The purpose of the Annual Student Research Competition is to showcase excellence in scholarly research, and highlight creative activity conducted by CSULB undergraduate and graduate students. The Student Research Competition will feature oral presentations to an audience of fellow students, university community members, and a jury of distinguished faculty.
2021 Competition Details
Who Can Participate
- Undergraduate or graduate students currently enrolled at CSULB, as well as alumni/alumnae who receive their degrees in Fall 2020 are eligible to present. Research and/or creative activities presented should be appropriate to the student’s discipline and career goals. Proprietary research is excluded.
How to Participate in the Research Competition
- Register for an SRC Info Session.
- Please fill out the online Proposal Submission online by February 1, 2021 at 11:59pm. If submissions are not submitted prior to the February 1st deadline, they will not be accepted for the Student Research Competition. Students will receive an email confirmation once your submission is complete. Please email any questions to SRC@csulb.edu.
- For those students whose proposals are accepted for presentation, they must submit their 8-minute pre-recorded video presentation by March 1, 2021. Student presenters will participate in a 5-minute Q&A session with faculty jurors on March 19, 2021.
- First-place winners in each category will receive $100.
- Up to 10 students will be selected from among the first and second-place winners to compete in the 35th Annual CSU Statewide Student Research Competition to be hosted virtually by Cal Poly Pomona from April 30 – May 1, 2021. Those students selected from the CSULB campus event will be expected to present at the Statewide Student Research Competition.
Rules and Guidelines
- There is no registration fee for participating in either the campus or statewide competition
- Group paper summaries must include ALL the students’ names along with the title of the presentation.
- The paper summary should not exceed five (5) double-spaced pages in length, not including appendices. Appendices (bibliography, graphs, photographs, or other supplementary materials) should not exceed three (3) pages. File size should not exceed 25mb.
- A student may submit a paper on any academic topic, provided that the student has not previously submitted the same paper to this competition.
- Entrants in the Creative Arts and Design category may enter an audio and/or visual record of a performance they have given or work of art they have created (file size not to exceed 25mb), provided they focus their papers and oral presentations on the historical or cultural context and rationale underlying their interpretation of the subject matter involved.
- Please note that any accomodations must then be identified on the Proposal Submission.
Competition Format
The format, in short, is intended to resemble a professional academic meeting and exactly replicates the setting of the statewide competition. Jurors will evaluate each entry (oral presentation plus written summary) on the following:
•Clarity of purpose.
•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 the jury and general audience.
Each student will submit a 8-minute pre-recorded video of their presentation prior to the event. On the day of the event (March 19th), presenters will participate in an online 5-minute question and answer session to respond to juror and audience questions.
Papers will be grouped for presentation in the following categories, which will also be used in the statewide competition:
- 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
- Interdisciplinary
- Physical and Mathematical Sciences
The Division of Academic Affairs reserves the right to adjust (i.e., combine or divide) these categories as numbers of submissions necessitate.
2020 Competition
2020 Statewide Presenters
- Beda Castillo - Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Nicholas Roy - Business, Economics, and Public Administration
- Briana Stanley - Creative Arts and Design
- Alexander Ordonez - Education
- Jeremy Satterfield - Engineering and Computer Science
- Josh Murillo - Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences
- Ricky Lee - Physical and Mathematical Sciences
2020 CSULB Winners
- Olivia Brush - Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Kevin Travis - Biological and Agricultural Sciences
- Nicholas Roy - Business, Economics, and Public Administration
- Briana Stanley - Creative Arts and Design
- Alexander Ordonez - Education
- Jeremy Satterfield - Engineering and Computer Science
- Josh Murillo - Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences
- Anastasia Nesbitt - Humanities and Letters
- Ricky Lee - Physical and Mathematical Sciences
2020 Event Program
2019 Competition
2019 Statewide Winners
Avery Amerson – First place in Humanities and Letters
Title: Wittgenstein, Extended Cognition, and the Problem of Other Minds
Graduate program: MA in Philosophy
Yohanna Brown – First place in Behavioral and Social Sciences
Title: The Role of Glucagon Like Peptide 1 Receptors on the Rewarding Effects of Oxycodone in Male and Female Adolescent Rats
Undergraduate major: BA in Psychology
Phillippe Ly – Second place in Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Title: Rapid Enantiomer Ratio Determination of P-Chiral Compounds with Eu(hfc)3
Graduate program: MS in Biochemistry
Jennifer Montepeque Diaz – First place in Education
Title: Cebolla que Hace Llorar, da Sabor a la Comida: Promoting College Enrollment for Latinas with Disabilities
Graduate program: EdS in School Psychology
2019 CSULB Winners
Keelin Dunn - Behavioral and Social Sciences
Yohanna Brown - Behavioral and Social Sciences
Alyssa Clevenstine - Biological and Agricultural Sciences
Kristen Way - Business, Economics, and Public Administration
Jennifer Montepeque Diaz - Education
Subramaniam Seshadri - Engineering and Computer Science
Alexandra Mazza & Victoria Cimo - Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences
Avery Amerson - Humanities and Letters
Brenda Villafana, Alexandra Gutierrez, & Scott Lee - Interdisciplinary
Phillippe Ly & Codi Pace - Physical and Mathematical Sciences