CSU Student Research Competition

The 37th Annual CSU Student Research Competition

The CSU Student Research Competition is held to promote excellence in undergraduate and graduate research, scholarly and creative activity by recognizing outstanding student accomplishments throughout the twenty-three campuses of the California State University.  Each campus may select up to 10 entries to send to the final round, which will be held at San Diego State University Friday, April 28th and Saturday, April 29th, 2023.

Who May Apply

Who May Apply

Undergraduate or graduate students currently enrolled at Humboldt as well as alumni/alumnae who received their degrees from Humboldt in Spring, Summer, or Fall 2022 are eligible.  The research presented should be appropriate to the student’s discipline and career goals.  A small team of students making a single presentation counts as a single entry. (Please note that a submission by a team of students may need to identify one student to present the research at the competition, if selected.)  Proprietary research is excluded.  Presentations from all disciplines are invited.  The ten categories are:

•    Behavioral and Social Sciences

•    Biological and Agricultural Sciences

•    Business, Economics, and Public Administration

•    Creative Arts and Design (creative projects: see "Competition Guidelines")

•    Education

•    Engineering and Computer Science

•    Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences

•    Humanities and Letters

•    Physical and Mathematical Sciences

•    Interdisciplinary

How to Apply

How to Apply

Apply on InfoReady

Humboldt has appointed a campus coordinator and developed procedures for selecting student delegates to the CSU system-wide competition.  The Humboldt campus coordinator is Susan Brater, Analyst in the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs. 

To be considered at the Humboldt level, a student will need to submit a written summary of their presentation.  The written summary must be submitted via InfoReady to the Office of Research by 11:59pm, January 31, 2023. Required information includes the following:

  • Student email address
  • Student mailing address
  • Student ID number
  • Name of faculty member
  • Name of department
  • Class standing (undergraduate or graduate)
  • Category of submission
  • Cell phone number

The written summaries submitted will be reviewed by the Planning Committee on Research Scholarship and Creative Activities.  The students chosen by the Committee to advance to the system-wide competition will be notified by Febuary 28th, 2023. 

The rules governing the written Summary are as follows:

•    The summary must include the name(s) of the student(s) and title of the presentation.

•    The narrative may not exceed five double-spaced pages. Use fonts and margins that ensure legibility.

•    Appendices (bibliography, graphs, photographs, or other supplementary materials) may not exceed three pages.

•    Research that has human or animal subjects involvement must have appropriate institutional review.  The approval letter must be included.

Each written Summary submitted to Humboldt will be judged on the following five criteria:

•    Clarity of purpose

•    Appropriateness of methodology

•    Interpretation of results

•    Value of the research or creative activity 

•    Organization of the material presented

Please see the Scoring Rubric with details for scoring the five criteria.

If a student’s work is selected by Humboldt for presentation in the system-wide competition, the campus coordinator will submit the student’s name, email address and written summary to San Diego State.  Students will then be contacted by the campus coordinator so they may fill out the Student Delegate Registration Form with demographic and contact information. Students selected will also need to provide a photo for the Humboldt Outstanding Student Awards Ceremony.

Only those students endorsed by the Humboldt coordinators will have access to the system-wide competition.  Sponsored Programs Foundation will pay approved travel costs for each student selected to represent Humboldt in the statewide competition.

Competition Guidelines

Competition Guidelines

Those students selected by Humboldt will proceed to the system-wide competition at San Diego State and be required to do an oral presentation on Friday, April 28th or Saturday, April 29th, 2023.

The Humboldt coordinator will be notified in writing by the San Diego State steering committee of the times of their student delegates’ presentations, local hotel and transportation options, and program details.

Students will present their work orally before a jury and an audience.  Students will compete by discipline category and, where feasible, by class standing (undergraduate/graduate), as described above in “Who May Apply.”  There will be separate undergraduate and graduate divisions for each of the categories (unless a division has four or fewer entrants, in which case undergraduate and graduate divisions may be combined). 

Each student will have ten minutes for an oral presentation of his or her work and five minutes to listen and respond to juror and audience questions.  All entrants may use audiovisual materials as appropriate, and presenters are encouraged to use delivery techniques that promote interaction with the audience.  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.

Each entry (oral presentation plus written summary) will be judged on the following:

•    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 the jury and general audience

It is expected that student presenters will not make oral presentations by simply reading directly from the written summary.

Awards

Awards

Based on the recommendations of the jurors, cash awards will be provided to the outstanding presenter and the runner-up in both the undergraduate and graduate divisions of each category.  If the undergraduate and graduate divisions of a category have been combined because there are fewer than four presenters in one division, awards will be provided to the outstanding presenter and the runner-up without regard to class standing.  In the event there are five or fewer presenters in a session, only the outstanding presenter will receive an award.

Questions

Questions

Student questions should be directed to the local campus coordinator.  Students may contact Susan Brater, Analyst in the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs, by email (sb64@humboldt.edu) or telephone (707-826-5165).

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