Undergraduate Research

Thrive and Achieve Atlanta (THAAT) Research Program

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
― Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)

We are thrilled to announce The Undergraduate Research Program (THAAT) is available to Thrive and Achieve Atlanta Scholars this academic year.

Thrive and Achieve Atlanta (THAAT) Research ProgramThrough a partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Student Success Programs, our goal is to help students in the Thrive and Achieve Atlanta programs gain valuable research experience with some of KSU's top faculty and Graduate Research Assistants (GRA) mentors. There are numerous benefits to engaging in research, and this program helps our scholars develop these skills that will assist them in their academic success. Other SSP scholars are also encouraged to work with the Office of Undergraduate Research to pursue research projects and funding.

Thrive and Achieve Atlanta (THAAT) Research Program

  • The (THAAT) Research Program is a partnership between the Office of Undergraduate Research and Student Success Programs to help students in the Thrive and Achieve Atlanta programs gain valuable research experience. There are numerous benefits to engaging in research, and this program helps students realize these gains. 

Thrive and Achieve Atlanta (THAAT) Research ProgramUndergraduate research funds are designed to enhance students’ involvement and experiences by supporting the following:

  • Your assigned faculty/staff mentors will be allocated resources for the purchase of supplies or materials to conduct research with you (e.g., software, materials for the arts, scientific supplies, books/journals that cannot be provided by the library, etc.)
  • Personnel (e.g., a small stipend provided to students who apply and complete a research project during academic year 2023-2024)
  • Travel and/or registration costs for students presenting at an academic conference (NOTE: you must be listed as a presenter to receive funding). International travel needs to be approved by the Office of International Safety and Security before the THAAAT research proposal can be reviewed.
    • Application deadline is September 29, 2023.
    • Limited to a maximum of $1,500 per student per academic year to provide support for travel to professional research conferences. You must be listed as a presenter to receive funding.
    • Students’ assigned faculty/staff mentor will receive up to $1,000 toward supplies for your specific research only. All supplies must be approved and purchased through the SSP department.
    • Students accepted into the THAAT research program will be awarded a $500 stipend at the end of the year. Active participation is required throughout the year to receive the $500 stipend.

  • The Director of the Student Success Programs will review applications with input from faculty experts. Students interested in applying should complete the application. Submissions are evaluated according to the following criteria:

    • Quality of writing
    • Scholarly merit
    • Impact on undergraduate researcher

  • Primary Investigators (PIs) (Note: Primary Investigator is the faculty/staff mentor for the research project that you will be working with on a project.)

    • PIs must be under contract at Kennesaw State University.
    • PIs can be full-time faculty, staff, and postdoctoral researchers.

    Students

    • Students must be in the Thrive or Achieve Atlanta program at Kennesaw State University.
    • Students must be enrolled full time (required 12 credit hours or more) in classes and in good academic standing.
    • An abstract of the project will be submitted to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in late fall.
    • The project will be presented at the Symposium of Student Scholars in April. THAAT scholars will submit their Symposium abstract in March.
    • Students may submit a proposal to other disciplinary conferences suggested by their faculty/staff mentor.

    Overall Requirements

    • All KSU-supported research projects are administered in accordance with established University fiscal procedures and research policies. These include all travel regulations, policies relating to the protection of human subjects, and policies related to intellectual property rights. All publications and presentations must acknowledge the assistance of Kennesaw State University.
    • PIs and students are expected to obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval prior to collecting any data if the project includes research involving human or animal subjects.
    • Students who were not accepted and funded through the THAAT program in the previous year are strongly urged to apply again.
    • Only one application per student for each project.  Each student is required to write his/her own application. Copying from another student applicant will be considered plagiarism and will be penalized accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    • Students must be admitted into the Thrive or Achieve Atlanta programs at Kennesaw State University and be a current SSP undergraduate in good academic standing (GPA above 2.0). If you are unsure whether you are eligible, please email soi@kennesaw.edu
    • Definitely! We encourage students to branch out and participate in whatever projects interest them. Do not feel constrained by your home college/department; there might be a perfect fit for you elsewhere.
    • Students work on average 5-10 hours per week, although you should ask your mentor for more specifics.

Please email ssp@kennesaw.edu for more information

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