Highly successful over its four-year existence, Concordia’s Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Research Conference (CBGRC) has expanded to two days, held this year on Sept. 27 and 28.

The CBGRC is a showcase of graduate-level work from universities across Quebec, Ontario, the Maritimes and the northeastern United States. It has a competitive format, with awards for both oral and poster presentations. Research may be in analytical, inorganic, physical, organic or molecular chemistry, or biochemistry.

The symposium is open to the public. Visitors are encouraged to sit in on the lectures and take the time to observe the poster demonstrations.

One of the most popular events for the general public is likely to be popular McGill professor and Gazette science columnist Joe Schwarcz, scheduled to speak Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 o’clock. For the full schedule, consult the conference Web site, at http://artsandscience.concordia.ca/chem/grad_conference/index.htm.

Poster and public-speaking presentations are critiqued by a panel of judges, who are volunteers from universities or industry. Many of the sponsors attend, allowing students to discuss their research and inquire about job opportunities.

This event is organized each year by hardworking Concordia students: Julie Bonvin, Chris Boyer, Sean Hughes, Hasnain Jaffer, Denise Koch, Kevork Mekhssian, Andrea Romeo, Pascal Turcotte, John Wright and David Yeung.