Grants and Writing Resources for California State University, San Bernardino

CSUSB's 40th Student Research Competition, held in February 2026, produced 28 winning students across 16 judged sessions. Ten teams, 19 students in all, were chosen to represent the university at the CSU statewide competition at San José State.

Competitions and Symposia

The Student Research Competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students in every discipline, who present to a panel of judges. Session winners take $500 for first place and $250 for second. The statewide round draws students from all 23 CSU campuses, and only those endorsed by their campus coordinator can enter.

The Office of Student Research and Innovation holds Meeting of the Minds, an annual two-day symposium of oral talks, posters and art exhibits drawn from graduate and undergraduate work; the 15th was held in April 2026 during Research Week. Faculty jurors give feedback and pick the best oral and poster presentations. Awards go out at a closing reception.

Grants and Recognition

The ASI Student Research and Travel Grant, funded by Associated Students and Instructionally Related Programs, pays up to $1,000 per student each academic year. Undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, graduate and doctoral students can use it for research tied to an independent study, a course, an honors project or a master's thesis, or to present at or attend a conference. Recipients present a poster or talk at Research Week afterward.

Faculty nominate students for the Outstanding Student Research or Creative Activities Award, given each year to one graduate and one undergraduate. For national competitions such as Fulbright, Goldwater, Truman and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the Distinguished Fellowship Initiative lists campus representatives who can help applicants.

Journals and Magazines

History in the Making, the annual journal of CSUSB's Alpha Delta Nu chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, is reviewed and edited by students and publishes work by current students and recent graduates. Its 16th edition took second place in the Gerald D. Nash History Journal Competition, graduate print division, in 2023. Volume 19 came out in 2026.

Creative work goes to Pacific Review, a student-led literary magazine that takes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, plays, screenplays, comics, photography and visual art.

Writing Support and Theses

Graduate and undergraduate consultants staff the Writing Center in the Watson College of Education, meeting students in person or on Zoom; several specialize in working with multilingual writers. The Graduate Writing Center offers 30- and 60-minute consultations and recommends the hour-long slot for anyone working on a thesis, dissertation or other major project. It also runs the Graduate Writing Accountability Group. The group meets for two hours every Wednesday evening, in person or on Zoom in fall and spring and on Zoom in summer.

Completed work is published in the library's Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations collection on CSUSB ScholarWorks.

When your draft is close and you want a careful last read, our editors are available. See our California State University, San Bernardino dissertation and thesis editing and California State University, San Bernardino essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• The Lecture as a High-Stakes Professional Presentation
• From Dissertation to Publication: The Final Scholarly Synthesis
• ESL Academic Writing: Overcoming Common Grammar Habits