Universitas 21 is an international network of twenty-four leading research-intensive universities in sixteen countries. Collectively, its members enroll over 830,000 students, employ over 145,000 staff, and have nearly 2.5 million alumni. The network’s purpose is to facilitate collaboration and cooperation between the member universities and to create opportunities for them on a scale that none would be able to achieve operating independently or through traditional bilateral alliances.Each year, a member institution hosts the Universitas 21 Undergraduate Research Conference. Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, hosted the eighth annual conference, organized with the theme of “Connecting the Future,” from July 1st to 6th, 2012. The University of Virginia’s student-run research journal, The Oculus, has the privilege of publishing research papers presented at the annual U21 undergraduate research conference.For more information regarding Universitas 21, visit www.universitas21.com.
