The upcoming Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities will be held on the Cal State LA campus in late February/early March 2025.
The Symposium will be open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students involved in scholarly research or creative activities, including term projects and independent study endeavors. Participants can either deliver a 10-minute oral presentation or exhibit a poster. See Symposium Details below for more information.
Gamma Epsilon Chapter will present a Phi Kappa Phi Award to the first-, second-, and third-place winners, with the top 10 presentations representing Cal State LA in the upcoming 39th CSU Student Research Competition to take place on a CSU campus.
Click this link to view the 2024 Student Symposium Program to see how the day's activities were scheduled.
Important Dates and Deadlines
Applications open:
November 2024 | Date to be determined
Applications due:
January/February 2025 | Date to be determined
Event:
February/March 2025 | Date to be determined
University-Student Union and Golden Eagle Ballrooms
Required Application Materials
- Presenters must upload an Abstract and the Approval Page Form to the online applications.
- Students who plan to present research involving human subjects must have IRB approval for the research being presented.
- Students who are conducting research involving animals must have IACUC approval for the research being presented.
If selected as a Cal State LA Delegate to the CSU Competition, you will be required to submit a research summary.
ABSTRACT
All presenters must submit a maximum 200-word, one-paragraph research abstract. Due to the competitive nature of the selection process, abstracts should be written for a general audience. Do not re-use abstracts or write in the same style as you might use for abstracts written for and submitted to niche technical conferences or disciplinary society meetings.
Please use the following format:
Overall document:
• Microsoft Word
• Save as, “Last name, First name Abstract"
• Single-spaced
• Arial font
Heading Formatting Requirements:
• Align left
• Student name (first name last name), bold, 12-pt. font
• Title of presentation, italics, 10-pt. font
• Faculty mentor(s), regular, 10-pt. font
Abstract Formatting Requirements:
• 10-pt. font
• One-inch margins
• Align justified
Applicants must use AdobeSign to obtain Faculty Mentor signature and upload the provided approval page as a PDF.
Symposium Details
Eligibility
- Currently enrolled Cal State LA undergraduate or graduate students
- Recent Cal State LA graduates who received their degrees in the previous year's spring, summer, or fall term
All students engaged in rigorous research, scholarly, or creative activity may participate. Class projects or equivalents, project proposals, and projects that have not yet collected data are recommended to be presented as posters.
Students may participate in the University Symposium in two ways – by delivering a 10-minute oral presentation or by exhibiting a poster presentation. The subsequent statewide competition is limited to oral presentations. Please note that poster presentations can be interpreted in ways appropriate for documenting the discipline, such as video and musical recordings and slides, as well as posters. Previous winners have come from a cross-section of departments representing all seven colleges.
Categories:
- Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Biological and Agricultural Sciences
- Business, Economics, and Public Administration
- Creative Arts and Design
- Education
- Engineering and Computer Science
- Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences
- Humanities and Letters
- Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Applicants must use Cal State LA Credentials to apply.
Online applications can be accessed through the following steps:
- Go to Cal State Los Angeles Applications and Competitions for Grant Funding.
- Click on Login in the upper right-hand corner.
- Click on the blue button that says "Cal State LA Login" and log in using your Cal State LA credentials.
- On the top menu, click on the Calendar Tab.
- On the right-hand side click on "List View" to find the application.
- Complete the application form.
Presentations from all disciplines are invited. The nine categories are:
- Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Biological and Agricultural Sciences
- Business, Economics, and Public Administration
- Creative Arts and Design
- Education
- Engineering and Computer Science
- Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences
- Humanities and Letters
- Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Each participant is limited to one presentation as the lead presenter.
Proprietary research is excluded.
The steering committee reserves the right to combine or subdivide the categories above, move an entrant from one category to another, or move a presentation to a poster session.
Presentation Procedures
Student oral presenters will deliver their talks before an audience and a jury. They will compete by discipline category. Each student will be allotted 10 minutes for the presentation and three minutes to respond to juror and audience questions. Standard forms of audiovisual equipment (e.g., PowerPoint program and projector) may be used. Entrants in the Creative Arts and Design category may present an audio and/or visual record of a performance they have given or a work they have created; their oral presentation should focus on the rationale and historical context underlying their interpretation of the material.
Class projects or equivalents, project proposals, and projects that have not yet collected data are recommended to be presented as posters.
Students will be judged both on their oral presentations and their written abstracts using the following criteria:
- Clarity of purpose
- Appropriateness of methodology
- Interpretation of results
- Value of the research or creative activity
- Ability of the presenter to articulate the research or creative activity
- Organization of the material presented
- Presenter’s ability to handle questions from jury and audience
Judges will select at least one outstanding presenter in each discipline category. The overall top 10 presentations will be selected to compete in the statewide competition during the spring semester. In addition, the Gamma Epsilon Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi will bestow three presenters with an award.
Student poster presenters will set up their posters on the 3½’ x 5’ poster boards and easels provided for their use. At minimum, one author must be stationed alongside the poster during the assigned time to respond to inquiries from judges and other viewers. Any additional equipment requiring an electrical outlet must be arranged in advance. Judges will select one outstanding poster in each discipline category.
Students will be judged on the poster and their responses to questions using the following criteria:
- Legibility of material on poster
- Organization of poster
- Sufficient background information
- Stated objective and/or hypothesis
- Appropriateness of methodology
- Clarity of results
- Stated summary and/or conclusion
- Contribution to the field
- Effective and engaging presentation
- Presenter’s ability to handle questions from judges and audience
Participant Recognition
Student Symposium Awards
Our panel of judges will present the Gamma Epsilon Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi Awards for first, second, and third place.
The top 10 presentations will represent Cal State LA in the Annual CSU Student Research Competition.
CSU Systemwide Student Research Competition
The annual event brings together scholars from the 23 CSU campuses. The competition showcases undergraduate and graduate research, scholarship, and creative works by recognizing outstanding student accomplishments. Students who compete in the CSU Student Research Competition can win $500 for first place and $250 for second place recognition in their session.