Student research & creative inquiry opportunities

Undergraduate Research Opportunities in the College of Arts and Sciences

Student Travel Awards

Work closely with a faculty member to hone your research & creative inquiry 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 10, 2022
Summer: March 24, 2023
Fall: May 12, 2023

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 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. 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)

Abstract Due Dates:

Abstracts are due by 5pm on the Friday of Finals week.

Award Recipients

Spring 2023

Fall 2022

Paige Anderson, Psychology, mentored by Charles Pickens, Psychological Sciences
Jacob Brown, History & Philosophy, mentored by Mary Kohn, Chapman Center for Rural Studies
Lauren Bruna, Life Sciences, mentored by Julie Pentz, Dance
Louie Cabrera, Microbiology, mentored by Ben McCloskey, Modern Languages
Dylan Connell, Fine Art / Photography, mentored by Mary Kohn, Chapman Center for Rural Studies
Ellie Fangman, Biology, mentored by Bethany Plakke Anderson, Psychological Sciences
Kirsten Gross, History , mentored by Ben McCloskey, Modern Languages
Jodi Hendon, Economics, mentored by Mary Kohn, Chapman Center for Rural Studies
Hongjib Jang, Chemistry, mentored by Ryan Rafferty, Chemistry
Karrin Larson, Chemistry, mentored by Tendai Gadzikwa, Chemistry
Meghan Luttrell, English Lit, mentored by Steffi Dippold, English
Kelby Meisinger, Dance and Elementary Education, mentored by Julie Pentz, Dance
Andrew Navarro, Political Science, mentored by Mary Kohn, Chapman Center for Rural Studies
Ashley Panagakis, Biology, mentored by Kathrin Schrick, Biology
Alexa Scheer, Political Science, mentored by Mary Kohn, Chapman Center for Rural Studies
Ben Smith, Mathematics, mentored by Dinh-Liem Nguyen, Mathematics
Carrington Thom, Mathematics & Economics, mentored by Kim Klinger-Logan, Mathematics

Summer 2022

Michael Bartkoski, Medical Biochemistry, mentored by Pankaj Baral, Biology
Christina Funk,Statistics & Data Science, mentored by Michael Higgins, Statistics
TJ Hafliger, Wildlife Ecology & Management, mentored by Jesse Nippert, Biology
Samira Laytimi, Medical Biochemistry, mentored by Kathrin Schrick, Biology
Jessie McClellan, Geography, mentored by Arnaud Temme, Geography & Geospatial Sciences
Matthew Murphy, French & Architecture, mentored by Melinda Cro, Modern Languages
Sierra Salazar, Political Science, mentored by Vera Smirnova, Geography & Political Science
Kameron Wildeman, Chemistry, mentored by Ryan Rafferty, Chemistry

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 webistes.
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 universitywide research opportunities.