Grants and Writing Resources for Fort Hays State University

Fort Hays State sent seventeen students to Overland Park in January 2026 for the 24th annual K-INBRE Symposium, and four came home with awards. A student in biological sciences won the top-level Award of Excellence for an oral presentation. Three more took Honorable Mentions, two of them from the same department and one from chemistry and the Academy of Mathematics and Science.

Presenting Research

On campus, the John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days, known as SACAD, are an annual celebration that began in 2005. Students show posters, art and musical work alongside faculty and staff, with entries welcome from every discipline, and the repository keeps SACAD collections of scholarly and creative activities.

Graduate researchers also take their work to the statehouse. In 2026, four FHSU graduate students presented at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit in Topeka, on topics from separatism in Mexico in the decades after independence to groundwater contamination in western Kansas.

Research Grants

The Graduate Scholarly Experience Grant pays for project supplies or travel to present results. Each semester's pool is $6,000, with awards of up to $700. For undergraduates, faculty mentors apply for the Undergraduate Research Experience Grant to fund projects meant to end in publication or a public presentation.

Awards

Forsyth Library's Lynn Haggard Undergraduate Library Research Award, open to undergraduates in all disciplines, pays $1,000 for excellent research that makes use of Forsyth Library resources. Papers, posters, films, compositions, design portfolios and digital projects are all eligible, and the winner is featured in the repository. The same undergraduate awards list includes the Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar award, which carries $100, a medal and a certificate.

Each spring one graduate candidate receives the Outstanding Thesis/Field Study Award, presented at Spring Commencement, and one receives the Outstanding Graduate Student Research and Creative Activity Award. A graduate faculty member makes each nomination.

Student Journals and Theses

The Academic Leadership Journal in Student Research is a peer-reviewed online journal that takes undergraduate and graduate research from any discipline. Volume 8 came out in 2026. Finished theses go into the FHSU Scholars Repository, whose master's thesis collections reach back to 1930.

Writing Help

English Programs runs the Writing Center in Rarick Hall, where undergraduate and graduate consultants offer free one-on-one sessions at any stage of a paper. Consultants help with brainstorming, organization, evaluating sources, documentation and revision, and they'll also read résumés and cover letters.

For a final edit before submission, our PhD-level editors work with Fort Hays State students at every level. See our Fort Hays State University dissertation and thesis editing and Fort Hays State University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• The Lecture as a High-Stakes Professional Presentation
• The Literature Search: Using "Close Reading" as a Forensic Tool
• The Dissertation Conclusion: Closing the Logical Loop