Concordia recently hosted its 6th annual Concordia International Research Conference (CIRCH). Aimed at high school and university students, CIRCH was founded in 2019 to provide a platform for researchers to present their findings across various academic disciplines.

CIRCH is a student-run conference, overseen by faculty sponsor Dr. Emmanuel Santos, Concordia’s Director of STEM. Some of our student organizers have experience presenting papers at university conferences and are published in academic journals. CIRCH is designed to be a similarly high-level academic event. This year’s conference followed a hybrid format, incorporating both in-person presentations and virtual sessions via Zoom.

“CIRCH was born from a bold idea conceived in 2019 by Mr. Whitehead, a former STEM teacher, and myself: to create a conference where students from our Big Data classes could showcase their research to the community. We also envisioned it as a platform to invite students from across Southeast Asia to share their work. In the very first edition—held just before the COVID pandemic—we had the pleasure of welcoming students from the Philippines to participate on campus,” explained Dr. Santos.

As the conference has grown, so has the number of paper submissions. Getting selected for CIRCH is a mark of prestige. The CIRCH Chairs work with Dr. Santos to screen submissions and select the best ones for presenting. While the conference began with a focus on Big Data Analysis, CIRCH now welcomes presenters from all fields. This year’s presentations covered a wide range of topics, including:

• Analyzing the Relationship Between Carcinogen Consumption and Cancer Mortality
   
• Comparative Performance of ViT and MaxViT on a Rice Leaf Diseases Dataset
   
• Sovereign ESG Trends and Their Economic Implications: Insights from ASEAN-8 and Global Comparisons
   
• From the humanities department: From Existentialism to Haight-Ashbury: A ‘Summer of’ Self-Responsibilities, Rights, and Love

Since 2024, CIRCH has also included a poster component, giving students with noteworthy projects the chance to showcase their research through informative posters. These students then discuss their findings with the guests during designated conference breaks within the gallery area. Some featured posters included:

• Speaker Recognition Using Neural Networks
   
• Restoring Rights, Shaping Responsibilities: The Birth of the Korean Republic
   
• Comparative Analysis of Macroeconomic Indicators and Crisis Resilience: A Study of Singapore and the UAE
   
• WHEN FEAR DICTATED JUSTICE: The Impact of Executive Order 9066 and the Responsibility to Uphold Rights

“The main objective of this year's conference was to expand its reach within our community. It's important for our community to see the kind of research being conducted—not only by our own students, but also by students from other schools. This year, we received the highest number of submissions to date, both internal and external, with participants from across Southeast Asia," Dr. Santos shared.

Enriching the Student Experience

Behind the scenes is a group of more than thirty students dedicated to building a serious academic platform. They manage everything from logistics to branding, marketing, and material design—gaining hands-on experience in various aspects of event planning.

“It’s important that students organize and take part in a conference like CIRCH because it helps build a stronger research culture at Concordia. By leading and participating, students not only make academic work more visible and accessible to the wider school community, but also gain experience in the behind-the-scenes work that brings research to life. As Co-Chair this year, I’ve communicated with keynote speakers and presenters, reviewed papers, and supported the logistics team to ensure everything runs smoothly. As a former paper and poster presenter, I’ve seen how CIRCH encourages not just presenting research, but also understanding and engaging with it—both as a speaker and an audience member. These experiences have driven me to make CIRCH a community event that welcomes all students, whether presenting, organizing, or simply interested in learning something new,” said CIRCH Co-Chair Preston (G12).

“I believe that student involvement in the conference—whether it is presenting research, organizing logistics, or planning ways to engage peers—contributes to the highly academic environment at Concordia. As a student Co-Chair and former research presenter, I greatly value the academic benefits CIRCH has brought me. It has provided me with presentation skills, leadership and organizational experience, and insight into the workings of academic conferences. These valuable experiences have driven me to help prepare the best conference possible for high school students across Hanoi and Southeast Asia so we can all share these benefits and grow together,” said CIRCH Co-Chair Quang Minh (G12).
 

The conference also enriches Concordia’s Big Data and Independent Research classes. Student presenters find CIRCH a valuable opportunity to deepen their research by preparing and presenting their work in a professional format. It also gives Concordia students the opportunity to see what their peers in similar classes are learning and accomplishing, offering valuable insight into how their experiences compare with those of their peers.

“For students like me who are still learning and just starting with small projects, the chance to pitch an idea and then present it in front of other students is a great experience. I think it sets a solid foundation for creating and submitting more in-depth work in the future. That’s helped me grow as a student, so I think CIRCH is a very good conference,” said Hayeon (G11), who presented a paper titled Analyzing US States’ Organ Transplant Data.
 

Presenters from the Philippines, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, HCMC; Visitors from Montana

CIRCH 2025 was truly an international conference, with online student presenters from Universitas Muslim Indonesia; Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan; Taytay Senior High School (Philippines), and Vietnam National University-HCM High School for the Gifted. 

This year’s conference even drew visitors from as far away as Jefferson High School in Boulder, Montana, USA. Thomas, a Grade 9 student, traveled to Hanoi with his father, Mark, to present a poster on his paper titled Means, Motive, and Opportunity: Albert Calmette and the Creation of Antivenom.

Thomas shared: “I wanted to take part in CIRCH because I hoped to experience something new that I could both learn from and contribute to. It was exciting to learn from other students and keynote speakers with similar passions and interests. I’m thankful for the opportunity to gain experience presenting original research and receiving feedback. CIRCH was a perfect opportunity to challenge myself academically and intellectually, as well as cross-culturally since it was my first time visiting Vietnam. I loved the entire experience and hope to return back to CIRCH in 2026!”

Mark added: “I’ve known of Concordia Hanoi’s reputation for academic excellence for some time, so I knew anything done by the school would be done well. The student-run nature of the conference was very impressive. Student organizers were professional, enthusiastic, supportive, and maintained high standards for the scholarship featured in the conference. The topics covered a wide range of disciplines and used cutting-edge research methods. It was a great opportunity for young researchers to showcase their work and contribute to important conversations about real-world issues. While it was quite a journey from Montana to Hanoi, it was well worth it—and we’d do it again.”

Industry Keynote Speakers

Each year, CIRCH invites keynote speakers to share insights on data analysis in their professional fields. This year featured two industry experts: Dr. Mike Perkins from British University Vietnam (BUV), and Belgium-based Italian AI specialist Andrea Castagna.
Dr. Mike Perkins, Head of the Centre for Research and Innovation and Associate Professor at BUV, focuses on the impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on academia. He guides policymaking on the use of AI in higher education to ensure academic integrity and high-quality learning. As a leader in AI integration in Vietnamese education, Dr. Perkins offered expert insights on how students and educators can navigate the challenges of using AI tools efficiently and responsibly.

Andrea Castagna is the Policy and Programme Manager at the Institute of Innovative Governance, where he works at the intersection of AI, digital technologies, and policy. His work addresses the global implications of emerging technologies and their role in international cooperation, particularly in education, tech entrepreneurship, and digital development. Mr. Castagna emphasized the importance of creativity and ideas in the tech space.

Past keynote speakers have also added immense value to CIRCH. In 2022, CIRCH welcomed Dr. Hui-Huang Hsu, Counsellor and Director of the Science and Technology Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam, and Dr. Eric Dziuban, Country Director for CDC Vietnam. In 2023, keynote speakers included Mr. Kester Scandrett, Chief Representative of DSI, LLC in Hanoi, and Mr. John J. Hurley, APHIS Area Director at the U.S. Embassy’s Department of Agriculture. In 2024, keynote speakers were Dr. Joshua Dwight, Lecturer of Information Technology at RMIT Hanoi, and Mr. Pierre Lebrun, Telehealth Applications Software Engineer at Doximity.

Concordia is honored to have had such prestigious industry leaders sharing their insights with CIRCH, and we look forward to hosting the conference next year. Thank you to Dr. Santos for all your effort and dedication to continuing the CIRCH tradition and making the conference a success! 

View the complete list of papers and learn more about CIRCH. 

Learn more about Concordia’s High School Program.