Pitt to Host ACC 9th Annual "Meeting of the Minds" Conference

The University of Pittsburgh will host the 9th Annual ACC Meeting of the Minds Conference, in which 109 of the most talented student researchers from the 15 member schools of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) will present their work, exchange ideas, and learn about the city and Pitt.

“We are delighted to host the ACC’s Meeting of the Minds undergraduate research conference this year,” said Pitt Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia Beeson. “The event gives students and faculty from each institution the opportunity to share research across multiple disciplines, and as new members of the ACC, gives us the opportunity to highlight some of our educational programs and facilities. We look forward to building on the tradition that has been established at this event over the last eight years, and to the new partnerships and collaborations the event will inspire.”

Most of the ACC schools select their representatives through a competitive review process, making it an honor for students to represent their universities. Research must be student directed, under faculty advisement. Each student researcher will present a poster or make a 15-minute presentation, followed by a short discussion period. The oral presentations will be held at various times April 4-5 in the University Club, and the poster presentations will be displayed at the O’Hara Student Center.

Pitt is sending eight student researchers to this year’s conference, and they will make research presentations in neuroscience, biology, studio arts, psychology, nursing, and political science.

Provost Beeson will welcome students during an evening reception April 3 in the Frick Fine Arts Building cloisters. Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies Juan Manfredi will deliver the conference’s opening address during breakfast on April 4. Dinner that evening will feature as plenary speakers Pitt’s Andrew B. Schwartz, professor of neurobiology, and Terry Smith, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory.

In addition to the sharing of research, the students will visit the Andy Warhol Museum on the North Side and the Duquesne Incline, Downtown. On April 5, participants will watch a presentation by Pitt Department of Theater Arts students who will demonstrate how dramaturgy—research and the development of plays or operas—is being used in the two Pitt performances, In the Heights and My Doomsday Off.

The Meeting of the Minds Conference is a program of the Atlantic Coast Athletic Conference Inter-Institutional Academic Collaborative, a project that emphasizes academic cooperation in addition to the athletic competition provided through the ACC. For more information, visit http://accmom2014.pitt.edu/