Students spend their days in classes learning from professors, but one month gives them the opportunity to teach others about the knowledge they accumulated.

UNA Research Days will take place April 9- April 27. Students will display highlight innovation, display progress and brainstorm about research in various disciplines, according to a UNA press release.

“The goal of UNA Research Days is to exhibit student research, whether applied, theoretical, practice-based or artistic,” said Lisa Keys-Mathews, geography professor and director of UNA’s Quality Enhancement Program. “The students all have a faculty member who mentors their research.  Within this opportunity, we hope to encourage academic discussions and camaraderie related to the presented work.”

Students will present on a variety of subjects, including photojournalism, physical activity and microbes in the water around us.

“We have real diversity in student presentations, and that is very exciting,” Keys-Mathews said.

Research Days will start April 9 with the Three-Minute Thesis pre-finals at 5 p.m. in Norton Auditorium. Finals will be April 16 at 2:30 p.m. in Norton Auditorium.

Senior Viktoria Piepke said university research can be demanding.

“University research is a completely different monster from a research paper,” she said. “Conducting research takes a lot of time and thought. You can’t just produce research a few days before a deadline like a research paper.”

Poster presentations are April 24 in the Guillott University Center Atrium from 9-10:30 a.m., 11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. and 2:30-4 p.m.

Oral presentations will be April 25 in the Stone Lodge from 10:30-11:30 a.m., 1-2 p.m. and 3-4 p.m.

There will also be a Military Research Symposium April 26 from 9 a.m.-noon and 12:45-5 p.m. Officials have not yet determined the location of this event.

Research Days will also include an information workshop on the Fullbright Scholarship April 26 in the GUC loft

Research Days will end April 27 with a Sociology Research Symposium in the GUC Loft at 11 a.m.

All events are open to the public. Students are encouraged to attend to see what their peers are doing and view the research happening in various departments on campus.

Senior Zach Lindsey said attending research days is beneficial to all students on campus.

“Not a lot of people go into research, but people can see the interest that many other students have,” Lindsey said. “That could give students not doing research the chance to open up to different ideas while giving students doing research the opportunity to show their love on the subject they are researching.”

This is the 12th year UNA has hosted research days.

“Faculty members have been committed to undergraduate research for many years,” Keys-Mathews said. “The Quality Enhancement Plan is a formalization and enhancement of what we have been doing. The success of our QEP and undergraduate research is a credit to an incredibly committed and supportive faculty.”