Graduate Research Symposium
Event Overview
USF's Annual Graduate Research Symposium
On March 26, 2025 the Office of Graduate Studies and the Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC) will hold their annual USF Graduate Research Symposium.
Morning Session (Digital Poster, Oral Presentation)
Participant presents their research poster in-person, with slide/virtual poster projected.
⏰ Time TBA
📌 Location TBA — Health & Life Sciences
📌 Location TBA — Physical Sci. & Engineering
📌 Location TBA — Social & Behavioral Sci. (Including Education)
📌 Location TBA — Arts & Humanities
Afternoon Session (Printed Poster, Oral Presentation)
Participants present their printed poster alongside other researchers in a large ballroom.
⏰ Time TBA
📌 Location TBA — All Research Disciplines
USF Event Overview
Annually, The Office of Graduate Studies and the Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC) host the Graduate Research Symposium to showcase the research of graduate students in all disciplines and allow them to obtain feedback from faculty and peers. The event brings together graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, as well as faculty mentors and judges, in an effort to foster further academic collaboration.
All graduate students are encouraged to apply; however, students without previous
conference experience will greatly benefit from participating in this event and are
highly encouraged to apply. This is an excellent opportunity to practice presenting research in an audience-friendly manner.
Being able to communicate science to the public is an important job skill.
Poster Review and Awards
The Research Symposium is an event consisting of graduate student poster presentations and judging. Applications that meet submission qualifications will be selected by a faculty committee. Sessions are open to the university community.
All posters will be reviewed by judges who will evaluate various aspects of the poster itself, as well as the scholars' ability to effectively present and discuss their research. Based upon the judges' evaluations, travel awards will be presented to winning participants of the research symposium.
Winners will be notified by e-mail during the week following the symposium.
2024 Graduate Research Symposium Winners
Category: Arts & Humanities
Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Beowulf- Rowling’s Beowulfian Analogs and Inversions
Presenter: Mark-Elliot Finley
Major Professor: Nicole Discenza
College: College of Arts and Sciences
Program: English
Title: An Archive in Peril: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Archive as a Case Study
Presenter: Lisa Shorts
Major Professor: Davide Tanasi
College: College of Arts and Sciences
Program: History
Category: Health & Life Sciences
Title: Neural Correlates of Temporal Processing Improve Following Treatment with Aldosterone:
A Behavioral and Neurophysiological Approach
Presenter: Dmitri Brunelle
Major Professor: Joe Walton
College: Behavioral and Community Sciences
Program: Communication Sciences and Disorders
Title: Cholesterol Conspiracy: Macrophages as Secret Allies of Prostate Cancer Cells
Presenter: Omotayo Olabisi
Major Professor: Brian Ruffell
College: Morsani College of Medicine
Program: Immunology
Category: Physical Sciences & Engineering
Title: Elucidating Thermal Properties of Chalcogenide Superionic Conductors for Applications
in Solid-State Batteries
Presenter: Wilarachchige D C Bhagya Gunatilleke
Major Professor: George Nolas
College: College of Arts and Sciences
Program: Physics
Title: Identifying Causes of Water Chemistry Changes at Springs in an Eogenetic Karst Aquifer
Presenter: Sunhye Kim
Major Professor: Patricia Spellman
College: Arts and Sciences
Concentration: Geosciences
Category: Social & Behavioral Sciences (Including Education)
Title: Correlates of Super Aging in Two Population-Based Samples of Hispanic Older Adults
Presenter: Cassidy Doyle
Major Professor: Kathy Black and Brent Small
College: Behavioral and Community Sciences
Program: Aging Studies
Title: Companionship as Medicine: Enhancing Older Adult Well-Being through Intergenerational
Telephone Communication
Presenter: Kaley Liang
Major Professor: Jennifer O’Brien
College: College of Arts and Sciences
Program: Psychology
2024 Graduate Research People's Choice Winners
Category: Arts & Humanities
Title: How do Metaphors of Time Speak for the Differences between Russians and Americans
and What Translational Difficulties it Causes?
Presenter: Daria Zavodskaia
Major Professor: Keith Berry
College: College of Arts and Sciences
Program: Communication
Category: Health & Life Sciences
Title: Testing a Zero-Inflated Dichotomous Logistic Bayesian Regression Model and a Land
Cover at Topological Supervised-Classification for Prioritizing Asthma Related Covariables
at the State Level
Presenter: Dewan Tahsin
Major Professor: Jean Paul Tanner
College: Public Health
Program: Epidemiology
Category: Physical Sciences and Engineering
Title: Geochemical and Textural Investigations of Pyroclastic Products from the June
3rd 2018 Eruption of Volcan de Fuego, Guatemala
Presenter: Erica Fancher
Major Professor: James Leahy
College: College of Arts and Sciences
Program: Geosciences
Category: Social & Behavioral Sciences (Including Education)
Title: Cognition in Crisis: Unravelling the Link Between COVID-19 and Cognitive-Linguistic
Impairments
Presenter: Celine Davis
Major Professor: Nathan Maxfield
College: College of Behavioral and Community Sciences
School: Communication Sciences and Disorders
2025 INFO: USF Deadlines & Timeline
| Application Deadline | February 10, 2025 |
| Accepted Applicants Notified | March 5, 2025 |
| Poster Submission Deadline | March 14, 2025 |
| Marshall Student Center Symposium (Morning/Afternoon) | March 26, 2025 |
| Announcement of Winners | March 31, 2025 |
Statewide Graduate Research Symposium
The 2024 Statewide Graduate Research Symposium was held during the Conference of Florida Graduate Schools at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida on April 8-9, 2024. Winners of USF
USF 3MT® representative Alexandra Zamitalo received First place.
USF Graduate Studies and Students at the Statewide Research Symposium and 3MT® Competition.
Pictured left to right: Dr. Gary Oliver, Dr. Tracy Costello, Cassidy Doyle, Alexandra Zamitalo (3MT®), Dr. Sandra Stone, Dimitri Brunelle, Wilarachchige Gunatilleke, Dr. Ruth Bahr, Mark-Elliot Finley.
The following students from the USF Graduate Student Research Symposium traveled to the 2024 Statewide Research Symposium:
🥇 Alexandra Zamitalo 3MT®, College of Engineering, Intraocular Marvels: Revolutionizing Techniques for Studying the Eye
Mark-Elliot Finley, College of Arts and Sciences, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Beowulf- Rowling’s Beowulfian Analogs and Inversions
🥈 Dimitri Brunelle, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, Neural Correlates of Temporal Processing Improve Following Treatment with Aldosterone: A Behavioral and Neurophysiological Approach
🥈 Cassidy Doyle, College of Arts and Sciences, Correlates of Super Aging in Two Population-Based Samples of Hispanic Older Adults
🥈 Wilarachchige D C Bhagya Gunatilleke, College of Arts and Sciences, Elucidating Thermal Properties of Chalcogenide Superionic Conductors for Applications in Solid-State Batteries