Undergraduate Research Symposium

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Part of the Brainstorm

The annual GSW Undergraduate Research Symposium is an opportunity for students and faculty across campus to gather and share the remarkable amount of research work always ongoing here. The Symposium is a one-day event showcasing research and arts projects from GSW undergraduate students. Projects are presented through academic posters, oral presentations, or other project mediums. Prizes are typically offered for the top projects in various disciplines.

Poster presentations go up early; the Wednesday evening before the Friday symposium. Even if unable to attend the symposium itself, both students and faculty are encouraged to come examine the posters (northwest 2nd floor SSC hall) and submit their vote for the best overall poster.

Submitting Projects for Participation

To participate, students must complete and submit the Abstract Submission Form using their CanesNet Credentials. This submission must be completed online by Friday, March 8th, 2024.

Forms & Guidelines

Students must complete the Abstract submission form to participate in the Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. The following items will be used for the submission and judging process:

FAQ

I presented in the Undergraduate Research Symposium last year. Can I participate again this year?

Yes, as long as the project you present this year is sufficiently different from the one you did last year. It is up to you and/or your faculty mentor to explain the differences to the organizing committee evaluating the abstracts.

I recently graduated, but I want to present on research that I did before I left GSW. Can I still present at the symposium even though I’m not a current GSW student?

Students who have graduated less than a year before the symposium can still present their research, provided the project has not been submitted to a previous GSW undergraduate research symposium.

I have more than one project I want to submit for the Symposium. Can I do that?

Yes, as long as the two projects are distinctly different. However, keep in mind that the logistics of when you give those presentations may affect this. For example, you cannot present two posters in the same symposium because there is only one poster session and you cannot stand at two different posters at the same time.

Will my faculty mentor be allowed to judge my project?

No. Faculty mentors will not be assigned to judge a session in which their student is competing. This is to avoid any conflicts of interest.

I’m doing a project that involves research on human subjects. Do I need to submit anything extra?

Yes. All studies involving human subjects MUST receive approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) before the project begins. This is in keeping with federal guidelines. You must submit proof of your IRB approval along with your abstract. For more information about IRB approval and how to obtain it, please see the Georgia Southwestern IRB website.

2024 Project Award Winners

Talk Room 1:

1^st Place Oral Presentation: Connor Mathis for "Reels That Sparked Revolutions" - Films That Changed the 1960s"
2^nd Place Oral Presentation: Dalton Holley and Binita Patel for "S.A.T. School (bus) Activity Tracker"

Talk Room 2:

1^st Place Oral Presentation: Lum Fube for "Taurocholic acid indues NRAS via YAP1 in Biliary Atresia"
2^nd Place Oral Presentation: Devin Fincher for "Chemical, Bacterial, and Microplastic Analysis in the Kinchafoonee-Muckalee Watershed"

Poster Prizes:

1^st Place Poster Presentation (Tie): Makayla Lashley-Dorough for "Identifying potent drug candidate for kidney cancer"
1^st Place Poster Presentation (Tie): Joanna Myers for "Interspecific Competition Between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus"
2^nd Place Poster: Destiny Musgrove for "The effect of reguge complexity on refuge choice in the crayfish Procambarus gibbus"
Provost's Choice: Rees Smith for “Survey of White Tail Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Populations on the Campus of Georgia Southwestern State University”