Join Us for University Research Day 2026!
Join The Catholic University of America's students, faculty, and staff on Wednesday, April 15, for University Research Day (URD) 2026, our annual celebration of research, creativity, and scholarship.
Experience groundbreaking work from our academic community through oral and poster sessions, musical performances, and a film festival. The day will conclude with a live awards ceremony recognizing the most engaging presentations.
This year marks the 11th anniversary of URD, over a decade of innovation and discovery.
Mark your calendars, begin preparing your abstracts, and join us in celebrating the research achievements of Catholic University.
Reiko Asano and Patricia Andrasik
URD 2026 Co-chairs
History of Catholic University Research Day
The first University Research Day (URD) was held in 2016 through the inspiration and hard work of NCSSS professor Melissa Grady, the support of the Provost, and the first University Research Day Planning Committee. Since that first year, URD has become a marquee event on campus and one of the most eagerly anticipated by students, staff, and faculty.
From this initial event, URD has grown to include a poster session that fills the Great Rooms in the Pryz, artistic presentations from the Rome School, and a film festival. The COVID-19 pandemic inspired many changes on campus including a virtual program for URD. URD 2021 was a resounding success. Families, friends, alumni, and supporters from around the globe participated. Thousands of visitors enjoyed live-streamed talks and access to nearly 140 recorded presentations plus musical performances. So successful was this change that even when it was no longer a necessity, we continue to offer a full virtual program for all to participate.
In 2025, URD at Catholic University celebrated its 10th anniversary.
We hope you will join us and celebrate the 2026's URD! You can join this celebration by submitting abstracts for a poster or an oral presentation (due January 27!) , attend our in-person keynote and oral presentations and poster session, or participate remotely by watching poster and oral presentations available on our URD website.
We thank all URD participants and the URD Planning Committees from the past 10 Research Days and we hope to see you for our next event!
URD presentations from previous years can be found in the 2025 Research Day archives and in Catholic University's Digital Repository.
University News: Catholic University Achieves Top-Tier R1 Status
The designation is America's gold standard for university research. Only five percent of American colleges and universities are designated with R1 status.