GRASP Symposium

8:00 AM - Student presenters check-in (Woolsey Hall 1st floor) and set up posters

8:15 AM - Breakfast (Woolsey Hall Atrium)

8:30 - 10 AM - Oral presentations (Wolsey Hall 225, 233 and 234)

10 AM - Poster judges check in (Woolsey Hall 135)

10:15 AM - Students ready to present posters (Woolsey Hall Atrium and Fidelity Ball Ballroom)

10:15 AM - 12.15 PM - Judging (Woolsey Hall Atrium and Fidelity Bank Auditorium)

12:15 PM - Judges dismissed for lunch (Woolsey Hall Auditorium)

12:15 - 12:30 PM – Students pick up posters and go for lunch (Woolsey Hall Auditorium) 

12:30 - 1:15 PM – Keynote presentation and lunch (Woolsey Hall Auditorium)

1:15 - 1:45 PM - Awards ceremony (Woolsey Hall Auditorium)

2027: April 9

Graduate students from any WSU department are eligible to apply to participate in the annual Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) symposium.

All applicants must submit an abstract of their research by February 20, 2026. Students need to fill out the registration form first and then submit their their abstract via email. Detailed directions are provided below, under "Submit your abstract".

Your abstract should reflect the standards in your field. To accommodate this, we have two abstract templates that you should choose from. Consult with your advisor to make sure you are using the best template for your field. Remember that the overall GRASP audience will not be experts in your field.

Abstract templates are available at the WSU Graduate Research Intranet  and also here (WSU ID required).

The recording of this presentation is available at the WSU Graduate Research Intranet (WSU ID required).

• "Abstract Writing", by Christine Freak, co-author or Abstracts and the Writing of Abstracts

If you are looking for general inspiration or want to see what others have done in the past, you can review previous years' abstracts in University Libraries' SOAR database.

Students must work with their advisor in the application process and when preparing their abstracts and posters. Make sure you speak with your advisor before submitting your abstract

Please note that the person who submit the proposal will receive all communications from GRASP. It will be their responsibility to forward information to co-authors.

• SUBMISSION CLOSES FEBRUARY 20 AT 11:59 PM

Abstracts must be submitted via email as a Word Document. We cannot accept PDFs or other formats. Please email your abstracts to gs3@wichita.edu. 

Please use this naming convention: Last name, first name, "GRASP 2026" (e.g., DoeJaneGRASP2026.doc). 

Please use the abstract templates available at the WSU Graduate Research Intranet and here (WSU ID required).

Please follow the directions included in the template.

Thanks!  

The Editorial Board will review the abstracts and select participants.

Abstracts will be published in the Shocker Open Access Repository (SOAR).

• Abstract submission January 22 - February 20, 2026
• Notification of acceptance March 9, 2026
• Posters due to printers by April 10, 2026
• Final abstracts and advisor's review due by April 17, 2026.
• April 24, 2026 GRASP Symposium in Woolsey Hall.

Posters may be no larger than 36 x 48 inches. There are no exceptions to sizing. If your poster is too large, you may not be able to participate. GRASP will provide tacks for posters--you need only bring your poster to the event.

You are responsible for getting your poster printed. We encourage you to seek funding support from your advisors, program, department, etc. Posters should be submitted to Shocker Printing Solutions by April 10, 2026 to ensure it is ready in time for the symposium.

Be prepared to give a 3-5 minute oral summary of your project to the judges. After your summary, judges may ask you questions about your project. Remember, judges will come from all areas of the University, so your poster and summation should be directed to a general audience. 

• Clear design starts with clear thinking!
• Keep in mind that most people (and judges) viewing your poster are not experts in your field.
• A well-organized and succinct poster is more likely to grab the audience's attention. A crowded, complicated, difficult-to-read poster will be passed by for an easy-to-read, well organized poster.
• Be consistent: font size and style, alignment of text and graphics, fond size change on bullet levels, grammar and punctuation (e.g., sentence tense, use of periods), etc.
• Use a pleasing color scheme and make your text, graphics, tables, and pictures stand out form the background. Make sure to balance white space and text to avoid clutter and emptiness.
• Less=more
• Use high-resolution, readable graphics, tables, and pictures that are properly labeled to eliminate text and make your poster more visually appealing.  Do not use 3-dimensional graphs. 

For excellent advice on preparing a poster, see Designing Conference Posters by Colin Purrington.

Poster templates and videos are available at the WSU Graduate Research Intranet and here (WSU ID required).

The recording of this presentation is available at the WSU Graduate Research Intranet (WSU ID required).

• "Giving Poster Presentations", by John Bond, author of The Little Guide to Giving Poster Presentations.

March 31, 3:30 - 4:30 PM, "How to Create a Research Poster" -by WSU Librarians Meghann Kuhlmann and Fional Holly. In person (Ablah Library) and also online (with registration). Register here.

 

CATEGORY	9-Oct	6-Aug	3-May	1-Feb	Points
Poster Design	Display is uncluttered and easily readable.	Display is relatively easily to read and relatively uncluttered.	Display is somewhat cluttered and difficult to read.	Display is overly cluttered and impossible to follow.
	Content is easily understood without further explanation.	Content is understandable, but requires some further explanation for clarity.	Content is difficult to understand without further explanation.	Content is impossible to understand without further explanation.
	Design supports content without overwhelming it.	Design supports content, but may be a bit excessive.	Design somewhat overwhelms content.	Design completely overwhelms content.
Poster Organization	Thesis stated clearly and developed.	Thesis stated but not could be more clear.	Thesis somewhat unclear.	Thesis not clearly stated.
	Specific examples are appropriate and logical flow to content	Most information is presented in logical sequence.	Concepts and ideas are loosely connected, lacks clear transitions.	Poster is disjointed, does not flow. No apparent logical order of presentation is present.
Overall Strength and Content of Research as Reflected on Poster	Poster reflects a full understanding of the topic.	Poster reflects a good understanding of the topic.	Poster reflects a good understanding of parts of the topic.	Poster content does not seems to convey the topic very well.
	Poster provides accurate and complete explanations.	Poster provides explanations of concepts that are accurate and complete with no elaboration.	Poster provides weak examples, facts, and/or statistics.	Poster provides very weak or no support from examples, facts, and/or statistics.
	Clearly references appropriate literature.	Literature references are somewhat clear.	Literature references are vague.	Poster doesn’t reference appropriate literature.
	Advances thinking about the discipline in new ways.	Somewhat advances thinking about discipline in new ways.	Advances thinking about the discipline very little.	Doesn’t advance thinking about the discipline in new ways.
	Contains a future perspective.	A futures perspective can be inferred.	A futures perspective is not apparent.	A futures perspective is not included.
	Research is clearly important to the discipline.	Research appears somewhat important to the discipline.	Research is not clearly connected to the discipline.	Research is not connected to the discipline.
Presentation Communication and  Effectiveness	Level of presentation is appropriate and understandable to the non-expert audience.	Level of presentation is somewhat understandable to the non-expert audience.	Level of presentation is challenging for the non-expert audience.	Level of presentation ignores the non-expert audience.
	Presenter incorporates a unique approach to the topic.	Presenter incorporates a typical approach to the topic.	Presenter approach to the topic is very basic.	Presenter approach to the topic is very disorganized.
	Presenter greatly increases audiences’ understanding of knowledge of topic.	Presenter slightly increases audiences’ understanding and knowledge of topic.	Presenter increases audience understanding and knowledge of some points.	Presenter fails to increase audience understanding and knowledge of topic.
	Presenter has clear point of view and conveys it well.	Presenter has clear point of view, and does adequate job conveying it.	Presenter points may be clear but lack development or support.	Presenter points fail to effectively convince audience.
	Impact is clear	Impact can be inferred.	Impact is not apparent	Impact is not addressed.
	Within 3-5 minute time limit; concise and relevant	Within 3-5 min time limit, but main idea not expressed in the best form.	Presentation is not within the 3-5 min time limit	Presentation is not within the 3-5 min time limit
				Total

The Judging Rubrics for Posters provides more information on expectations for posters and presentations.

Want to judge poster presentations? Sign up here.

At the GRASP event in April, both oral and poster presentations will be judged and winners will be awarded prizes.