The Best Graduate Research in the State

Some of the state’s best graduate students came together April 22 for the third Statewide Graduate Student Research Symposium at the University of Florida. The University of Central Florida had eleven students present their research, with two of our students taking top honors in Life Sciences and Engineering categories.

The symposium, an initiative of the Florida Council of Graduate Deans, aims to promote the important role graduate education plays in driving new knowledge and the economy in Florida and beyond.

Those who participated were able to earn bragging rights for their top research projects in the state. The symposium also provided them with opportunities to share scholarly research and to network and discuss possible research collaborations with other students and faculty in the state of Florida.

Nearly 70 graduate students representing eight universities from across Florida displayed their research through poster presentations. Students had already earned top marks in their category from their own respective university graduate research competitions. First and second place certificates were awarded in each of the seven categories: Arts and Humanities, Biological Sciences, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Life Sciences, and Social Sciences.

UCF graduate students that competed in the symposium were all winners from this year’s Graduate Research Forum. Abigail Woltering in Life Sciences and Khurram Soomro in Engineering were awarded as first place winners.

Congratulations to all of our students who represented UCF at the Statewide Research Symposium, and congratulations to our winners. 

From left to right: The Statewide Graduate Student Research Symposium UCF Participants, Craig Neal, Rocky Brighton, Jennifer Miller, Abigail Woltering, Naomi Wheeler, Sara Gitto, Sara Bryson, Zeinab Sanjabieznaveh, Khurram Soomro, Alyssa Varanoske and James Padgett.