The SFU Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS) provides an opportunity for eligible undergraduate students from all disciplines to present their research in a friendly and supportive environment. The Symposium showcases the high quality original undergraduate research taking place across Simon Fraser University. The Symposium is a multidisciplinary forum, meaning that student presenters are able to share their research with a diverse and interdisciplinary audience. 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and SFU's transition to remote instruction for the end of the spring 2020 semester, the Undergraduate Research Symposium Planning Committee made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person Symposium. While the 2020 Symposium couldn’t happen in person, the committee was dedicated to sharing the extraordinary undergraduate research work being conducted at SFU. These factors together resulted in the inaugural issue of the SFU Undergraduate Research Symposium Journal. 

The SFU Undergraduate Research Symposium Journal serves as an archive of UGRS abstracts, presentations, and posters. It both builds awareness of the UGRS presenters' hard work and celebrates their significant research accomplishments. The undergraduate research being conducted at SFU is of an extremely high calibre, and we are proud to be able to share some of it here. In this way, this journal serves as a database of model undergraduate research projects and highlight this unique aspect of the undergraduate experience at SFU.