Research and the State

1. 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.
2. Use the abstract template to ensure correct formatting.
   
   • 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. For others from other institutions, list the department and the university.
   • Use numerical superscripts to distinguish authors with different affiliations. Superscripts are not needed if all authors have the same affiliation.
3. Refer to Sample abstracts - For abstract samples of proper formatting, refer to the "Previous abstracts and award recipients" section below.
4. Review and proofread your abstract. Please make sure your abstract is free of grammatical errors.
   
5. Save the document using the following file name format: Last Name, First Name.docx
   (e.g., “Smith, John.docx.”).
6. Upload your abstract at the end of the online registration form. You must receive approval of all co-authors prior to submitting your abstract.

Register by October 6 and submit your abstract by October 13.

All currently enrolled graduate students from any discipline are invited to participate in Research and the State. Ten students will be selected to participate in the Capitol Graduate Research Summit (CGRS), which takes place in the Spring 2026 semester. These ten students must be enrolled in a K-State graduate program in the Spring semester to be eligible for participation in the CGRS.

Requirements for Research and the State participation:

1. Present work that you completed at K-State as a graduate student.
   
   
2. One presentation per student, and only one presenter per poster.
   
   
3. Give a new presentation. If you have previously participated in Research and the State or the K-State GRAD Forum, you can present on a similar topic/project as you did previously, but you are expected to have new data to share in this forum.
   
   
4. Include results/findings in the abstract and in the poster presentation.
   
   
5. Consult with major advisor/faculty member supervising the research and all co-authors before registering and submitting an abstract.
   
   
6. Use the ABSTRACT TEMPLATE to submit an abstract of your poster presentation and a summary of how your research relates to issues of interest to the Kansas legislature. You will upload your abstract at the end of the registration form.
   
   
7. Write your abstract and poster presentation for a diverse audience who are NOT experts in your discipline. Help understand and appreciate your work!

• Posters for Research and the State must not exceed 4 feet in width and 3 feet in height. These are the dimensions that will be required for posters selected for the Capitol Graduate Research Summit.
  

Download a PPT file sized for 48x36 inches

• Posters will be displayed on portable walls and push pins will be provided. Presenters just need to bring their poster!
• Mounting posters to foam boards and attaching three-dimensional objects to posters is discouraged because these materials can make it difficult to attach the poster to the portable walls.
• Presenters are expected to prepare a 3-minute oral presentation of their poster for the judges and should be prepared to answer questions.

• Help everyone understand and appreciate your work! Posters should be designed and 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 to prepare the three-minute oral presentation of your poster.
• View a video on How to Create a Better Research Poster in Less Time, which includes links to poster templates.
• The Writing Center is an excellent resource 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.

The following are topics that are of interest to Kansas legislators. However, participation in the poster session is NOT limited to research/scholarly work in these areas. All participants

Topics of interest:
sustainable water supply; economic development and job creation; workforce development; plant and animal health; food safety: from farm to fork; health conditions impacting the health of Kansas including cancer, obesity, diabetes, and other conditions; health care costs; alternative health care; community development and quality of life in rural communities; alternative and sustainable energy sources; education: student achievement and student testing; business attraction in the state. Also refer to Kansas House and Senate standing committees to identify areas of interest to state legislators.

Here are a few winning posters from last year's forum. You will see that all are very different, but there are some commonalities across the posters, like distinct sections in the poster and emphasis on project findings/outcomes.

Endy Lopes Kailer

PhD student in Agronomy

Lindsay Howard

PhD student in Couple and Family Therapy

Tucker Graff

PhD student in Grain Science

• Poster judging will occur between 10:00am-noon and 1:30-3:30pm. If you are available for at least 1-1.5 hours during these time period, you may serve as a judge.
• You are welcome to volunteer for one or both sessions.
• Faculty who have students presenting may serve as a judge. You will not be assigned to evaluate your own student(s).

The GSC Research Forums Committee will contact volunteers in mid- to late-October with notification of their judging assignment or to inform them that they are not needed to serve as a judge

Evaluating posters in diverse disciplines

Judges may be assigned to evaluate posters in an area of research very different from their own research/scholarly background. Graduate students participating in Research and the State are competing for selection to represent K-State at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit (CGRS) where they will have the opportunity to share their work with state legislators. It is important that students participating in the CGRS are able to effectively communicate their research to the general public. To provide an evaluation of poster presentations from this perspective, some judges will be assigned to evaluate posters in an area of research very different from their own research/scholarly background.

Judging related questions may be directed to the Graduate Student Council at egsc@ksu.edu.