The upcoming Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities will be held on the Cal State LA campus on Friday, February 28, 2025.
The Symposium is open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students involved in research, scholarly, or creative activities. 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 at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Important Dates and Deadlines
Applications open:
Monday, October 28, 2024
Applications due:
Wednesday, January 29, 2025, by 11:59p.m. PST
Event:
Friday, February 28, 2025
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
• Current degree objective, regular, 10-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 https://calstatela.infoready4.com/
- Click 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 titled, "Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (2025)."
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
Note: 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.
Each participant is limited to one presentation as the lead presenter. For group presentations (two or more presenters), please have the lead presenter complete the application and list each co-presenter within that application.
Proprietary research is excluded.
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
Cal State LA Student Symposium Awardees
Our panel of judges will present the Gamma Epsilon Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi Awards for first, second, and third place.
Ten oral presentations will be selected to represent Cal State LA in the Annual CSU Student Research Competition.
Annual CSU 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.