Grants and Writing Resources for Louisiana State University

An Ogden Honors College chemistry junior was named a 2026 Goldwater Scholar in April 2026, one of 454 chosen nationwide for the 2026-27 academic year. The student had begun lab work as a freshman, co-authored two papers and presented the research at LSU Discover Day. In June a physics major in the College of Science became one of 79 2026 Astronaut Scholars, an award worth up to $15,000.

Discover Day

The Office of Undergraduate Research runs LSU Discover Day, a one-day conference for undergraduate research and creative work in every major. Students apply with an abstract or artist statement of up to 250 words, approved by a faculty mentor. They can bring a poster, give a 15-minute oral session, set up a visual display, or enter the art show, a performance, a reading or a short film. The 13th Discover Day, held April 17, 2026, had 437 presenters from 19 schools.

Faculty, staff and graduate students judge the work with rubrics. Overall winners in four categories receive plaques. Participating LSU colleges also pay prizes to their top three scorers, at $125, $75 and $50, while the business and engineering colleges set separate prize amounts.

Money for Undergraduate Research

For the summer 2027 cycle, Summer Project Grants pay up to $6,000 toward wages, supplies and project travel. Applicants need a 3.0 GPA, 24 completed credits and an LSU faculty mentor, and they write a proposal with a 500 to 1,500 word narrative for non-specialist readers. Two or three anonymous faculty judges score each one. Work done for course credit, such as a thesis or capstone, is ineligible. Grantees attend ten weekly workshops and present at the Summer Undergraduate Research Forum.

Students in the Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program log 270 hours of research, present at Discover Day, present or publish at least once beyond LSU, and finish with a portfolio for the LSU Scholarly Repository that holds a CV, a reflective essay and the final paper or poster. Graduates earn a medal and a transcript notation. Program members can claim Travel Stipends to present at conferences: up to $500 in state, $750 for other U.S. trips, and $1,000 for select cities or travel outside continental North America.

Graduate Fellowships and Prizes

The Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School lists its awards and fellowships in one place. Departments nominate doctoral candidates with a 3.5 graduate GPA for the Dissertation Fellowship, a $25,000 stipend plus tuition exemption for the final year, held with no teaching or outside employment. Entering doctoral students can be nominated for the Huel D. Perkins Doctoral Fellowship, a $25,000 twelve-month stipend for up to four consecutive years if funding allows. Two Distinguished Dissertation Awards go out each year, one in arts, humanities and social sciences and one in science, engineering and technology, each worth $2,000 and a framed certificate.

For conference trips, the Graduate Student Association Travel Award pays up to $100 in state, $200 out of state and $450 for international travel to first authors presenting LSU work. Master's students can win it once and doctoral students up to three times. Doctoral students who have passed their general defense can enter the Three Minute Thesis competition, which in fall 2026 offered research travel awards of $1,000, $750 and $500 for People's Choice.

Coaching and the Thesis Handbook

Communication Across the Curriculum (CxC) books one-on-one appointments with Communication Coaches on Zoom or in person, for written, spoken, visual and technological work. A student who can't find an open time can send a work in progress for asynchronous feedback. CxC's graduate student resources add presentation and research poster coaching, conversation coaching for ESL graduate students, a presentation practice room and a sound booth.

The Graduate School's thesis and dissertation page carries the handbook, Word templates for humanities, science and studio fine arts, and a LaTeX template. Before the defense, students run the finished document through iThenticate and report the result to the committee chair. The finished document is uploaded to the LSU Scholarly Repository, where an editor checks the format and emails any corrections. A long list of formatting corrections can delay graduation.

Before a thesis goes up for format review, our editors can check its grammar, consistency and handbook format. See our LSU dissertation and thesis editing and LSU essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• How to Write an Expository Essay: Reveal the Proof
• Writing the Abstract and Title: First Impressions Matter
• Methodology Chapter Secrets: Building the Architecture of Your Argument