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. Find more information here.

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. 

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.

2026 Student Research Week will be March 23 – 27

Research Workshops

The Office of Graduate Research and Scholarship, in partnership with UCF resources such as the University Writing Center, the Center for Writing Excellence, and UCF Libraries offer support for graduate writers. See our Events Calendar for upcoming events.

Developing Strong Research Introductions for Graduate Writing

This interactive workshop helps graduate students develop strategies for writing strong research introductions for papers, articles, theses, and dissertations. Through discussion and guided writing activities, participants will learn how to establish significance, identify relevant library and academic sources, engage prior scholarship, and position their own research within disciplinary expectations. Build clarity, confidence, and momentum in your long-term writing projects by attending this session. As an interactive event, in person attendance is highly encouraged, but a virtual option is available. Please register at link above to receive location details. 
Date/Time: March 12, 2026 from 3 – 5 p.m.
Registration link: https://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0fCcfdOs1td3owu
Facilitator: Offered in partnership with the College of Graduate Studies Office of Graduate Research and Scholarship, University Writing Center (UWC), Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), Center for Writing Excellence (CWE), and UCF Libraries.

Can I Use That Image?: Copyright & Image Use in Digital Scholarship

Found the perfect image for your project? Before you use it, learn the basics of copyright and image use in academic work. This workshop covers practical questions scholars face: When do you need permission? What’s in the public domain? How do Creative Commons licenses work? Whether you’re creating a presentation, thesis, or digital project, you’ll leave knowing how to find and use images responsibly and when to seek permissions.
Date/Time: February 19, 2026 from 2 – 3 p.m.
Registration link: https://ucf.libcal.com/event/16373741
Facilitator: Sarah Norris, UCF Libraries

Establishing a Digital Presence

How do you present yourself and your research online? Explore various academic and academic adjacent platforms, and learn ways to build your online presence, publicize your research, manage your online identity, and link your work to a stable identifier. 
Date/Time: February 26, 2026 from 2 – 3 p.m.
Registration link: https://ucf.libcal.com/event/16373788
Facilitator: Dan Fandino, UCF Libraries

Writing Support

The Office of Graduate Research and Scholarship, in partnership with UCF resources such as the University Writing Center, the Center for Writing Excellence, and UCF Libraries offer support for graduate writers. See our Events Calendar for upcoming events.

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.

Research Computing Support

The UCF Office of Research Cyberinfrastructure (RCI) offers weekly virtual office hours to support researchers with a range of computing needs, including cloud services, high-performance computing (HPC), software development, and LaTeX. Researchers can drop in during the scheduled times or request individual consultations as needed. More information is available at: https://rci.research.ucf.edu/resource/virtual-office-hours/

LaTeX and Computational Office Hours

Support includes ARCC/ACCESS systems, Slurm/PBS job schedulers, Linux workflows, scientific software installation, and LaTeX troubleshooting. Join LaTeX and computational office hours at: https://rci.research.ucf.edu/join-office-hours-computational

Cloud Computing Office Hours

Support includes AWS, GCP, and Azure services, data pipelines, machine learning workflows, serverless architecture, and cost optimization. Join cloud computing office hours at: https://rci.research.ucf.edu/join-office-hours-cloud

Grant Seeking and Preparation Fundamentals Webcourse

Grant Seeking and Preparation Fundamentals is a free, self-guided webcourse, created by the Research Development Team in the UCF Office of Research, with the intention of providing a variety of primer information (videos and resources) on topics and tools related to grant seeking and preparation. Completing this course will help you prepare your first grant proposal.  

UCF Presentation Fellowship

Traveling to present your research? A UCF 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.