Grants and Writing Resources for Kent State University

On April 13, 2026, 261 Kent State students presented 203 posters and talks at the Undergraduate Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors, with about 212 faculty mentors behind the work. Topics ran from scientific research to dance pieces.

Grants for Undergraduate Projects

The Office of Student Research gives up to $500 through the Undergraduate Research or Creative Activity Award. The work has to happen under a faculty mentor, and it can be the student's project or part of the mentor's research. Applicants send a proposal, a budget and a faculty letter of support. The money can go to materials, supplies, travel, rentals, equipment, props, services, and publishing and distribution fees.

Students with an accepted conference presentation can ask the same office for undergraduate travel funding of up to $500, once a year, with a faculty letter of support. Recipients are strongly encouraged to present at the spring symposium as well.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) is an eight-week program of research with a faculty mentor. In summer 2026 it paid a $3,200 stipend for 40 hours a week or $1,600 for 20, and applicants had to be returning to a Kent State campus for fall 2026.

Graduate Research Money and Awards

The Graduate Student Senate funds three awards through the Office of Student Research. The Graduate Student Senate Research Award pays up to $2,000 per academic year toward degree-related or independent research. A Domestic Travel Award reimburses up to $300 for one conference trip a year in the contiguous United States or the adjacent Canadian provinces, and an International Travel Award covers up to $1,500 for one trip to a conference or workshop outside that area.

The Graduate College gives named awards as well. The Mary Ann Stephens and John R. Graham Award for Excellence in Graduate Research and Scholarship goes to full-time doctoral students, usually two a year, at $500 each, with preference for Ph.D. students in STEM fields. The David B. Smith Scholarship, also $500, recognizes scholarship and teaching and asks for a graduate GPA of at least 3.50. For both, a faculty committee reviews the files and the dean of the Graduate College makes the choice.

Honors Theses and Luna Negra

Graduating with a Distinction in Honors means writing and defending a Senior Honors Thesis/Project. It is a six-credit independent project directed by a faculty member. The work can be research, creative or applied, and it ends in a formal written document.

Luna Negra publishes creative work from the Kent State community. The student organization describes it as Kent State's longest-standing literary arts journal, founded in 1956 as the Kent Quarterly, and it holds events every month.

Writing Help and the Final Copy

The Writing Commons in 418 University Library is staffed by undergraduate and graduate consultants. Sessions run in person, on Teams, or as written feedback by email, and consultants work on everything from first-year essays and lab reports to thesis and dissertation revisions. Graduate students also have The Write Place, drop-in writing time run with the Writing Commons, where a graduate writing consultant is on hand at every session. The Graduate College's Research and Writing page adds a Research Writing Retreat and a Dissertation Resource Center with goal-setting worksheets, citation tools and statistical consulting.

Finished theses and dissertations are uploaded to the OhioLINK ETD Center and then reviewed for formatting. Two colleges speak to outside editing in their guides. The College of the Arts' Preparation of the Final Copy puts the quality of the document on the degree candidate and says the final copy should be error free. It suggests having several trusted acquaintances review the work or, as an alternative, employing a professional editor who is familiar with the discipline's style standards. The College of Education, Health and Human Services post-defense guide suggests that candidates hire a dissertation editor and be specific about the scope of the editing they expect.

Tell us the scope you need before your ETD upload, and our editors will check grammar, consistency and format against your college's requirements. See our Kent State University dissertation and thesis editing and Kent State University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• The Secret to Better Grades: Starting Your Writing Process Early
• The Results Chapter: Presenting Data with Forensic Clarity
• Escaping the Revision Pile: Strategies for First-Round Approval