Over 200 students are working hard on their presentations for the 14th annual Undergraduate Conference, which takes place Tuesday, April 10.

From 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., students will be presenting independent research on topics ranging from disease studies to neolithic pottery. The day consists of four sessions of nine panels, with four to five people presenting in each panel for about 15 minutes. The conference also features a poster session and a variety of musical performances.

Over 180 proposals were submitted for this year’s conference, and the 174 approved individuals and groups were then organized into 35 presentation sessions and a poster session. Many participating students began their research last summer or before.

Donna Jones, an administrative assistant in the Office of Fellowships and Grants, worked on the conference the first two years of its existence 13 years ago, then didn’t pay too much attention again until working in a new position this year.

“Coming back it’s like ‘Wow! It’s really expanded,'” she said. “The program book looked like a little blue book almost––a test book. It was just nothing like what it has now expanded to, which is neat.”

This year, the conference has attracted the attention of the University of Puget Sound, which is looking to start its own undergraduate conference.

“Representatives from the University of Puget Sound will be here to take in the conference, and then I’ll be meeting with them the morning after, having breakfast to talk about the entire process, because they see our conference as a model which they may want to adopt,” said Director of Fellowships and Grants Keith Raether.

In addition, the University of Washington has invited several Whitman students to present at their undergraduate conference as well. Come May, six students will be presenting at UW’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. Last year, 3,500 people attended the UW conference.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for our students,” said Raether.

In terms of Whitman’s conference, there are presentations on sign language linguistics, the intersection of Icelandic oral and written tradition and the achievement gap in K-12 education, among others.

When asked why students should come see his presentation on Icelandic traditions, senior Andrew Ryan said, “Come to expand your idea of literature beyond the limitations of written words. Come to learn about a cornerstone of Icelandic culture. Or, come just to see some amazing pictures of one of the world’s most spectacular locations.”

Sophomore Jordan Brown, who is presenting about a cognitive view at sign language linguistics, said that he finds the topic inspiring.

“Few things are more humbling than a glimpse inside the cave of wonders that is the human mind,” he said.

Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly said that 149 presentations were selected. The actual number of proposals approved including panel sessions and posters was 174; the article has been updated to represent this fact.