Fairfield University Celebrates Excellence in Research at 2025 Student Research Symposium

Over 500 live student presenters gathered in the Leo D. Mahoney Arena on April 23rd to present their research—marking this year’s event as the largest research symposium in Fairfield University history.

The Annual Student Research Symposium was held on April 23, 2025, in the Leo D. Mahoney Arena. The event offered a distinctive experience for attendees to hear directly from undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students as they presented the results of a year’s worth of work.

Throughout the day, students represented nearly every academic discipline - including science, arts, humanities, education, and business. All five academic schools were represented which included numerous interdisciplinary faculty-mentored research projects. Students, such as Kiera Cunningham ’26, have reflected on the process in working with their faculty mentor in preparing for the Student Research Symposium.

“I have had an incredibly positive experience working with my faculty mentor. He has guided me through the entire process of research from start to finish and allowed me to participate in once in a lifetime opportunity, such as trips to Georgetown University to work with cutting edge equipment,” Cunningham said.

Several undergraduate presenters, such as Cunningham, have also previously shared their work at national conferences, demonstrating the relevance their research.  Cunningham had the opportunity to present her research on the “Exploration of Alanine, Glycine and Tryptophan Amino Acid Linkers in Riboglow Probes” at the American Chemical Society, which is a nationally recognized conference in the field of science.

Undergraduate students can partake in hands-on research opportunities through engaging in faculty-mentored research, exploring research and travel grants, and establishing relationships with faculty who aid in the academic process.

“My mentor has allowed me to develop my own process for research that plays to my own skills and strengths,” Cunningham said.

Amidst the sessions that highlighted faculty-mentored research, the programming of this event also included remarks from Provost Christine Siegel, PhD, as well as a concurrent presentation session for Visual and Performing Arts student’s that took place in Loyola Hall's, Lukacs and Experimental Space Galleries.

To learn more about the 2025 Student Research Symposium and to check out the 2025 e-Book visit fairfield.edu/symposium.  

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