Accessible Research

CENTER FOR ACCESSIBLE EDUCATION (CAE)

If you want to pursue undergraduate research and need accommodations, please contact the Center for Accessible Education (CAE). Students are not required to be enrolled in a course as part of your undergraduate research experience for the CAE to assist you.

TRAININGS

The UCLA Disabilities and Computing Program offers trainings throughout the year, which go over how to make digital work more accessible to others.

DIGITAL RESOURCES

Use Vischeck to check figures (charts, graphs, etc.) to make sure they are visible to people with different forms of colorblindness.

Visit this page for information on how to add alternative text to images. Alternative text provides a textual alternative to images that can be read by screen readers, allowing it to be accessible to those with visual or cognitive disabilities.

You can use this guide from the UCLA Disabilities and Computing Program to make your documents accessible for people that use screen readers.

This Web Accessibility Starter Guide provides advice on how to make websites accessible for all users.

Conferences

What can you get out of attending a conference?  Former student, Caliope Marin, shares her conference advice to students attending the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) 2020 Conference, but it’s universal to any undergraduate conference.

Each year, hundreds of UCLA students present their research at numerous conferences across the country, which range from the regional and national level. There are also opportunities to attend a student-oriented conference.

There are also many opportunities for students to give poster or oral presentations on campus, including during Undergraduate Research Week.

Below are a list of conferences UCLA students frequently attend and present at.

American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting and Science Innovation Exposition

American Chemical Society National Meeting

American Geophysical Union Meeting

American Indian Science and Engineering Society National Conference 

American Institute of Chemical Engineers Student Conference (AIChE)

American Psychological Association Convention

American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 

American Society for Cell Biology Meeting

American Society for Human Genetics Annual Meeting

American Statistical Association (ASA) Symposium on Data Science and Statistics 

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS)

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting

Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting (BMES)

Black Doctoral Network Conference (BDN)

Citizen Science Association Biennial Conference 

Emerging Researchers National Conference (ERN)

Great Minds in Stem Conference (GMiS)

Gordon Research Conferences

International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Annual Meeting

International Symposium on Visual Computing (ISVC)

Latinxs & the Environment Conference

Meteorological Society Student Conference

Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational Chemistry 

National Collegiate Research Conference (NCRC)

National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR) – Submitting an abstract to NCUR? Click here for information about the UCLA Campus Coordinator

Net Zero Conference

Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting

SACNAS Conference

Sigma Xi Student Research Conference 

Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention

Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research (SCCUR)

Stanford Research Conference (SRC)

Undergraduate Research Conference in Chemistry and Biochemistry 

UCLA Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference

US National Combustion Meeting 

West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference (WCBSUR)

Making Figures

Read Ten Simple Rules for Better Figures from PLOS Computational Biology

Use Vischeck to make sure your figures (charts, graphs, etc.) are visible to people with colorblindness.

Visit this page for information on how to add alternative text to images. Alternative text provides a textual alternative to images that can be read by screen readers, allowing it to be accessible to those with visual or cognitive disabilities.

Presenting Research

Presenting your research is a culmination of the process of scientific discovery. Being able to clearly communicate your research to both general and scientific audiences is a key skill to develop. Below are some links to materials about poster presentations and oral presentations.

Check out this Quick Guide for links on creating accessible presentations (scroll down on page for PPT guidelines)

42″ by 42″ Poster Template

How to Design a Poster Presentation 

How to Create a Poster using PowerPoint 

Poster Format Example  (courtesy of MARC student, Jessica Jimenez)

Gallery of posters to use for ideas for your own poster 

Advice on poster making from PSU 

Tips on oral presentations from Swarthmore College 

Scientific Writing

UCLA WRITING CENTER

Vistit the UCLA Writing Center to make an appointment to review your Cover letters, CVs, or papers.

MAKE YOUR DOCUMENTS ACCESSIBLE

You can use this guide from the UCLA Disabilities and Computing Program to make your PDFs and documents accessible for people that use screen readers.

COVER LETTERS AND CVs

Sample Cover Letter & CV 

THE ABSTRACT

How to Write an Abstract 

What is a Research Abstract 

THE RESEARCH PAPER

A Paper Planner to break down your writing timeline prepared by UCLA’s Undergraduate Science Journal

A guide to science writing prepared by UCLA’s Undergraduate Science Journal

Introductions and conclusions for scientific papers  by the George Mason University Writing Center

The Science of Scientific Writing  by American Scientist

Scientific Writing Booklet  compiled by Marc Tischler, Ph.D. University of Arizona

ORCID provides a digital identifier to help track all published work and help distinguish yourself from other researchers

WI+RE Reading Strategies compile tutorials to help students learn to analyze research papers and academic articles.

Use Vischeck to make sure your figures (charts, graphs, etc.) are visible to people with colorblindness

Visit this page for information on how to add alternative text to images. Alternative text provides a textual alternative to images that can be read by screen readers, allowing it to be accessible to those with visual or cognitive disabilities.

If you are sharing your research via website, take a look at this page to create an accessible website.

Travel Grants