Now in its 40th year, the Central California Research Symposium will welcome about 300 participants — faculty and students from several universities — to campus for a daylong peer-reviewed event from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1 at the Henry Madden Library. Prizes and honorable mentions will be awarded.

Poster presentations will be held in the Leon S. Peter’s Ellipse Gallery and oral presentations will be held in several rooms on the second floor. Click here for a schedule.

A plenary session with remarks by Dr. James Marshall, dean of the Division of Research and Graduate Studies, Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro and others will start at 12:15 p.m. in room 2108. A concluding address and awards ceremony will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

“What makes this so great is that Fresno State is not known to be a research intensive institution, but to have a research event go on for so long is pretty amazing,” said Gayle Sherwood, grants and research administrator in the Division of Research and Graduate Studies.

This year’s presenters will come from the University of California, Los Angeles; UCSF Fresno; San Jose State University; Alliant International University; local community colleges; and Fresno State.

Lisseth Lauri, a Fresno State senior business administration major and Smittcamp Family Honors College scholar, will present her honors thesis on “The influence of formal internship experience on undergraduate business students’ ethical decision making.” Her adviser for the project is Dr. Zhanna Bagdasarov, assistant professor in the Department of Management.

“She discovered a gap in the ethical decision-making literature and decided to explore it for her honors thesis,” Bagdasarov said. “She has worked hard all year to review the literature, write a proposal, get the study approved by the Institutional Review Board and collect the necessary data. Her topic is exploratory and very important.”

Lauri was complimentary of the guidance Bagdasarov provided her over the last year.

“She’s been so amazing throughout this entire process,” Lauri said. “She has pushed me to my furthest extent that I have gone academically. She has really tried to make me a better writer and a better scholar because of this experience. I’ve been really appreciative of all the help she has given me.”

Both agree that having an on-campus symposium is an important opportunity for faculty and students to gain experience presenting and networking while sharing their work with others.

“Allowing students and faculty to showcase their research not only helps disseminate knowledge to the campus community, but it also allows our students to gain valuable conference experience,” Bagdasarov said. “They learn to eloquently discuss their research in a brief period of time, address questions from the audience, and/or create posters. Additionally, students get the opportunity to network with others who share their interests and passion for research. They meet people, gain ideas to further their work, and make valuable connections.”