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Graduate Research

Next-Level Expertise and Passion

With unmatched research opportunities and highly-focused mentorship, we offer incredibly impactful graduate programs balanced with a close-knit community.

81%

Our graduate students participated in research while earning their M.S.

73%

Graduate student researchers received funding from Cal Poly for their work.

64%

Graduate student-co-authored articles published in peer-reviewed journals.

Graduate Research Scholarships

Incoming graduate students are automatically considered for various donor-funded scholarships. Several are awarded to students joining specific research fields or labs, including the Dr. Kathleen A. Curtis Elephant Seal Research Graduate Fellowship, the Correcaminos Scholarship (ornithology research), the Manzanita Scholarship (botanical research), the Physical Ecology of Reptiles Lab Scholarship, and the Aryan I. Roest Memorial Scholarship (environmental and conservation biology).

Students in PERL with snake and rattlecam equipment

Graduate Student Stories

Our graduate students take their expertise, dedication and passion to a higher level through focused and relevant research.

 

Group of researchers, including Brooke Wallasch (fourth from left), a Cal Poly master’s student in biological sciences, and Professor Dena Grossenbacher (far right) standing outdoors in a rocky alpine landscape with mountains visible in the background.

Alpine Environments in Yosemite

A passion for botany and alpine habitats leads to focused research in Yosemite National Park.

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Cal Poly education professor Daniel J. Almeida and graduate student Shay Allen stand facing each other and talking in front of a classroom whiteboard.

Ignored Inequities

Researchers study rarely discussed factors affecting black students’ experiences in developmental mathematics.

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Student using a Color Spectrophotometer.

Cool Walls and Green Buildings

Chemistry and biochemistry team formulate coatings to reflect solar heat and lower building temperatures

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Explore Graduate Programs