreneurship, economic development, public policy, community implementation, workforce development, or other forms of societal impact.
5. Building External Partnerships
   Developing productive research relationships with industry, government agencies, national laboratories, healthcare systems, school districts, nonprofits, community organizations, and other universities.
6. Leveraging Research Infrastructure, Data, and Emerging Technologies
   Using shared facilities, core laboratories, cyberinfrastructure, high-performance computing, data resources, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and other emerging technologies to enable new research.
7. Developing Competitive Proposals and Managing Complex Projects
   Strengthening research questions and aims, organizing interdisciplinary proposals, developing broader impacts, managing budgets and timelines, coordinating multi-investigator projects, and addressing reviewer expectations.
8. Building Research Visibility, Workforce, and Institutional Strength
   Increasing the visibility and influence of research programs, developing interdisciplinary training and mentoring models, preparing students and postdoctoral scholars for emerging careers, and building areas of institutional research distinction.

These categories are intended to provide examples rather than limit submissions. Proposals addressing other topics that advance interdisciplinary research and scholarship are also welcome. Sessions may take a variety of formats, including interactive workshops, panels, facilitated discussions, case studies, or presentations. Proposals that actively engage participants and provide practical strategies, tools, or resources are especially encouraged.

Proposals should be no more than 500 words and include:

• Session title
• Facilitator or presenter names and departments, including a contact email address
• Capacity-building category or categories addressed
• Goal of the session and what participants should learn or be able to do
• Brief description of the proposed session
• Proposed session format

Sessions will be selected based on their alignment with the goals of the Symposium, relevance to the UNLV research community, and potential value to participants.

Poster presentations
The Symposium will include a poster session featuring faculty-led research and scholarship from 2:30–4:00 p.m.

Posters will be included in the program based on the order of submission, provided the topic, method, or project is interdisciplinary or collaborative in nature. Labs or teams will be limited to one poster per group unless space allows for additional posters.

The Division of Research will pay for the printing of accepted posters.

Presenters are expected to arrive by 2:15 p.m. to put up their posters and remain with their posters for Q&A during the poster session.

Poster submissions should include:

• Poster title
• Authors and affiliations, including UNLV departments
• A 250-word abstract
• Identification of any relevant Interdisciplinary Research Development Area (iRDA)

Registration and Submission
Use this SUBMISSION FORM to register for the 2026 Interdisciplinary Research Symposium as well as submit a capacity-building proposal or poster presentation.