From avoiding California power outages by better forecasting electricity demand to stopping Alzheimer’s disease before it starts, UC graduate students are making advances that will affect us all.
Get a master class — in brief — on these and other cutting-edge research projects at Grad Slam, the UC-wide competition that challenges graduate students to explain their complex research in just 3 minutes flat.
Celebrating its 10th year, Grad Slam gives the public a glimpse of the incredible breadth of graduate research and innovation happening across the 10-campus University of California system. The systemwide championship on April 29 features 10 contestants who competed in campus competitions in the leadup to the main event. Often infused with humor and unexpected analogies that make even the knottiest of subjects easy to understand, their talks are thought-provoking, enlightening and entertaining, offering relatable ways to think about complex, technical or abstract topics.
The ultimate goal isn’t just to wow the audience — it’s to help graduate students build the communication skills they need to land jobs, get funding, and demystify science.
Grad Slam competitors have spent months preparing for the event, learning how to break down complicated topics into easily digested analogies that can captivate and enlighten a general audience — and to do it in 3 snappy minutes or less.
Contestants will be vying for more than just bragging rights — $18,000 in prize money is split among the top three finishers and the audience favorite. The grand champion also takes home the fabled “Slammy” first-place trophy.
UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D., will emcee the competition, while a panel of judges representing industry, media and higher education choose the top three winners. The popular vote matters as well, with event attendees and livestream viewers selecting the People’s Choice winner.
This year, the event also includes a panel discussion, “Keeping California a World Leader: The Role of UC Innovation,” with Samuel Assefa, director of the California Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation; former California state senator Bill Dodd; UC Berkeley Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Hitchcock Dean of the Graduate Division Lisa García Bedolla; and UC Merced Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Economic Development Gillian Wilson. The panel is moderated by Yvette Gullatt, vice president, Graduate and Undergraduate Affairs, and vice provost, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the UC Office of the President.
“Across a broad array of disciplines, UC’s nearly 28,000 Ph.D. students are creating knowledge and making discoveries that will change the world. Grad Slam offers the public a window onto the vast world of research, ingenuity and impact powered by graduate students,” said Pamela D. Jennings, associate vice provost for graduate studies at the UC Office of the President. “The contestants also become experts in conveying why their work matters in a quick and compelling way — something valuable to broadening the understanding of the value of research and a skill that will help them across their future professional endeavors.”
Far from a simple exercise, boiling down years of meticulous graduate research into a 3-minute explainer takes months of work. Grad Slam participants have access to campus-based preparation opportunities, such as public speaking workshops, theatrical training and even one-on-one coaching. The contestants who make it to the championship will have logged many hours of practice and won out against dozens of competitors on their own campuses.
Kacie Ring of UC Santa Barbara, who won both second place and People’s Choice at the 2024 Grad Slam, talked about the impact of the experience: “As I went through the process, I realized I was building skills beyond the scope of a fun contest. I was totally put outside my comfort zone, and now I am so excited to talk about science to anyone. The most unexpected outcome was gaining a group of new colleagues and friends. My mind, community and heart have been immeasurably expanded from these connections.”
