Student research & creative inquiry opportunities

Undergraduate Research Opportunities in the College of Arts and Sciences

Student Travel Awards

Students involved in research and creative endeavors may apply for funding to attend and present at conferences, which helps them stand out when applying for jobs or graduate/professional school. Learn more about travel scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students.

Undergraduate Research Awards

Undergraduate degree-seeking students enrolled in any major in the College of Arts and Sciences are invited to apply for research awards to conduct projects with faculty members in the college. Faculty in other colleges of K-State may serve as co-mentors, but the primary mentor must have a faculty appointment in the College of Arts and Sciences. Projects must be one summer or one semester in length.

Each awardee receives a $1,000 scholarship. It is applied to the student’s financial aid package. If the research project is not successfully completed, the award must be refunded.

Faculty mentors can support up to two (2) student applications each semester. Exceptions to the limited number of applicants per mentor may be made under special circumstances, but mentors should seek approval by emailing artsciugo@ksu.edu prior to students completing applications.

Complete and acceptable applications will be prioritized by the following criteria:

Students majoring in a degree program within the College of Arts & Sciences and faculty mentor is from an Arts & Sciences department. We encourage interdisciplinary projects so student and mentor do not need to be from the same department.
Students who are enrolled full-time or have a history of full-time enrollment. For example, seniors need not be full-time if they do not require a full-time load to graduate.
Students who have not received a prior award under this program. Students may receive funding for a maximum of two semesters but must apply each semester even if they are continuing the same project.
Depending on the number of applications received, mentors may be asked to help us prioritize their student applicants if mentor has endorsed multiple applicants.

Student Application Deadlines
Spring project: November 1
Summer project: March 1
Fall project: May 1

Application for Undergraduate Research Scholarship

For questions, please email artsciugo@ksu.edu.

Tips for Completing Application

Application can be viewed in its entirety by clicking the application link above.
Two short essay prompts are limited to 2,750 characters (with spaces) which is the approximate equivalent of between 425 and 550 words. It is recommended that you type your responses to the essay questions in MS Word or Google Docs or similar software and then copy and paste your essay into the Qualtrics form. In Word, you can check character count by choosing Review and then Word Count. The characters (with spaces) count should be less than 2,750 to fit into the application form. In Google Docs, you can check character count by choosing Tools and then Word Count.
Once the application is submitted, faculty mentors will receive an auto-generated email to confirm their support of the student applicant's project. Letters of support are no longer required.
Transcripts are not required.

For questions, please email artsciugo@ksu.edu.

Scholarship Requirements

Award recipients may enroll in DAS 400, Undergraduate Research in Arts and Sciences, for zero to three credit hours. A typical research project will include at least 100 hours working on the project. This works out to be approximately ten hours of research per week for ten weeks in the summer, or six to eight hours of research per week for fifteen weeks in the spring or fall. These projects will be direct hands-on research, scholarly or discovery experiences — not lab support or readings.

Research awards can be renewed once (renewal requires applying to the program again within the deadlines for a second semester); however, preference will be given in the review process to proposals from students who have not previously had awards. Preference also will be given to students who will not receive concurrent funding for the same project from other sources such as Johnson Cancer Research Center, K-INBRE, Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research (SDUR) Office, Developing Scholars, and McNair Scholars. Students are encouraged to seek funding from these other sources to continue projects they initiated with ArtSci Undergraduate Research Awards.

Instructions for Confirming Completion of Projects

Mentors will be contacted toward the end of the semester for which the project was funded. They will be asked to confirm that the student met the expectations for the award. If your mentor confirms that expectations were met, nothing more is required. If the student enrolled in DAS 400, the mentor’s confirmation will be used to give the student credit for the course. If the mentor reports issues at any time during the semester that the student is not meeting expectations, the scholarship could be at risk.

Confirmation Due Dates:

Confirmations are due by 5 p.m. on the Friday of Finals week.

August Barrett-Fox, history & political science; mentored by Eric Brandom, history
Kutina Cabrera, psychology & French; mentored by Kathleen Antonioli, modern languages
Ethan Chapman, political science & pre-law, mentored by Benjamin McCloskey, modern languages & history
Tabitha Ellwood, music & English literature; mentored by Slawomir Dobrzanski, music, theatre, & dance
Jiwoo Jung, fisheries, wildlife, conservation, and environmental biology; mentored by Susan Brown, biology
Joseph Pondillo, political science & social transformation studies; mentored by Lisa Tatonetti, English
Darius Skillen, mathematics & Spanish; mentored by Rebecca Bender, modern languages
Steven Walsh, history; mentored by Mary Kohn, English
Jonathan Williams, anthropology; mentored by Benjamin McCloskey, modern languages & history
Taz Zeigler, medical microbiology; mentored by Vanessa Ante, biology

Tips for Finding a Faculty Mentor

How to pursue individual research, scholarly and creative training:

Explore department websites. Most faculty list their research, scholarly and creative interests on their websites.
Email faculty and ask to set up an appointment to discuss their research/scholarly/creative interests. Briefly explain your interests and start a conversation about possible future interactions and opportunities to learn.
Are you taking a class that inspires you and would like to learn more? Talk with your professor after class, during office hours, or schedule an appointment to discuss opportunities to research, explore or create.
The College of Arts and Sciences offers Undergraduate Research Scholarship opportunities (see above for more details).
Talk with your academic advisor about your research, scholarly and creative interests and how to connect with faculty.
Research centers within the College of Arts and Sciences have opportunities listed on their websites.
Explore university wide research opportunities.