Submission Deadline: February 20th, 2026 

Please join us for the UIW Excellence Summit 2026: We are but one WORD: Excellence! to take place April 20 - 23, 2026. UIW invites all to showcase their academic excellence and submit their abstracts or artist’s statements describing their works, projects, masterful art, and literature. Faculty, staff, and students (undergraduate, graduate, and professional) are all encouraged to participate. Projects presented elsewhere over the last academic year are welcome. We encourage the submission of projects that incorporate participatory and collaborative approaches, engage with diverse communities, and are open to novel formats to enable participation across the numerous academic platforms of excellence at UIW. Accepted submissions will be presented both in-person and online in a virtual symposium format. 

Poster Presentations

The poster presentation is open to any discipline and will include a formal in-person poster session. There will be active judging of student poster presentations and prizes for the winning students.

Podium Presentations 

Podium presentations are open to those who feel their discipline or area of study is better suited to podium presentations. Presentations should not exceed 15 minutes and if accepted, participants will have a choice to present online or in person with live streaming.

Performing Arts Submissions 

Performing arts submissions are open to any musical, spoken, or theatrical performance. Submissions must be original works by the artist or a presentation/discussion of existing pieces. Please see the submission form for additional performance information.

Visual Arts Submissions 

Visual arts submissions must be original works by the artist. Please see the submission form for additional display information.

Faculty Guidance    We are seeking your participation to encourage mentorship and showcase scholarly excellence to our students. We welcome ideas on how you and your budding scholars can present together. No students but want some to begin working with you in your academic area of excellence? No problem we can help you communicate your interests to our greater UIW population in a special showcase for interested faculty. Please contact our office at orgs@uiwtx.edu if you would like to build a specific topic session. 

Additional Information  All accepted abstracts and artist’s statements will be published in the Proceedings and archived in The Atheneum.

Effective June 1, 2025, applications must be submitted by the student's faculty mentor.

Guidelines

The Student Travel Award currently supports UIW students who have been accepted to present at a professional event. Presenting includes the reporting of research results, exhibiting or performing creative works or otherwise disseminating results of scholarly activity. 

• Student Travel funds are provided as reimbursement after travel has been completed, except for airfare, which can be purchased directly through our office.
• The faculty mentor and/or student are strongly encouraged to demonstrate exploration of extramural grants and/or collaborative departmental cost-sharing opportunities.
• Accepted students must present their research at the annual Excellence Summit.

Award

The max award amount will be reviewed annually (currently $800). The number of available awards will be dependent upon annual funding for the program. Mentors will have applications evaluated and provided weighted scores on departmental cost-sharing and mentor and/or student attempts at external funding to include extramural grants, travel grants, and recent awards.

• The tax-free award is fully managed and tracked by the ORGS. 
• The amount awarded is up to $800 toward expenses incurred during the approved travel. 
• Any unused funds will be returned to the STA to provide funding opportunities for other students. 
• Awarded funds must be used within the fiscal year (June 1-May 31) in which it was awarded.

Eligibility

To be eligible, at the time of travel, an applicant must be:

• The primary presenter of the project.
• Personally accepted to present at the professional event.
• Regularly admitted to a UIW degree program.
• Full time student in good academic standing.
• Not previously awarded within same fiscal year (June 1 - May 31); one award per student per fiscal year.
• Enrolled in the semester during which the travel takes place. Students who maintain a current enrollment status from Spring to Fall may apply funds for travel during the Summer semester. 

Reimbursement Guidelines

Expenses and receipts must be submitted for reimbursement within ten days after travel.

Allowable Costs:

Below are items/categories that can be covered by the award, however, this does not mean that all of them will be paid for. 

San Antonio (in-town) conferences

• Conference Registration Fee (excludes membership fees)
• Parking fee

Out-of-town or out-of-state conferences

• Airfare and/or Mileage 
• Conference registration fee (excludes membership/organization fees, field trips, etc.)
• Hotel accommodations 
• Meals 
• Transportation costs from the airport to the hotel and vice versa, if no courtesy shuttle is available.

Unallowable Costs:

Below are the items/categories not covered by the award.

• Alcohol
• Entertainment
• Room service 
• Cash advances
• Lodging beyond the event dates
• Membership fees
• Rental vehicles
• Non-event related travel (e.g. taxi from hotel to restaurant) 

Airfare Guidelines

If awarded, the ORGS invites you to purchase airfare through our office. For consideration,

• Applications must be received at least two months in advance to ensure affordable rates.
• Airfare will not be booked in advance if the trip is less than 3 weeks away.
• Airfare is the only travel arrangement our office can provide at this time. 

Expectation of Student

If awarded, you are expected to adhere to the following:

• UIW Student Code of Conduct
• Have received all research compliance approvals through our office, as applicable (IRB for human subjects research and IACUC for animal research) 
• Students are strongly encouraged to have some vested interest in attending by paying for some of their travel.

Deadline

Continuous

Contact Us

The ORGS would like to thank you for participating. To contact us you can call (210) 805-3555 and Press 0, or email research@uiwtx.edu.