What can be submitted to the Symposium of Student Scholars?
The Symposium of Student Scholars is designed to showcase student research and therefore accepts all projects submitted by current undergraduate or graduate students at Kennesaw State University. Students who have graduated in the last year but who completed the work while a student at KSU are also eligible to present at the Symposium.
Projects should have at least some preliminary results and should show that the work
makes a unique contribution to the discipline(s).
A mentored investigation or creative inquiry conducted by students that seeks to make
an original scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge.
Use of AI Disclaimer
If you choose to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to write your proposal, abstract, or presentation, it is important to first seek approval from your Primary Investigator (PI). Even with approval, you must include a disclaimer at the end of your abstract that clearly indicates AI was utilized. Keep in mind that while AI can be a helpful resource, it is not infallible – AI-generated content can contain inaccuracies or biased information. As the author, you are fully responsible for the accuracy, ethics, and quality of the content, even if AI-generated. Failure to acknowledge the use of AI tools not only misrepresents your work but also constitutes a breach of academic integrity.
Presentation Types
Oral Presentations:
Presenting a PowerPoint slideshow to an audience.
Performances:
The presentation of an artistic or musical performance. The image shows the reading
of a television pilot episode.
Poster Presentations:
Presenting an academic poster.
Visual Displays:
Presenting a physical representation and/or object of your research.
Oral Presentation/Performance selections are now determined by the individual colleges,
and each college is allotted four (4), 10-minute oral presentations during a designated
time slot (see schedule under Symposium Details).
Oral Presentation/Performance Abstracts are due Wednesday, October 8, 2025 by 11:59pm. Late submissions will not be considered and instead need to select another presentation
type.
The Symposium of Student Scholars application is an online application through KSU
Digital Commons. You will need a Digital Commons account to submit to this symposium.
If you have trouble creating or accessing your account, please reach out to the Digital
Commons team for support at digitalcommons@kennesaw.edu
A separate form should be used for each individual project.
Please note: If you do not receive a confirmation email after submitting, your submission was not successful and you will need to resubmit.
College selections will be notified by the Office of Undergraduate Research by Wednesday,
October 22, 2025.
If your abstract is not selected as one of the four (4) to represent your college, your project will be switched to the second choice indicated in your submission form.
Proposals can be submitted as oral presentations or performances.
*Note: You will need to write an abstract for your submission if you are presenting
at the Symposium of Student Scholars.
Visit the Digital Commons to view examples of past abstracts and past programs.
Additional Details
Each college has been assigned a 1-hour time slot, and each chosen oral presentation/performance is allotted 10 minutes with an additional 2 minutes for Q&A after. If you have a PowerPoint or other visual aids, please upload them to Digital Commons 48 hours in advance so we can have your presentation ready to show.
If you cannot load your presentation into Digital Commons, please email it to our@kennesaw.edu no later than 48 hours in advance of your presentation day.
For those of you doing an oral presentation, there are some resources available on
mediaspace and on the oral presentation page.
Poster, Visual Displays, & Virtual Presentation Abstracts are due Wednesday, October 15, 2025 by 11:59pm. Late submissions will not be accepted.
The Symposium of Student Scholars application is an online application through KSU
Digital Commons. You will need a Digital Commons account to submit to this symposium.
If you have trouble creating or accessing your account, please reach out to the Digital
Commons team for support at digitalcommons@kennesaw.edu
You will be assigned a time slot and a poster number in the program. Please give yourself enough time to find your assigned poster number and put up your poster. We provide a poster board and materials to affix your poster to the board.
Virtual Presentations (all types):
All virtual presentations will be held on Microsoft Teams in 15-minute increments.
If you are presenting a visual display virtually, you may consider creating a PowerPoint
with photos of your work.
If you are presenting a poster, you will need to create a talk about your poster and
zoom in on the parts you're referring to as you talk.
For oral presentations, students typically create a PowerPoint and share their screen
while presenting.
For performances, you might record the performance and show it, or you could do the performance live with a camera on you.
Each virtual presentation will have its own Teams link, so please use it to practice
your presentation before the event.
Make sure you know how to share your screen, zoom in and out (if necessary), mute noisy attendees, check the chat for questions, etc. Practice with friends! If, during your practice sessions, you type into the chat, don’t worry – your attendees at the Symposium won’t see what was put in the chat before they join the session (you will still see it though).
Email the Office of Undergraduate Research (our@kennesaw.edu) if you need a practice partner.
If you do not have an account in Digital Commons, you will need to make one. Please
note that this is NOT your KSU netid and password -- you will need to create a new
login and password unless you've used Digital Commons before.
Please note: You will receive a confirmation email once your application is submitted.
If you do not receive a confirmation email, we did not receive your abstract and you
will not be scheduled for the Symposium.
You will need the following for your application:
Title of project
Presenters/Authors
Please add ALL authors, including faculty members, who contributed to the project/presentation
Confirmation Email Acknowledgment Statement
Abstract, maximum of 300 words, as a single paragraph
Please review and edit abstracts prior to submission as the abstract will be printed
verbatim in the program.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
This is typically the department of the faculty Primary Investigator (PI). If you
are unsure, please check with your faculty research mentor.
Primary Investigator (PI) -- name, email, department
Please list all faculty PIs on the project
All students on the project -- name, email, department, undergraduate/graduate student
Please gather this information in advance
Project Type
Undergraduate or Graduate
Briefly describe how your project meets the definition of research (1-2 sentences).
If your project does not meet this definition, please do not submit your project for
this event.
We use the following definition of research (adapted from the Council on Undergraduate
Research): "A mentored investigation or creative inquiry conducted by students that seeks to
make an original scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge." Projects submitted to the Symposium of Student Scholars must meet this definition.
This is specifically for student submitting an oral presentation/performance abstract
for consideration. If you are not selected as one of your college's four presentations,
you will automatically be switched to your second choice.
Any conferences, journals, etc. where this work will be or has been presented/published
(if applicable)
Document Sharing?
Time conflicts for the date of the event
Please provide time conflicts for ALL presenters, and your faculty PI, so we can accommodate
your presentation. Please note, in-person oral presentation/performance times are
pre-assigned, so if you/your group are not available to present during the time noted
in the schedule above, please choose a different presentation type or modality.
If you have never written an abstract before, please watch this short (12-min) video for some pointers.
Abstracts in most disciplines typically have these components (adapted from the guidelines for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research):
Clearly state the central research question and/or purpose of the project.
Provide brief, relevant scholarly or research context (no actual citations required)
that demonstrate its attempt to make a unique contribution to the area of inquiry.
Provide a brief description of the research methodology.
State conclusions or expected results and the context in which they will be discussed.
Include text only (no images or graphics)
Be well-written and well-organized.
Abstracts in the Visual Arts should follow these conventions:
Clearly state the central research question and/or purpose of the project. (Provide an artist statement.)
Provide brief, relevant scholarly or research context (no actual citations required)
that demonstrate its attempt to make a unique contribution to the area of inquiry.
(In the statement, cite your influences and inspirations: other established artists;
movements that are referenced or serve as inspiration; political/ cultural/ social
issues that the work responds to; personal events, adventures, medical diagnosis;
etc.)
Provide a brief description of the research methodology. (What techniques were used? It could be as basic as oil painting on primed canvas, or a more in-depth explanation of the experimental process.) State conclusions or expected results and the context in which they will be discussed. (What did you learn? What was successful? What are things to be addressed in future pieces? How does this piece fit into your portfolio or future works?)
Include text only (no images or graphics)
Be well-written and well-organized.
All of the following issues should be addressed in your abstract, however, as each covers a unique influence that alters the interpretation the work, speak more to one or two components of your “research” in depth
Was the work a response to Art History?
Or was the focus the experimental process?
While it is assumed you will very briefly respond to all of these requirements, it
is also expected that only a few will be the central focus of your statement.
Abstracts in the Performing Arts should follow these guidelines:
Clearly state the central research question and/or purpose of the project. A statement
discussing compositional or performance aspects of the work.
Why did you compose this work or choose this work to perform?
What aspects of music are you exploring?
Provide brief, relevant scholarly or research context (no actual citations required)
that demonstrate its attempt to make a unique contribution to the area of inquiry.
How does the composition and/or performance advance the development of your creative
output?
Provide a brief description of the research methodology.
Provide a brief description of the musical work from a compositional or performative
standpoint.
State conclusions or expected results and the context in which they will be discussed.
How did the composition of the work or preparation for the performance affect your
musical understanding and output?
Include text only (no images or graphics).
Be well-written and well-organized.
About The Symposium
Schedule (November 19-21, 2025)
DATE
TIME
EVENT/ACTIVITY
LOCATION
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
9:00am - 5:00pm
Poster Presentations and Visual Displays
Event Center
Thursday, November 20, 2025
9:00am - 9:50am
Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (SPCEET): Oral
Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Thursday, November 20, 2025
10:00am - 10:50am
College of Computing and Software Engineering (CCSE): Oral Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Thursday, November 20, 2025
11:00am - 11:50am
College of Architecture and Construction Management (CACM): Oral Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Thursday, November 20, 2025
12:00pm - 12:50pm
College of Science and Mathematics (CSM): Oral Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Thursday, November 20, 2025
1:00pm - 1:50pm
Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences (RCHSS): Oral Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Thursday, November 20, 2025
2:00pm - 2:50pm
Geer College of the Arts (GCA): Oral Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Thursday, November 20, 2025
3:00pm - 3:50pm
Wellstar College of Health and Human Services (WCHHS): Oral Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Thursday, November 20, 2025
4:00pm - 4:50pm
Bagwell College of Education (BCOE): Oral Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Thursday, November 20, 2025
5:00pm - 5:50pm
Coles College of Business (CCOB): Oral Presentations/ Performances
J.M. Wilson Student Center - Ballrooms
Friday, November 21, 2025
12:00pm - 5:00pm
Virtual Presentations
Microsoft Teams
Judging Opportunities at the Symposium
WHO CAN JUDGE?
DESCRIPTION
HOW TO SIGN-UP
If you are faculty, staff, administrator, postdoctoral researcher, or graduate student,
we would love for you to judge sessions!
As a reminder, Primary Investigators who have received funding from the Office of
Undergraduate Research are required to commit a minimum of 1-hour to judge at the
Symposium of Student Scholars, each semester.
Dedicate 1-hour of your time to the Spring Symposium by signing-up to be a judge and
pick the winning projects!
This multi-day event will be held on November 19-21, 2025. Students present face-to-face on the Marietta campus (November 19th and 20th, 9:00am-5:00pm) or virtually using Microsoft Teams (November 21st, 12:00pm-5:00pm).
Oral Presentations/Performances: These are in-person student presentations or performances chosen to represent each
college (10-minutes each, with 2 minutes for Q&A after the presentation)
Poster Presentations/Visual Displays: These are in-person student poster presentations and/or visual displays
Locations: Oral presentations and performances will be held in the Ballrooms of the J.M. Wilson Student Center.
The posters and visual displays will be held on the Marietta Campus in the lower level
of the Event Center, which is located across the from the Architecture Building.
The address for the Event Center is 635 Walter Kelly Road, Marietta GA 30060
Please note: the Event Center is NOT the same building as the Recreation and Wellness Center.
Virtual Presentations (all types) will be held via Microsoft Teams.
All sessions are free and open to the public! There will be snacks and swag throughout the in-person event, so drop by anytime to check out student presentations and get a snack. No RSVP required, and attendance is free.
Parking Information
If you are new to parking on the Marietta Campus, please consult the KSU Maps page for more information on parking areas, and directions.
Faculty/Staff can park in any open faculty/staff spot on campus. The back of lot E
is a Faculty/Staff lot, and you are welcome to park there.
Students from the Kennesaw Campus who have permits should park where their permit
allows, which is the same for Marietta.
Online students who do not pay for parking will need to pay to park in the West Deck in the visitor parking.
Faculty/Staff who are volunteering for the Symposium can park in lot E if space is
available. All other volunteers will need to park where their permit allows or in
one of the visitor/pay lots.
Faculty can add the Symposium of Student Scholars to their course syllabi, promoting
attendance and/or participation. The event is open to all KSU undergraduate and graduate
students and attendance/participation is free.
Some ways that faculty can integrate the conference in their coursework include:
Encourage students to submit abstracts so that they have an opportunity to present
at a university-wide conference where they will get to network with peers and other
faculty in a familiar setting.
Students can also polish their communication and presentation delivery skills, learn and/or improve their abstract writing abilities, and gain the experience of responding to audience and judges‘ questions about their research.
Encourage students to attend a specific number of sessions.
Example assignments can be:
Writing a short reflection on what they learned at the conference.
Making connections between research from the conference and course content.
Critically evaluating research presentations they attend at the conference
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a Virtual Presentation work?
You have been given a 15-minute slot for your presentation. We recommend that you
do the following for your presentation:
Enter your assigned "room" at least 10 minutes before the session starts.
Share your screen and show an opening slide so attendees know they've entered the
correct "room." We have created asample opening slidethat you can modify, but you can feel free to make your own as well. Information about
how to use Microsoft Teams can be found in theUITS Technology Knowledge Base.
If you are using presentation software, like PowerPoint, Prezi, or OneNote: Start
your presentation at the assigned time, and go into "presenter" mode to make your
slides easier to read for the audience. Be sure to leave plenty of time for questions
at the end.
If you are not using presentation software, we strongly encourage you to turn on your video so attendees have something to look at.
When you're finished giving your presentation, ask the audience if they have any questions.
Be sure to check the chat box to see if anyone wrote any questions.
Once your 15 minutes are up, many attendees will need to leave to attend other sessions, but you're welcome to stay in your "room" to talk to people (the code is unique to your session).
Can I start my virtual presentation early or end late?
Please do not start your presentation early, as attendees might be coming from another session. For those doing virtual presentations, the link to your session is unique for you, which means you could go later if you wanted to, but we encourage you to end on time so that attendees can head to other sessions if they want. Judges in particular will often not be able to stay late, so they will likely take points off if your presentation is too long.
However, we strongly encourage you (if you are able) to stay in your session and chat
with attendees informally if no one has to immediately leave. There is absolutely
no problem with informal chats after the official end time for your session
Do I need to submit my PowerPoint to the Office of Undergraduate Research before the
Symposium?
Students doing in-person oral presentations are strongly urged to upload their presentation to Digital Commons 48 hours in advance so your presentation can be ready for you when it's your assigned time. If you do not do this, we can't guarantee that you will be able to get the presentation loaded up in the five minutes between each session.
All other students can upload their presentations later to Digital Commons if you'd
like to make it public; use the login and password you used when submitting your abstract,
and upload the file (contact Digital Commons atdigitalcommons@kennesaw.eduif you need help). Be sure to check with your research mentor first.
I completed a project as an undergraduate or graduate student in the last year, but
I have already graduated. Am I eligible to present the research at the Symposium of
Student Scholars?
Yes - we are happy to accept the research you completed while a student at KSU in
the past year.
I presented my research at another conference earlier this year (or I will be presenting it later this year). Am I allowed to present the exact same research at the Symposium of Student Scholars AND at another conference?
This is normally not allowed because it gives the impression that you have done more research than you actually have. HOWEVER!! In this case, it is permissible. The Symposium of Student Scholars is a chance to show off your work to the campus and larger community; we want to see what you’ve done at these other conferences.
If you are creating a resume/vita, you should somehow indicate that the presentation at the Symposium of Student Scholars is the same as a presentation elsewhere.
I haven't done any research during the past year, but I'd like to come to the Symposium
of Student Scholars just to get a better understanding of what research is. Is this
allowed?
Definitely! All students, faculty, administrators, staff, and community members are
welcome to attend, regardless of whether they have research to present. Attending
the Symposium of Student Scholars is an excellent way to see the research opportunities
available at Kennesaw State University.