BECUR - About

In 2008, a group of undergraduates at the University of Arizona began to plan and finally hold the Biological, Engineering, and Chemical Undergraduate Research (BECUR) Conference in 2010. BECUR became the first Undergraduate Affiliate Network (UAN) southwest regional meeting allowing undergraduates and Tucson area high school students to present their findings on a professional level. BECUR is designed to allow undergraduates and high school students to present their work in a less intimidating environment than one encounters at large professional national meetings while preparing them to present posters at those same meetings later in the year. BECUR 2013 will continue to unite undergraduates from various disciplines providing an environment of shared knowledge as well as recognizing undergraduates for their constant efforts and contributions to their laboratories and fields.

BECUR will be held on February 23, 2013 in Tucson, AZ at the BIO5 Institute on the University of Arizona campus.  There will be two poster sessions as well as talks by undergraduates selected on the merit of their research and abstracts.   We are pleased to announce that Professor Kim Orth (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center), recipient of the 2012 ASBMB Young Investigator Award, will be our Keynote Speaker.   Professor Orth's research is focused on the elucidation of the activity of virulence factors from pathogenic bacteria in order to gain novel molecular insights into eukaryotic signaling systems.

Students from universities and colleges in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado are encouraged and invited to submit abstracts so that they may be reviewed for inclusion in the conference.