FOURTEENTH ANNUAL
Neuro X Change
Undergraduate Neuroscience & Mental Health Research Conference
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About the Conference
The NeuroXChange (NXC) Conference is an Ontario-based undergraduate research conference that brings together undergraduate students from across Canada to showcase and discuss research in the field of neuroscience. The conference provides the opportunity for undergraduate students to explore their passion in neuroscience and encourages their ongoing growth in the field as they continue into graduate or professional studies.
The conference features undergraduate student posters and oral presentations, two Q&A panels with professionals from the neuroscience and mental health fields, and two keynote speakers that will discuss topics regarding neuroscience and mental health. Honorariums are awarded to outstanding oral and poster presentations, as determined by a panel of judges.
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The 2024 NXC Conference is currently planned for an in-person event for the first time amidst the pandemic! Any undergraduate student involved in neuroscience or related research at a university in Canada is welcome to present at the conference. Any person interested in what the conference has to offer is welcome to attend.
NXC showcases research from all fields of neuroscience
Health & Clinical Neuroscience
The study of the nervous system as it relates to neurosciences, psychiatric disorders and mental health.
Systems & Behavioural Neuroscience
The study of neural circuits, systems and pathways of information flow and their role in influencing behaviour.
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Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience
The study of neurons at the cellular and molecular levels, ranging from the study of
neuronal physiological properties to protein chemistry.
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Cognitive & Computational Neuroscience
The study of biological substrates underlying cognition and mental processes. This includes theoretical modelling of information processing properties and cognitive function.
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Date of the Conference
APRIL 27th, 2024 at CIBC HALL
Previous Keynote Speakers
Dr. Andrew Chang
With great honour, the NXC Team is happy to announce that Dr. Andrew Chang will be the neuroscience keynote speaker for the 2023 NeuroXChange Conference.
Dr. Chang is a NRSA postdoctoral fellow at New York University, where he works with Professor David Poeppel. He earned his PhD in Psychology from McMaster University in 2019, where he worked with Professor Laurel Trainor.
His research interests span various topics in auditory cognitive science, with a particular focus on music perception, interpersonal communication, and relevant neural mechanisms. Currently, he is investigating the fundamental differences between speech and music at the acoustic, perceptual, and neural levels.
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Dr. Marta Maslej
The NXC Team is excited to announce that Dr. Marta Maslej will be the mental health keynote speaker for the 2023 NeuroXChange Conference.
Dr. Maslej is a Project Scientist with the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics (KCNI) at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She completed her PhD in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour (PNB) at McMaster University, with a focus on understanding the emotional and cognitive symptoms of depression from an evolutionary perspective. Her current research examines the diverse applications of technology and AI in mental health assessment and care, as well as their potential to contribute to health inequities.
At KCNI, she works as part of an interdisciplinary team of clinicians, qualitative researchers, and computational scientists to study factors contributing to the successful integration of AI into psychiatric care, and how this integration will impact patients with depression and acute distress. Her work has been supported by The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Google Research.
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NXC Welcomes Presenters and Attendees
For Attendees
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Eligibility: Anyone may attend, including undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty.
Cost (for Attendees): The cost for attendees is $10.
For Presenters
Eligibility:
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Students must be undergraduates currently attending a Canadian University, and must be currently involved or have previously taken part in the research project they are presenting.
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The research project must be completed under the supervision of a faculty member at a university located within Canada. The student must obtain consent from their supervisor to present the research project.
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The presenter must ensure their research is in accordance with one of the research areas in neuroscience listed above.
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The research must be consistent with McMaster University's Academic Integrity Guidelines.
Poster Presentations: ​
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To register as a poster presenter, please fill out the registration form in the registration section, once it becomes available to public access.
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Registration involves making a $10.00 CAD (plus applicable fees) payment and submitting an abstract for your poster (300 words or less).
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Students will prepare and present a poster that summarizes the neuroscience research they were involved in. Poster presentations will be evaluated by multiple judges during one of two presentation periods. Evaluation criteria include: the quality of the content, poster visualization, and presentation of the poster's content.
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All abstracts submitted for poster presentations are accepted provided that the research to be presented relates to one of the Research Areas in neuroscience.
Poster Requirements:
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Posters for the virtual conference are required to be presented on goolge slides Posters will be shared within a virtual booth during one of two scheduled presentation sessions. Presenters must be available in their virtual poster booth during their assigned time slot. Your poster should contain the following features:
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Title
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Introduction
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Materials and Methods
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Results
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Conclusion
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References
Oral Presentations Information ​
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To register as an oral presenter, please fill out the registration form in the registration section, once it becomes available to public access.
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Registration involves making a $10.00 CAD (plus applicable fees) payment and submitting an abstract for your oral presentation (300 words or less).
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Students will prepare a TEDx-style presentation summarizing the key points of the neuroscience research that they were involved in. The foremost purpose of the oral presentations is to provide an entertaining account of discoveries in neuroscience. Presentations will be strictly 7 minutes in length, and are followed by a brief question period.
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Students who wish to be oral presenters must submit an abstract of their research in the application. In addition to the abstract, the submission of a video is strongly encouraged, but not required. The video does not have to be on the same topic they wish to present at the conference, but rather is intended as a demonstration of your presentation skills. If you choose to submit a video, please upload your file onto YouTube and provide us with the link in the application below. Successful applicants will be contacted via email with the link to an Eventbrite page where the purchase of a presenter ticket can be made.
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All selected oral presenters will be contacted and provided with guidelines for their presentation. If you are not selected as an oral presenter, you will automatically be registered as a poster presenter, should you still wish to present your research at the conference.
Honorariums:​
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Honorariums will be awarded for the most outstanding poster presentations, as determined by a panel of graduate student judges and affiliate journal representatives.
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Additionally, one honorarium will be awarded for the most outstanding oral presentation, as determined by a panel of graduate student judges and affiliate journal representatives.
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Multiple abstract publications in the McMaster Meducator, as well as McMaster Psynapse journals will be awarded to outstanding presentations, as determined by a panel of McMaster affiliate journal representatives. These journals focus on creating a literary community to ultimately enable meaningful academic discussions.
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Conference Registration
Presenter Registration:
To register for the 2024 NeuroXChange Conference as either a:
poster presenter or oral presenter;
please click the following:
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Attendee Registration:
To register for the 2024 NeuroXChange Conference as an:
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attendee;
please click the following:
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Abstract book
Get a better idea of what NeuroXchange is all about and see who was involved in our previous year's conference!
Click on the cover to get started.
Acknowledgments
The 2024 NXC conference is organized by the McMaster Biology & Psychology, Mental Health, and Neuroscience societies. We would like to thank the members of each society for their hard work and dedication in helping to organize and run this year's conference.
Mental Health
Society
BioPsych
Society
Neuroscience
Society
We would like to thank the McMaster department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour for their continued support for our conference, as well as McMaster University for offering our conference space to run, whether it be in digital or physical format.
We would like to thank the McMaster Meducater and Psynapse undergraduate research journals for their continued partnership with our conference, and the unique opportunity they provide to our presenters in allowing them to publish and further disseminate their undergraduate research.
