Research and Scholarship

The Office of Graduate Student Life connects graduate students with many opportunities to not only present their research and scholarship to the UCF community but also develop competencies they will need to excel both as graduate students and future professionals.

Knight Research Scholars Program

The Knight Research Scholars Program (KRSP) at UCF is an innovative initiative designed to provide team-based research that offers mentorship and leadership development for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, while offering accessible and transformative research experiences for undergraduate students.

Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars serve as team leaders, guiding undergraduate researchers through meaningful projects while enhancing their own mentorship and leadership skills. Undergraduates actively participate in research, develop critical analytical and problem-solving skills, and build relationships that support their academic and professional growth. 

Graduate students and post-docs from all disciplines are encouraged to participate.

For Team Leader registration, go to https://forms.office.com/r/P5LfecrfWM.  

Students who complete at least one full semester in KRSP earn a Knight Research Scholar certification, a valuable credential that highlights their commitment to research and scholarly development.

For more information, contact knightresearch@ucf.edu.

UCF’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition

Graduate research is presented in a novel and exciting way at UCF’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Doctoral and Master’s students communicate their research in just three short minutes and with only one PowerPoint slide to non-expert judges while competing to win scholarship awards.

First developed in 2008 by the University of Queensland in Australia, the popularity of the competition has increased and 3MT competitions are now held in over 600 universities across more than 59 countries worldwide. 

2025 3 Minute Thesis Competition Important Dates:

More Information Forthcoming

Award for Excellence by a Graduate Student Researcher

This award recognizes outstanding graduate student-level research and creative scholarship at UCF. This self-nominated award allows students to share their research with the UCF community and be acknowledged by their fellow graduate students. Each Fall and Spring, $4,000 in scholarships will be awarded.

The Spring 2025 Cycle will be live in early January

Student Scholar Symposium

The Student Scholar Symposium is a two-day, conference-style poster presentation event for graduate and undergraduate students to present their research and creative scholarship to the UCF community in a poster forum.

Held each spring during Student Research Week, the Symposium is UCF’s premier student research event. For additional information, please see the Student Scholar Symposium webpage. For questions, please email researchweek@ucf.edu.

2025 Student Scholar Symposium Important Dates

Acceptance Notifications: February 21, 2025
Student Scholar Symposium Dates: March 26 – 27, 2025

IRB Support

The Office of Research and the College of Graduate Studies offer office hours to students with an IRB Ambassador for help navigating UCF’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) application process.

The IRB Ambassador can offer assistance to students in the following ways:

• Provide guiding information to students who are ready to apply for IRB approval to conduct research
• Answer questions relating to the IRB application and approval process
• Offer help navigating the Huron IRB platform
• Meet one-on-one with UCF student researchers virtually or in-person

Students should have their research proposal and study design complete and reviewed by their faculty advisor and thesis/dissertation committee members prior to meeting with the IRB ambassador for study application assistance.

Students can email IRB application questions to Zachary.Miller@ucf.edu or Schedule a Meeting.

Graduate Writing Groups

The College of Graduate Studies and the University Writing Center are partnering to offer graduate student writing groups. We believe that community and accountability, along with setting achievable goals, play a significant role in completing major writing projects. Past participants have finished proposals, chapters, articles, and have even defended their dissertations!

Read to join a group?

• Click on the Writing Group Interest Form or go to the Writing Center in person (TCH 109) or call (407-823-2197) and leave your contact information.  
• If you already know a few classmates who are interested in forming a writing group, you can join as a group (5-8 members max preferred).   

For additional details, please see https://uwc.cah.ucf.edu/grad

For questions about this event, please email gradworkshops@ucf.edu.

UCF Presentation Fellowship

Traveling to present your research? The Presentation Fellowship is a great opportunity for students who plan to present a research paper or comparable creative activity at a professional conference. This fellowship provides funding for enrolled master’s, specialist, and doctoral students to share their research at a professional meeting. Students must be the primary author and presenter.

Graduate Student Life Workshops

Graduate Student Life workshops are designed to provide graduate students with professional development experiences beyond the discipline and classroom. Students can gain the following research knowledge from workshops: greater awareness of academic integrity expectations, how to obtain external funding and grants, improved academic writing, better research communication and presentation skills, and much more. Please see our Workshops page for information on additional topics.