Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities

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:

1. Go to Cal State Los Angeles Applications and Competitions for Grant Funding.
2. Click on Login in the upper right-hand corner. 
3. Click on the blue button that says "Cal State LA Login" and log in using your Cal State LA credentials.
4. On the top menu, click on the Calendar Tab. 
5. On the right-hand side click on "List View" to find the application.
6. 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.

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