By Armida Yee-Muñoz
ATLANTA — Georgia State University this month celebrated undergraduate achievement with the 19th annual Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference (“GSURC”). GSURC began in 2007 as a half-day event where fewer than 100 students presented their undergraduate research through traditional poster and oral presentations.
The event has grown over the years, with artistic displays being added in 2012, musical presentations in 2016, films in 2019 and, new this year, a business case competition.
Eighteen years later, GSURC has more than doubled in size, both in terms of presentations shared and in number of guests attending.
Now in its 19th year, GSURC continues to challenge the notion that research happens only in science labs. During this year's event, April 8, students presented projects from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, business, health professions, education, the arts and beyond.
The Role of Arts and Creative Inquiry (“CI”)
The conference welcomes a wide array of topics and presentation approaches — including creative inquiry (CI) — which gives students an opportunity to explore their questions through artistic endeavors.
Similar to traditional research, CI work involves synthesizing existing ideas and information in a way that seeks to add to the ongoing understanding and dialogue about a particular topic. This type of presentation sits at the intersection of intellectual pursuit and artistic output.
GSURC 2025
This year’s GSURC showcased more than 250 student research presentations or creative inquiry projects. The presentations represent 46 majors and eight colleges, and dealt with a range of themes, everything from quantum-inspired algorithms to hindsight bias in Super Bowl predictions.
In addition to student presentations, attendees explored the Experiential Learning Expo, where campus partners introduced students to research opportunities and hands-on learning experiences available throughout the year.
The conference began with remarks from President M. Brian Blake, emphasizing Georgia State’s dedication to providing meaningful research opportunities to undergraduate students of all disciplines. “Research opportunities like GSURC allow students to create new ideas and explore different bodies of work," he said. "GSU is committed to supporting students in research which is why we launched the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry (CURCI) earlier this year.”
To this end, 19 years after creating and hosting GSURC, the Honors College (and previous to that, the Honors Program) will be handing GSURC over to CURCI next year, which will allow the conference to continue to grow and provide even more opportunities to undergraduate students.
Awards
Participants in GSURC also have the opportunity to win awards in their respective categories. Below, find the winners of each award along with the topic of their research.
| GENERAL AWARDS: Third Place Artistic Display | Myself, I Gibson Griffin Ruby |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Artistic Display | Mambo Café - Kinetic Type Judith Mejia-Martinez |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Artistic Display | ALGI: Bio-Yarn Light Sculpture Ione Shakur |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Film | The End of the World is Just a Perspective Oluwatosin Thompson |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Film | Drowning on Air Anaya Martin |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Oral Presentation Applied Research and Entrepreneurship | Machine Learning Approaches to Predicting Electoral Success Denay Grandison, Eddie Madden, Romero Moura |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Oral Presentation Fine Arts & Humanities | "I am everywhere. I am nowhere.": Mystique and Genderfluidity in Marvel Comics Makena Helms |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Oral Presentation Natural and Computational Sciences | Effects of Ethanol on Biomass and PHB Production in Algae and E. coli Co-Cultures Salem Mutata |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Oral Presentation Social & Behavioral Sciences | A Call to Action Before It’s Too Late: Protecting and Strengthening the Future with Head Start Hawabai Osman |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Oral Presentation Applied Research and Entrepreneurship | Willow-Wing Outpost Antonina Orlanova |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Oral Presentation Fine Arts & Humanities | Semiotics and Controlled Vocabulary Methodology Ashe Ellard |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Oral Presentation Natural and Computational Sciences | δ-Tocotrienol Improves Insulin Signaling and Decreases Inflammation in Neuroblastoma Cells Eshan Shah |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Oral Presentation Social & Behavioral Sciences | Comparison of the Cooking and Eating Behaviors among Food Secure vs. Food Insecure College Students that Attended a Free Pilot Cooking and Nutrition Education Class at a Minority Serving Institution Valeria Alvarado, Halley Riley, Cecilia Tran, Athanasia Platis, Josh Simpkins, Nida Shaikh |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Poster Presentation Applied Research and Entrepreneurship | Optimizing Torch-MISA for Efficient Signal Separation in IVA of fMRI via Definitive Screening Design Orit Yohannes, Fareya Borhan, Poorav Rawat, Aditya Sule, Vince Calhoun, Rogers Silva |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Poster Presentation Fine Arts & Humanities | Displacement Mapping: Racial Violence and Movement in the State of Georgia Florence Hassett |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Poster Presentation Natural and Computational Sciences | Improving Seizure Onset Zone Localization in Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Through Frequency-Band Granger Causality Analysis Evan Szypulski |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Second Place Poster Presentation Social & Behavioral Sciences | Variables Influencing College Major Decision in Communication Sciences and Disorders Across Racial and Ethnic Groups Ileana Boariu, Natalie Frances, Manuel L. Read Alvarez, Hendrix Wallen, Nesha Soni, Luciana Lessa Rodrigues |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Poster Presentation Applied Research and Entrepreneurship | Custom 3D Vision Transformer for Predicting Working Memory from MRI Scans Aditya Kumar & Devansh Sinha |
| First Place Poster Presentation Fine Arts & Humanities | Music as a Language: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Linguistic Scaffolding and Aural Skills in Music Ebony Lockwood |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Poster Presentation Natural and Computational Sciences | Dynamic Entrainment of Neuronal Models Diyorahon Rakhimova |
| GENERAL AWARDS: First Place Poster Presentation Social & Behavioral Sciences | Affirmative Action: A Comparative Analysis of Indian and South African Programs Haifaa Aldoohan |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Global Engagement Award | Affirmative Action: A Comparative Analysis of Indian and South African Programs Haifaa Aldoohan |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Global Engagement Award | Machine Learning Approaches to Predicting Electoral Success Denay Grandison, Eddie Madden, Romero Moura Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Ryan Carlin |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Global Engagement Award | American Asceticism: Lessons From an Impotent Counterculture Nathan Desta |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Community & Belonging | The Strain of Urban Development on Water Infrastructure: Analyzing Need for Combined Sewer System Reform in Atlanta, Georgia Elle Shirah & Mireille Lofquist |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Community & Belonging | Accessing the Usability and Feasibility of an Inclusive Food and Microwave Access Map among Students, Faculty and Staff at an Urban Minority Serving Multi-campus University in Southeastern U.S. Sudip Agrahari |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Community & Belonging | Totally Doomed Emiko Kuhs |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Provost Award | Semiotics and Controlled Vocabulary Methodology Ashe Ellard |
| GENERAL AWARDS: Provost Award | Dynamic Entrainment of Neuronal Models Diyorahon Rakhimova |
| SIGNATURE EXPEREINCE AWARDS | Effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on Motor and Psychological Symptoms of Huntington’s Disease in a Drosophila melanogaster Model Utkarsh Dave |
| SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE AWARD | Is Formula 1 ESG Actually Sustainable? Armin Amina |
| SIGNATURE EXPEREINCE AWARDS | Effects of Ethanol on Biomass and PHB Production in Algae and E. coli Co-Cultures Salem Mutata |
| SIGNATURE EXPEREINCE AWARDS | Are Social Interactions of Adolescent Gorillas with Group Members Influenced by Maternal Proximity at Zoo Atlanta? Cianie Castillo |
| SUSTAINABILITY AWARD: art | Algi: Bio-Yarn Light Sculpture Ione Shakur |
| SUSTAINABILITY AWARD: film | Drowning on Air Anaya Martin |
| SUSTAINABILITY AWARD: poster | Enhanced Production of Bioplastic Poly-(3 hydroxybutyrate) Using a Co-culture System of Escherichia coli and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii John Biggs & iGEM team |
| SUSTAINABILITY AWARD: poster | The Strain of Urban Development on Water Infrastructure: Analyzing Need for Combined Sewer System Reform in Atlanta, Georgia Elle Shirah |
| SUSTAINABILITY AWARD: oral presentation | Effects of Ethanol on Biomass and PHB Production in Algae and E. coli Co-Cultures Salem Mutata |
| SUSTAINABILITY AWARD; HExB Grow business case | How Sustainable is Sustainable Fashion? Maddison McCarley |
| SUSTAINABILITY AWARD; HExB Grow business case | Is Formula 1 ESG Actually Sustainable? Armin Amina |
| SUSTAINABILITY AWARD: Campus Sustainability | Raccoon Eyes: How Portion Size & Behavioral Interventions Reduce Dining Hall Food Waste Erin Murphy & Sarah Salazar |
| BUSINESS CASE STUDY COMPETITION: 1st Place | Boom Supersonic: The Future of High-Speed Commercial Aviation Josh Norman |
| BUSINESS CASE STUDY COMPETITION: 2nd Place | Is Formula 1 Underreporting Its 2030 Net Neutral Carbon Emissions? Armin AminaIs |
| BUSINESS CASE STUDY COMPETITION: 3rd Place | The Sustainability of LEGO, A Sustainable Future, One Brick at a Time Arman Deljoo |
The Honors College at Georgia State University is a destination for high-achieving students who embody curiosity, take pride in their work and dream about how they can make an impact through their studies and careers. Its mission is to serve students in a welcoming space by engaging students’ curiosity, empowering them to achieve their highest potential and inspiring them to find their place in the world. Its students form life-long friendships, participate in community service, perform research, excel academically, explore their interests and chart their career paths.