Student research opportunities

Undergraduate Research Opportunities in the College of Arts and Sciences

Student Travel Awards

Work closely with a faculty member to hone your research interests and make a contribution to the field. Then network with researchers at conferences to present your findings. Your hard work will help you stand out when searching for a career or applying to graduate or professional school.

Learn more about travel scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students.

Undergraduate Research Awards

Undergraduate students enrolled full-time 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 members from departments outside the college may serve as co-mentors on projects, but the primary mentor must have a faculty appointment in the College of Arts and Sciences. Projects will be one summer or one semester in length.

Students selected for research awards will receive a scholarship award of $1,000. This award will be applied to the student’s financial aid package. If the research project is not successfully completed, the award must be refunded.

Application deadlines

Spring: November 13, 2020
Summer: March 26, 2021
Fall: May 14, 2021

To apply, download & complete this undergraduate research opportunities form (pdf), save a copy, and email it to artsciugo@k-state.edu.

Scholarship Requirements

Award recipients will 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 fifteen 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. Students selected for the internships will be required to submit a final report.

Research awards can be renewed once; 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 Developing Scholars, Johnson Cancer Center, K-INBRE, OURCI, or McNair Scholars. Students are encouraged to seek funding from such sources to continue projects initiated under the Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Scholars program.

Instructions for Submitting Final Research Scholarship Reports

If selected for the scholarship, you will be required to submit a report. This is in the form of an Abstract (required) suitable for public release, including posting on the web. The abstract should be one or two paragraphs in length, accessible to an educated layperson, such as a member of congress. The abstract should describe the topic of your investigation, and the reason this research or scholarly activity is important. It should include a description of the specific question you are trying to address, your approach, and what you discovered or learned from the project (or progress you made toward that goal). You must ask your advisor to review your abstract, and make sure it is suitable for posting on a web page. You may also include one or two figures (optional) with captions that could also be posted to the web.

The abstract must be submitted as a PDF file to artsciugo@ksu.edu, in the format demonstrated below:

Abstract Template (pdf)

Abstracts are due approximately one week after the end of the semester in which the student receives the award.

Abstract Due Dates

Spring Award: May 20
Summer Award: August 15
Fall Award: December 20

Megan Goeckel, Biology, mentored by Gregory Finnigan, Biochemistry
Isabel Lewis, mentored by Gregory Finnigan, Biochemistry
Adam Ebert, Biochemistry, mentored by Ryan Rafferty, Chemistry
Adam Huber, mentored by Christer Aakeroy, Chemistry
Courtney Johnson, mentored by Chris Culbertson, Chemistry
Tanji Lewis, mentored by Stefan Bossmann, Chemistry
Gage Wright, mentored by Jun Li, Chemistry
Krista Everhart, mentored by Steffi Dippold, English
Kayla Davis, mentored by Benjamin McCloskey, Modern Languages
Hongyu Lin, mentored by Charles Pickens, Psychological Sciences
Marq Martinez, Biology, mentored by Charles Pickens, Psychological Sciences
Caitlin McLean, mentored by Charles Pickens, Psychological Sciences
Alejandro Ramos, mentored by Bethany Plakke, Psychological Sciences
Emma Pettay, mentored by Trevor Durbin, SASW

Spring 2019

Aditi Arun, mentored by Thomas Platt, Biology
Theodore Ball, mentored by Stephanie Shames, Biology
Antoinette Bettasso, History, mentored by Benjamin McCloskey, Modern Languages
Clara Bring, Life Sciences, mentored by Katsura Asano, Biology
Jessica Brummel, mentored by Ruth Gurgel, Music, Theatre, and Dance
Cheyenne Brunkow, mentored by Katsura Asano, Biology
Allison Burnett, mentored by Kristin Michel, Biology
Sidnie Davidson, mentored by Ruth Gurgel, Music, Theater, and Dance
Annabelle Decker, mentored by Carolyn Ferguson, Biology
Adam Ebert, Biochemistry, mentored by Ryan Rafferty, Chemistry
Abigail Giles, mentored by Ruth Gurgel, Music, Theatre, and Dance
Samantha Goetting, mentored by Erika Geisbrecht, Biochemistry
Abigail Huck, mentored by Ruth Gurgel, Music, Theatre, and Dance
Benjamin Hulsing, Microbiology, mentored by Stephanie Shames, Biology
Rachel Hunt, mentored by Kristin Michel, Biology
Adrianne Kruse, Psychology, mentored by Julie Pentz, Music, Theatre, and Dance
Sarah Lasnier, mentored by Gregory Finnigan, Biochemistry
Abigail McCormick, mentored by Chris Culbertson, Chemistry
Alexander Meek, mentored by Ruth Gurgel, Music, Theatre, and Dance
Abigaile Molzer, Anthropology, mentored by Jeffrey Smith, Geography
Olivia Rogers, mentored by Nathaniel Birkhead, Political Science
Danica Smith, mentored by Chris Culbertson, Chemistry
Claudia Tudor, mentored by Thomas Mueller, Biology
Lydia Waner, mentored by Thomas Mueller, Biology