This event offers a valuable opportunity to explore and celebrate the research being conducted within our school. This year, Research Day will follow a refreshed format with all presentations taking place on one day and concluding with an award ceremony.

The Mike Petryk School of Dentistry Student Research Group is pleased to announce the 2025 Research Day, presented by the Alberta Dental Association. This annual academic event will take place on Thursday, May 29, 2025, and will highlight the innovative research conducted by graduate students within the School of Dentistry.

Research Day serves as a key platform for students to share their scholarly work and engage in meaningful academic dialogue. This year, all student presentations will take place over a single day and will conclude with a formal award ceremony.

Given that many first-year graduate students are still in the preliminary stages of their research, their presentations will follow the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) format. This format enables students to effectively convey the essence and potential impact of their work within a concise three-minute presentation, accompanied by a single static slide. Introduced by the University of Queensland in 2008 and adopted by the University of Alberta in 2015, the 3MT has become an engaging and effective academic tradition. All presentations will follow the University of Alberta’s official 3MT guidelines.

As part of their academic program requirements, all first- and second-year graduate students are expected to present at Research Day. If you are a first- or second-year graduate student, we kindly ask you to register your presentation by completing this form.

We warmly invite faculty members to support Research Day by serving as judges during the student presentation sessions. Your expertise and involvement are highly valued and contribute meaningfully to the success of the event. Faculty members who are interested in participating are kindly asked to register using this form.

Geoffrey H. Sperber Lecture

The Geoffrey H. Sperber Lecture honours the remarkable contributions of Dr. Geoffrey Sperber to the fields of craniofacial biology and dental education. Established in 2017 as part of the University of Alberta School of Dentistry’s centennial celebration, this prestigious lecture recognizes Dr. Sperber’s extraordinary six-decade tenure as a faculty member, scientist, and educator. It is considered the most prestigious lecture given at the University of Alberta, delivered by leading researchers in the fields of craniofacial development, genetics, and biology.

We are honoured to welcome Dr. Robert A. Cornell, Professor at the University of Washington School of Dentistry, as the 2025 Geoffrey H. Sperber Lecturer. Dr. Cornell is a distinguished developmental biologist whose research explores transcriptional regulatory networks in neural crest differentiation and the genetic mechanisms underlying craniofacial anomalies and cancer. His keynote lecture, entitled “Isolated Orofacial Cleft: From Genome-Wide Association Studies to Pathogenic Mechanisms,” will be held at 12:00 PM in Kipnes 2-190.

Following the presentations, a formal award ceremony and dinner reception will take place in the South Atrium on the third floor of Kipnes. All attendees are warmly invited to join us in celebrating the achievements of our student researchers. Those planning to attend the dinner are kindly asked to register by May 22, 2025, using this form.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the Alberta Dental Association and Electro Medical Systems for their generous support of Research Day 2025.

For further information or inquiries, please contact the Student Research Group at dentsrg@ualberta.ca.

We look forward to welcoming you to Research Day 2025 and to celebrating the outstanding academic accomplishments of our community.

Oral Presentations - 3 Minute Thesis (3MT)

8 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. | Kipnes 2-150

To accommodate all presentations, first-year students will present in a 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) format. This allows first-year students who might not have their results yet to effectively communicate their research's purpose, significance, and potential impact. The 3MT competition originated at the University of Queensland in 2008 and has been hosted by the University of Alberta since 2015. Presentations will follow the 3MT rules set by the University of Alberta.

Breaks

9:45 to 10 a.m.  | Kipnes 2-150

11:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Kipnes 2-150

Lunch and Visit with Sponsors

12:45 to 1:15 p.m. | Kipnes 2-150

Student Networking time with Guest Speaker

1:15 to 2 p.m. | Kipnes 2-150

Continued Oral Presentations

2 to 6 p.m. | Kipnes 2-150

Breaks

3:45 to 4 p.m.  | Kipnes 2-150

5:15 to 6 p.m. | Kipnes 2-150

Awards

6 to 7 p.m. | South Atrium on the 3rd floor of Kipnes

Following the oral presentations, the award ceremony will be held in the South Atrium on the 3rd floor of Kipnes, where we will celebrate the Research Day winners and recognize the achievements of our students.

Register Here