Mont Alto's annual Academic Festival is an opportunity for students to share their academic work with the campus community, Penn State families, and the public.

This exciting event will feature projects and research developed by students throughout the 2024-25 academic year. Individual and group projects can cover a wide range of topics and can be shared as an informational exhibit, a research-based poster, an oral presentation, or a performance. The organizing committee welcomes all forms of academic or creative accomplishments including works of poetry, writing, artwork, and dance.

Monetary prizes will be awarded in each category. Additional awards will be presented by the University Libraries for Excellence in Information Literacy and Mont Alto’s Sustainability Committee (see Special Awards below for more details.)

Reasons to Participate

  • Share your work with the campus and surrounding community
  • Have fun while gaining valuable experience
  • Develop connections with faculty and staff
  • Contribute to your professional development
  • Enhance your resume for employment and/or graduate school
  • Win monetary prizes

Important Dates

The deadline for submitting project proposals for the 2025 festival is March 21, 2025. 

Project proposals will be reviewed in late March and students will receive further details by early April. Final project files must be submitted by Friday, April 18, 2025 (one full week before the event) to allow time for uploading and creating the compilation in ScholarSphere.   

Guidelines and Judging Criteria

The Academic Festival provides four project categories for you to submit and display your work. Click on each category below to learn about the recommendations, guidelines, and suggestions for submitting projects.  Prizes will be awarded in each category. 

As part of the project proposal, you will be asked to choose between a wall display or a tabletop display for your work. Below are photo examples of each. 
 

Female students standing by a poster displayed on a wall.

This is an example of a wall display during the Academic Festival. 

Credit: Penn State
One male and two female students standing by a tri-panel research poster on a table.

This is an example of a tabletop display at the Academic Festival. 

Credit: Penn State

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Special Awards

  • Excellence in Information Literacy: An Information Literacy Award will be presented by the PSU Mont Alto Library. More information about the Information Literacy Award is available online.  Research posters will be considered for this award and will be evaluated by members of the Library staff to determine recipients for this year’s award.
  • Sustainability: In the online proposal form, students will be asked to connect their project to at least one of the 17 United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainability Committee will review proposals and determine recipients to receive this year’s award.

Project proposals are due March 21, 2025. 

Please provide your name as you want it to be listed in the program.
(In the event local newspapers might like to interview you)
Please provide names as your group members want them to be listed in the program.
The project title can be updated later if necessary.
Abstracts can be updated and will be printed in the Festival program.
Which United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) best apply to your project?
Answering this question automatically qualifies your project to be considered for the Sustainability Award. Please choose all that apply. This is optional. United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals can be found here: https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Which best describes the format of your presentation?
Note that you may not present the same project in more than one format, but you may present multiple projects with different topics. Your mentor can help you determine the appropriate format.
A research-based project will focus on answering a specific question. Examples: Evaluating existing literature and drawing your own conclusions from the data; developing a hypothesis and testing it; etc.
An informational exhibit focuses on sharing existing information. Examples: Demonstrating equipment, tools, or procedures used for specific purposes in various occupations; creating a visual display on a topic of interest to you (person, place, historical event, etc.)
Which type of space do you prefer? Please choose an option that will best suit your finished project.
Tri-fold display and/or other material.
For a flat, vertical display.
For a presentation or performance.
You must notify your faculty mentor and an Academic Festival organizer if you change your space preference(s).
If you do not request this prior to the Academic Festival, the equipment you need may not be available the day of the Festival.
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