About SCCUR

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Southern California Conferences for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR) is an organization of Southern California faculty, administrators, and interested members of the community who share the common goal of improving education for college and university students through hands-on experiences of undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity.

SCCUR supports inquiry-based education, in which students learn while doing, working closely with faculty mentors on significant academic projects and presenting their results to audiences in a professional manner. 

In November 1993, a group of educators in the greater Los Angeles area organized the first interdisciplinary Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research at the California Institute of Technology.

Since then the conference has been hosted annually by a local institution, always on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

In recent years SCCUR’s conference has drawn from seven to nine hundred undergraduate student participants presenting their work in the form of oral presentations, posters, and creative exhibits and performances, as well as their faculty mentors and guests. Participants come from approximately 80 institutions in Southern California and the rest of the nation, with some international presenters. 

To enhance its ability to create opportunities for undergraduate research, SCCUR became a nonprofit United States Internal Revenue Service certified tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Individual, foundation, and corporate donations to SCCUR are tax deductible.

SCCUR Board of Directors

SCCUR is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors representing a range of Southern California educational institutions and professions.

Officers:

President (2023 – 2025)

  • Binod Tiwari, PhD, California State University, Fullerton

President-Elect (2023 – 2025)

  • Scott Annin, PhD, California State University, Fullerton

Secretary 

  • Jacqueline Trischman, PhD, California State University, San Marcos

Treasurer 

  • Peter Hung, PhD, The Aerospace Corporation

Members of the Board:

  • Binod Tiwari, PhD, California State University, Fullerton

  • Christina Hassija, PhD, California State University, San Bernardino

  • Elyzza Aparicio, PhD, California State University, Long Beach

  • Erin Gratz, EdD, Orange Coast College

  • Frank A. Gomez, PhD, The California State University, Office of the Chancellor

  • Jacqueline Trischman, PhD, California State University, San Marcos

  • Jay Brewster, PhD, Pepperdine University

  • Maduka Ogba, PhD, Chapman University

  • Manjula Gunawardana, PhD, Oak Crest Institute of Science

  • Megan Granquist, PhD, University of La Verne

  • Perla Ayala, PhD, California State University, Long Beach

  • Peter Hung, PhD, The Aerospace Corporation

  • Sarah Dunn, PhD, California State University, San Bernardino, Palm Desert Campus

  • Scott Annin, PhD, California State University, Fullerton

  • Stella Erbes, PhD, Pepperdine University

  • Steve Adolph, PhD, Harvey Mudd College

  • Virgil Adams, PhD, California State University, Channel Islands

  • Winny Dong, PhD, California Polytechnic Institute, Pomona