The Yale Undergraduate Research Conference (YURC) is the nation’s largest and most prestigious student-run research conference, bringing together hundreds of undergraduates from around the world to Yale University. Participants present original research spanning the full spectrum of academic disciplines, from science and engineering to the social sciences and humanities.
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Dr. James E. Rothman is the Sterling Professor of Cell Biology at Yale School of Medicine and a Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine (2013). A pioneer in the field of membrane trafficking, his groundbreaking research uncovered the molecular machinery that governs vesicle transport within cells, a process essential to neurotransmission, hormone release, and immune function. Dr. Rothman’s work has transformed modern cell biology and biochemistry, earning him numerous honors including the Lasker Award, the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience, and election to the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to his scientific contributions, he has held leadership roles at Columbia, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Yale, shaping the future of biomedical research across institutions.
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!
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Application Opens: September 1st
Application Deadline: January 1st
Late Registration Deadline: February 1st
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A vast majority of students who attend YURC receive funding from their research group/institution to attend.
Please visit our Scholarship Directory to see if your institution provides funding to travel.
We are happy to provide letters of support for institutional funding/visa applications, please reach out to yura@yale.edu with subject line “YURC Support”
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Please visit our FAQ to answer any questions you may have.
If you have any additional questions that are not answered please reach out to yura@yale.edu with the subject (YURC Support)
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
MORE SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
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Dr. Joy Hirsch is a Professor of Psychiatry, Comparative Medicine, and Neuroscience at the Yale School of Medicine and the Director of Yale’s Brain Function Laboratory and faculty of the Wu Tsai Institute. Internationally recognized for her pioneering use of functional brain imaging to study human social interactions, she has developed innovative methods to map brain activity during live, face-to-face communication. Her research has advanced understanding of language, empathy, decision-making, and the neural mechanisms of disorders such as autism and psychopathy. Dr. Hirsch’s work bridges neuroscience, psychology, and clinical research, and her lab has been at the forefront of developing new technologies, including near-infrared spectroscopy, to study the social brain in real-world contexts.
