37th Annual GSARS, 2021 Edition
![2021 37th annual GSARS logo a light blue cloud sits inside a box made of dark blue dashed lines. these lines connect an icon of a computer with a set of three mobile devices. Text underneath reads: 37th Graduate Student Assembly Research Symposium and Exposition. Research Carries On! Join us online March 22nd through March 24th, 2021.](/content/gpss_vt_edu/en/programs/gsars/2021-gsars/_jcr_content/article-image.transform/m-medium/image.png)
From the members of the +Policy DA: We are pleased to have participated in the 2021 GSA Research Symposium. Those of us who served as judges were impressed by and learned a good deal from the presentations. In an email, one of those judges praised the “emerging policy scholars at VT” that they heard.
This year, they would like to honor the following two presentations with a Policy DA award:
- 1st place: Tyler McFayden (psychology) “COVID-19 and remote learning experiences of youth with neurodevelopmental disorders in rural Appalachia”
- 2nd place: Sadia Ahmed (neuroscience) “The role of gut microorganisms on white matter development in infant brains: from ‘normal’ to ‘disorder’ and hopefully, 'back’”
The Spring 2021 event will be our 37th Annual GSA Research Symposium and Exposition. This year's theme is "Research Carries On!"
This year, we are offering our keynote event virtually, featuring three dynamic speakers with a discussion panel format following their presentations. Register for the event here.
The Virtual Keynote Event for the 2021 GSARS
![flyer for the speaker panel for the gsars images of alex haagaard, liz jackson, and lydia X.Z. brown (each smiling) are on a background of navy blue situated above the logo for the symposium](/content/gpss_vt_edu/en/programs/gsars/2021-gsars/_jcr_content/content/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.jpg)
![flyer for the speaker panel for the gsars images of alex haagaard, liz jackson, and lydia X.Z. brown (each smiling) are on a background of navy blue situated above the logo for the symposium](/content/gpss_vt_edu/en/programs/gsars/2021-gsars/_jcr_content/content/adaptiveimage_copy.transform/m-medium/image.jpg)
As part of this event, we provide awards for the top participants in each of the major competitions:
- synchronous virtual research talks (10 minutes)
- flash talks (5 minutes)
- pre-recorded videos (15 minutes max, approved on case-by-case basis).
Prospective presenters are asked to submit their 300 (or fewer) word abstracts using the link on the menu to the right. The submissions will be anonymously evaluated by two or more peer reviewers in order to ensure the high quality of the presentations, and the ability of the presenters to communicate with a broad audience.
Please note: All presentation proposal submissions must be made from your vt.edu email address.
Questions? Please email the GSARS Chair from your VT email address.
Over $24,000 in awards will be provided in the form of scholarships for outstanding presenters. All of these funds were derived from donations from our many generous offices, colleges, schools, departments, and programs at Virginia Tech. These sponsors are listed below.
Our Generous Sponsors
![logo for the virginia tech graduate school](/content/gpss_vt_edu/en/programs/gsars/2021-gsars/_jcr_content/content/vtcontainer/vtcontainer-content/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.jpg)
Graduate School of Virginia Tech
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Iota Delta Rho, the Interdisciplinary Research Honor Society
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Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs
Institutional Support: ISCE, ICAT, ICTAS, Fralin, VTTI
![School of Education the official logo for the VT School of Education](/content/gpss_vt_edu/en/programs/gsars/2021-gsars/_jcr_content/content/vtcontainer_233859080/vtcontainer-content/vtmulticolumn/vt-items_0/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.png)
School of Education, CLAHS
Department of English, CLAHS
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School of Public & International Affairs
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College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
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Department of Religion & Culture, CLAHS
Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, COE
Department of Fish & Wildlife Conservation, CNRE
Department of Mathematics, COS
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Dept. of Business, Pamplin
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Dept. of Performing Arts, CLAHS
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Dept. of History, CLAHS
Dept. of Sociology, CLAHS
Dept. of Marketing, Pamplin
Dept. of Geography, CLAHS
Dept. of STS, CLAHS
![2021 37th annual GSARS logo a light blue cloud sits inside a box made of dark blue dashed lines. these lines connect an icon of a computer with a set of three mobile devices. Text underneath reads: 37th Graduate Student Assembly Research Symposium and Exposition. Research Carries On! Join us online March 22nd through March 24th, 2021.](/content/gpss_vt_edu/en/programs/gsars/2021-gsars/_jcr_content/nav-briefs/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.png)