If the word “research” brings up only images of lab coats, beakers and test tubes, it’s time to get up to speed. A great way to do that would be to stop at the University of Delaware’s annual Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity on Thursday, Aug. 13.

More than 500 students are expected to share information about their research at the event, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Patrick T. Harker Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Lab (ISE Lab).

Yes, some of their work requires lab coats, beakers and test tubes — along with state-of-the-art microscopy, imaging and high-performance computing. A lot of it doesn’t.

Consider some of the areas students have been exploring:

• Food justice
• Autonomous wheelchairs
• Cybercrime in Delaware
• Sleep quality in first responders
• Student mental health care
• Achilles tendons
• Aging in Delaware
• Resisting propaganda
• Ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) in public policy
• Workforce housing shortages
• Analysis of school choice policies
• Firearm injuries

Projects cover a broad range of disciplines, including music, the arts, agriculture, medicine, physical therapy, engineering, biology, neuroscience, chemistry, physics, psychology, history, culture, conflict and many more.

The names of the presenters and descriptions of their projects are available on the website of UD’s Undergraduate Research Program (URP). The full symposium program and schedule will be available online by August 7 at the same link.