K-State Graduate Research, Arts, and Discovery (K-GRAD) Forum
The K-State GRAD Forum is an annual showcase of K-State graduate student research, scholarly work, and discovery. This on-campus event provides graduate students from all disciplines an opportunity to share their work with the K-State community and to gain experience presenting their work in a professional setting. Read the news release recognizing the awardees.
Congratulations to the 2025 K-GRAD award recipients!
Poster Presentations
Elana Arazi, MS in agronomy, “Analysis of yield and phenotypic differences in sorghum under organic and conventional farming practices"
Bindusri Naraharasetti, MS in grain science “The effect of different gums on the quality characteristics of corn tortillas"
Jessica Stancic, MS in biology “The role of alpha-galactosidase on alpha gal syndrome"
Reagan Gomez, MS in biological and agricultural engineering “Your grain, our gain: purifying human serum albumin using rice byproduct"
Avery Neer, master’s in regional and community planning “Environmental justice for all: a narrative review of literature on environmental justice and brownfield redevelopment"
Noah Renken, MS in human development and family science, couple and family therapy “An examination of gender differences across intimate partner violence and animal abuse”
Oral Presentations
Claudio Dias da Silva Jr., PhD in plant pathology “Decoding stripe rust management: how environmental factors influence fungicide timing of application"
Sabreena Parray, MS in agronomy “Pearl millet for the future: discovering drought-tolerant forage lines"
Brian Wolfe, MS in veterinary biomedical science “Sex differences in influenza vaccine-induced immunity and protection in mice with obesity”
Amirsalar Bagheri, PhD in chemical engineering “Improving soil water predictions with ai: a physics-informed machine learning approach"
Conrad Kabus, PhD in grain science “Non-thermal preservation of tilapia: optimizing gelatin and sorghum polyphenols for shelf-life extension”
Seungmin Yang, PhD in economics “Cultural peer effects on doctoral students”
Research/scholarly work should be presented in a way that can be understood by a broad audience. You will be presenting your work to an academically diverse audience, so you should not present your work in the same way that you would for experts in your field.
Presenters will be provided with a sample judge evaluation sheet in the spring.
Poster presentations
Posters must not exceed 60 inches in width.
Use of foam boards and attachment of three-dimensional objects to posters is highly discouraged to ensure posters will attach securely to walls/display boards.
All materials for poster display (e.g., push pins, display boards/walls) will be provided by the Graduate Student Council.
Posters should be displayed the entire day and may be collected at the end of the day. Presenters will need to be present with their posters during a two hour period (exact time to be determined).
Poster presenters must prepare a brief (3 minutes or less) oral presentation of their poster that can be understood by a general audience and should be prepared to answer questions from judges and attendees.
Oral presentations
Give a 10-minute talk of your research with a PowerPoint or similar visual presentation using language that can be understood by a general audience.
Technology for displaying presentations will be provided.
After each presentation, there will be time for judges and attendees to ask questions.
Additional instructions about uploading presentations prior to the event will be provided in the spring.
Research/scholarly work should be presented in a way that can be understood by a broad audience. You will be presenting your work to an academically diverse audience, so you should not present your work in the same way that you would for experts in your field.
View videos of Three Minute Thesis competition winners and utilize Three Minute Thesis preparation resources. These resources may be especially helpful for poster presenters, but many of the resources can be applied to 10-minute oral presentations.
The Writing Center is an excellent resource to for helping students effectively communicate their research to a broad audience. Presenters are encouraged to contact the Writing Center to schedule an appointment with a tutor.
Develop your communication and presentations -- Improve your ability to effectively communicate your work with people who are not in your field of study.
Build your CV or resume
Gain experience with giving a presentation in preparation for a professional conference
Expand your network and make connections with students, faculty, and staff from other fields of study
Compete for a chance to win a scholarship award!
Who is eligible to participate?
Students actively enrolled in a K-State graduate degree program during the semester the forum is held.
This is an on-campus event (held at the K-State Manhattan campus), but participation is not limited to Manhattan campus students. Graduate students affiliated with the Salina and Olathe campuses and those pursuing a degree through an online program are welcome to participate. Students studying in Salina, Olathe, or online are encouraged to participate in K-GRAD in-person if they are in the Manhattan area or able to travel to Manhattan. Those who are located outside of Manhattan and unable to travel to the campus may give an oral presentation in a virtual format.
Save the document using the following file name format: Last Name, First Name.docx (e.g., “Smith, John.docx.”). The “.docx” format is preferred, but saving as “.doc” is also acceptable.
Your abstract must be written in a way that students and faculty from a variety of academic disciplines and the general public can understand. Please DO NOT prepare a technical abstract as you would for an audience of experts in your field.
All abstracts must follow the same formatting style. Use the abstract template to ensure correct formatting.
All margins must be .5 inches.
Single space throughout the abstract with the exception of spacing between sections as shown in the abstract template.
Times New Roman, 12 point font throughout the abstract.
Title in bold and all caps (lowercase, italics, superscripts, and subscripts may be used when technically necessary).
INCLUDE headers for the broad sections in your abstract (e.g., Background, Method, Results, and Conclusion).
Your abstract must not exceed 250 words. Title, author information, and section headers are not included in the word count.
Author names – Include first and last names of all authors in the order determined appropriate by the authors. DO NOT include professional titles (e.g., use “John Smith,” NOT “Dr. John Smith”). Bold the name of the presenting author.
Author affiliations – For K-State authors, list the author’s department.
Use numerical superscripts to distinguish authors with different affiliations. Superscripts are not needed if all authors have the same affiliation.
Refer to Sample abstracts - For abstract samples of proper formatting, check the Previous Abstracts and Award Recipients section below.
Review and proofread your abstract. Please make sure your abstract is free of grammatical errors.
Upload your abstract at the end of the online registration form. You must receive approval of all co-authors prior to submitting your abstract.
You must be enrolled as a graduate student at K-State in Spring 2024.
You may present either an oral OR a poster presentation but not both. (However, see item 3.)
This is an on-campus event (held at the K-State Manhattan campus), and students are expected to give their presentation in-person. Students studying at the Salina or Olathe campuses or online are encouraged to participate in K-GRAD in-person if they are in the Manhattan area or able to travel to Manhattan. Those who are located outside of Manhattan and unable to travel to the campus may give an oral presentation in a virtual format.
You may only present work that you have completed at K-State. Some of the work may be completed by collaborators at other institutions, but any work you complete for the project must be completed at K-State during your time as an official K-State graduate student.
You may be listed as a co-author on multiple presentations, but you may serve as the PRESENTER for ONLY ONE presentation.
You may NOT give a presentation that has been previously presented in Research and the State, the K-State GRAD Forum, or the Capitol Graduate Research Summit (CGRS). While the current research may be on a topic similar to that of a previous presentation, the current presentation must include new data/work.
Although inclusion of results is not required for the abstract submission, it is preferred, and results MUST be included in the presentation.
Prior consent of your major professor/co-major professors and/or the faculty member(s) supervising or funding the research and all co-authors is required before submitting the abstract.
Only fully completed registrations will be reviewed. You will NOT be able to save a partially completed registration. If more than one submission is made under your name, only your most recent submission will be accepted.
In addition to completing the online registration form, you must use the ABSTRACT TEMPLATE to submit an abstract of your presentation. You will upload your abstract at the end of the registration form.
Your abstract and presentation must be prepared for a diverse audience who are NOT experts in your discipline.
Only the student submitting the registration form and abstract may present that work at the K-State GRAD Forum. If the presenter becomes unable to give the presentation, please consult with the GSC Research Forums Committee (egsc@ksu.edu) about whether a co-author is eligible to present in your place.
Submissions that do not comply with the stated guidelines or that do not follow the abstract formatting instructions may be rejected from participation in the K-State GRAD Forum.
