Outstanding Master's Thesis or Research Project Award
Overview
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences' Committee on Graduate Studies has established two Outstanding Thesis/Research Project Awards. Each award carries a $750 stipend. One awardee is selected from among Summer and Fall graduates and a second from among Spring graduates.
Call for Nominations
Eligibility:
Students must be nominated by their thesis or research project advisor with the endorsement of either the Director of Graduate Studies or the Chair of the department.
Nomination Instructions:
Departments are strongly encouraged to select no more than one nominee for each cycle of the award. However, multiple nominees from a single department will be accepted if a department determines that more than one student truly warrants the nomination. In these cases, a separate letter is required for each nominee. Letters must be explicit about the relative merits of each.
Each nomination must include the following:
- A letter of support prepared and signed by the student's advisor and endorsed by the Director of Graduate Studies or Chair of the department. The letter should address the following award criteria:
- The overall quality of the thesis or research project (e.g., research design, organization of material, clarity of writing, interpretation of findings)
- The methodological rigor and/or innovation of the thesis or research project
- The significance and/or originality of the thesis or research project to the field: Why is the work "outstanding" by disciplinary standards? The thesis or research project should be described so that an audience outside of the field can understand the significance.
- The letter may also address the following, as appropriate:
- The trans-disciplinary/interdisciplinary nature of the research
- Resulting publications, presentations, and performances (or the promise thereof)
- Receipt of departmental honors or other awards
- An abstract of the thesis or non-thesis project
- An electronic copy of the thesis or research project document. Print copies will not be accepted.
If you have questions or need more information, please email coga@ku.edu or call 785-864-4201.
Current Year Winners
Salman Ahsanullah (2026)
Ultrafast laser spectroscopy of NbOI2
Salman’s master’s research focused on the ultrafast properties of NbOI2, a recently discovered class of layered materials that combines ferroelectricity and semiconducting behavior within the same crystal. As modern computing, communication and AI technologies demand greater and faster performance with lower energy consumption, researchers are increasingly exploring new semiconductor materials beyond silicon that can offer improved ways to control electrical and optical signals. Ferroelectric materials are promising in this regard because they can retain a switchable internal electrical state without continuous power, making them attractive for future memory and computing technologies. NbOI2 is especially interesting because it brings this behavior together with semiconducting and optical properties in ultrathin layered material. Despite rapidly growing interest in this material, however, an important part of its basic semiconductor physics remained unexplored: what happens to electronic excitations after the material absorbs light, how long do they survive, and how rapidly can they move through the crystal? Salman's research project addresses these fundamental questions.
Capturing these processes is experimentally challenging because they occur within trillionths of a second and produce weak signals that are difficult to detect. Using transient absorption spectroscopy, an ultrafast laser technique, Salman was able to follow these processes as they unfolded. His measurements established the lifetime and interactions of the photoexcited states in NbOI2 and revealed that their behavior changes strongly with crystal direction. This work was published in Nano Letters, a premier journal on nanoscience and nanotechnology, with Salman as the first author, highlighting its significance to the field. Understanding these ultrafast processes is important because the lifetime, interaction and motion of photoexcited states help determine how efficiently a semiconductor can respond to light and electrical signals. More broadly, the findings advance the understanding of low-dimensional ferroelectric and quantum materials and provide a foundation for future applications in optoelectronics, photonics, nonvolatile memory and emerging quantum technologies.
Salman’s master’s research focused on the ultrafast properties of NbOI2, a recently discovered class of layered materials that combines ferroelectricity and semiconducting behavior within the same crystal. As modern computing, communication and AI technologies demand greater and faster performance with lower energy consumption, researchers are increasingly exploring new semiconductor materials beyond silicon that can offer improved ways to control electrical and optical signals. Ferroelectric materials are promising in this regard because they can retain a switchable internal electrical state without continuous power, making them attractive for future memory and computing technologies. NbOI2 is especially interesting because it brings this behavior together with semiconducting and optical properties in ultrathin layered material. Despite rapidly growing interest in this material, however, an important part of its basic semiconductor physics remained unexplored: what happens to electronic excitations after the material absorbs light, how long do they survive, and how rapidly can they move through the crystal? Salman's research project addresses these fundamental questions.
Capturing these processes is experimentally challenging because they occur within trillionths of a second and produce weak signals that are difficult to detect. Using transient absorption spectroscopy, an ultrafast laser technique, Salman was able to follow these processes as they unfolded. His measurements established the lifetime and interactions of the photoexcited states in NbOI2 and revealed that their behavior changes strongly with crystal direction. This work was published in Nano Letters, a premier journal on nanoscience and nanotechnology, with Salman as the first author, highlighting its significance to the field. Understanding these ultrafast processes is important because the lifetime, interaction and motion of photoexcited states help determine how efficiently a semiconductor can respond to light and electrical signals. More broadly, the findings advance the understanding of low-dimensional ferroelectric and quantum materials and provide a foundation for future applications in optoelectronics, photonics, nonvolatile memory and emerging quantum technologies.
Mikayla "MK" Kerron (2026)
The Effects of Indigenous Cultural Fire on Topsoil Properties in an Altered Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem
Mikayla’s thesis explores how in recent years, there has been increased interest in better understanding the effects of fire in fire-adapted, fire-dependent, or fire-tolerant ecosystems. While the field of fire ecology has primarily focused on post-wildfire effects, there exists a need for more long-term prescribed fire field trials. There is also growing interest in understanding historic and contemporary Indigenous-led fire stewardship, or cultural fire, based on Indigenous peoples long-standing relationships in fire-adapted landscapes. Cultural fire is Indigenous-led or informed intentional fire used to restore cultural materials or to enhance the ecosystem and adheres to cultural objectives. To evaluate the effects of cultural fire on topsoil chemical and physical properties in an altered prairie ecosystem, Mikayla compared cultural burned (CB) and unburned (UB) treatment plots in a nine-month field trial at the University of Kansas field station prairie restoration plot. Using a two-way ANOVA across treatments, the results indicate significant differences between CB and UB plots; nutrients in CB soils decreased while UB soils-maintained levels: nitrate in CB soils (LSM 0.49 mg/kg ± 0.04 SE; p < 0.001) compared to UB soils (LSM 0.08 mg/kg ± 0.04 SE); carbon in CB soils (LSM 4.0 % ± 0.82 SE; p < 0.001) compared to UB soils (LSM 4.7 % ± 0.82 SE). These findings emphasize short-term effects of cultural burning, resulting in nutrient redistribution for plant uptake and an alternation of mineralization processes, reflecting a textbook response to controlled fire observed in existing studies. Overall, Mikayla’s research contributes to the field of fire ecology by establishing in situ prescribed fire in an altered prairie ecosystem toward restoration objectives. Additionally, this work establishes baseline Indigenous-led fire field trials, which aids in quantitative data collection to inform cultural burn return projects in fire-dependent ecosystems locally, regionally, and nationally.
Mikayla’s thesis explores how in recent years, there has been increased interest in better understanding the effects of fire in fire-adapted, fire-dependent, or fire-tolerant ecosystems. While the field of fire ecology has primarily focused on post-wildfire effects, there exists a need for more long-term prescribed fire field trials. There is also growing interest in understanding historic and contemporary Indigenous-led fire stewardship, or cultural fire, based on Indigenous peoples long-standing relationships in fire-adapted landscapes. Cultural fire is Indigenous-led or informed intentional fire used to restore cultural materials or to enhance the ecosystem and adheres to cultural objectives. To evaluate the effects of cultural fire on topsoil chemical and physical properties in an altered prairie ecosystem, Mikayla compared cultural burned (CB) and unburned (UB) treatment plots in a nine-month field trial at the University of Kansas field station prairie restoration plot. Using a two-way ANOVA across treatments, the results indicate significant differences between CB and UB plots; nutrients in CB soils decreased while UB soils-maintained levels: nitrate in CB soils (LSM 0.49 mg/kg ± 0.04 SE; p < 0.001) compared to UB soils (LSM 0.08 mg/kg ± 0.04 SE); carbon in CB soils (LSM 4.0 % ± 0.82 SE; p < 0.001) compared to UB soils (LSM 4.7 % ± 0.82 SE). These findings emphasize short-term effects of cultural burning, resulting in nutrient redistribution for plant uptake and an alternation of mineralization processes, reflecting a textbook response to controlled fire observed in existing studies. Overall, Mikayla’s research contributes to the field of fire ecology by establishing in situ prescribed fire in an altered prairie ecosystem toward restoration objectives. Additionally, this work establishes baseline Indigenous-led fire field trials, which aids in quantitative data collection to inform cultural burn return projects in fire-dependent ecosystems locally, regionally, and nationally.
Past Recipients
- Daniel Ibanez IV, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2026)
- Dynamic species on dynamic landscapes: Genomic resolution of the Hipposideros diadema species complex in the Solomon Islands
- Ibrahim Adedapo Tella, Atmospheric Science (2026)
- Heatwave Impacts on Dust Emissions Across North Africa: From the 2020 Godzilla Event to Multi-Year Variability
- Kyle Davis, Geography (2025)
- Counties in Full Swing: Shifting Geographies of the Trump Coalition, 2016-2024
- Xingning Luan, East Asian Languages & Cultures (2025)
- Intimacy and Autonomy: Ma Xianglan's Social Networks in Late Ming China
- Marcela Paiva Veliz, Indigenous Studies (2025)
- Plants as Relatives: Silphium Ethnobotany, Decolonization and Traditional Knowledge
- Amanda Gehin, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2025)
- Tritrophic Interactions with Silphium integrifolium at the Axis: Mediation of Silflower-Insect Interactions by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
- Rachel Andreini, English (2024)
- Affliction to Influence: The Negation of Nervous Sensitivity from Feminine Sensitivity in Marie Corelli's A Romance of Two Worlds
- Jordan Cortesi, Psychology (2024)
- (Mis)perceptions of Racial Wealth Inequality: The Role of Colorblind Racism and Implications for Public Policy
- Qixin Pan, Sociology (2024)
- A Psychological Contract or a Golden Chain? Revisiting a Case Study of Kansas Power & Light Workers, 1956-1958
- Kim Conger, Physics & Astronomy (2023)
- Investigating Environmental Processing of Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
- Jenna Williams, Chemistry (2023)
- Chondroitin Sulfate Glycosaminoglycans Inhibit CNS Myelination with Molecular Specificity
- Jacob Z. Tindan, Atmospheric Science (2023)
- Day-night Differences and Long-term Trends in Dust Activities Over the Dust Belt of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in the Early 21st Century.
- Laura Muñetón, Sociology (2023)
- Whose Work is Essential? Rethinking Class in a Time of Crisis
- Sharon Mugg, English (2022)
- Rethinking Art and Virtue in Shakespeare's As You Like It
- Keana Koun Tang, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2022)
- Uncovering the early diversification of core eudicots in western North America: structurally preserved fruits from Late Cretaceous deposits of Sucia Island
- Jennifer Babitzke, Sociology (2022)
- The Cumulative Cost of Care: Caregiving Over the Life Course and Severity of Depression
- Rebecca Woolbert, Applied Behavioral Science (2021)
- Teaching Graphing Using Enhanced Written instruction: Does Chunk Size Matter?
- Alexis Exum, Psychology (2021)
- Culturally-Informed Theory for Disordered Eating in Black Women
- Nick Banach, English, Creative Writing (2020)
- Case Study: Becoming
- Morgan McComb, English (2020)
- "Everything is Here and Now": The Polyvocal Poetry of Naomi Long Madgett
- Erin Bojanek, Clinical Child Psychology (2019)
- Postural Control Processes During Static and Dynamic Activities in Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Austen McGuire, Clinical Child Psychology (2019)
- The Association between Dimensions of Maltreatment and Academic Outcomes for Youth in Foster Care
- Lucas McMichael, Geography & Atmospheric Science (2018)
- Assessing the Mechanisms Governing the Daytime Evolution of Marine Stratocumulus Using Large-Eddy Simulation
- Che-Ling Ho, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2018)
- First Finding of Succulence and c4/CAM-Cycling Photosynthesis in a Grass: Ecophysiology on Spinifex littoreus in Coastal Region of Taiwan
- CJ Grady, Geography & Atmospheric Science (2018)
- Delineating Sea-Level Rise Inundation: An Exploration of Data Structure and Performance Optimization
- Carolina Bejarano, Clinical Child Psychology (2017)
- Motivation and Hedonic Hunger and Predictors of Self-Reported Food Intake in Adolescents: Disentangling Between-Person and Within-Person Processes
- Melissa Gilstrap, English (2016)
- Re-Placing the Prostitute: Ruth Hall and the Spatial Politics of the Streetwalker
- Meghan Kelly, Geography (2016)
- Mapping Syrian Refugee Border Crossings: A Critical, Feminist Perspective
- Joshua Meisel, Geography (2015)
- Historical Demographics, Student Origins, and Recruitment at Off-Reservation Indian Boarding Schools, 1900
- Elizabeth Adams, Classics (2014)
- Esse videtur: Occurrences of Heroic Clausulae in Cicero's Orations
- Laurie Gayes, Clinical Child Psychology (2014)
- A Meta-Analysis of Motivational Interviewing Interventions for Pediatric Health Behavior Change
- Gopolang Mohlabeng, Physics & Astronomy (2013)
- A Redshift Dependent Color-Luminosity Relation in Type 1a Supernovae
- Jeanne Tiehen, Theater (2013)
- Frankenstein on Stage: Galvanizing the Myth and Evolving the Creature
- Laurie Petty, Sociology (2012)
- Department Chairs and High Chairs: The importance of perceived department chair supportiveness on faculty parents' views of departmental and institutional kid-friendliness
- Steven Roels, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2012)
- Not Easy Being Mead's: Comparative Herbivory on Three Milkweeds, Including Threatened Mead's Milkweed (Asclepias meadii), and Seedling Ecology of Mead's Milkweed