Grad Slam
The 2025 UC Santa Cruz Grad Slam took place on
Saturday, March 1
7:00–9:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)
Kuumbwa Jazz Center
What is Grad Slam?
Grad Slam is a communication contest hosted by the UC Santa Cruz Graduate Division that is open to all graduate students, except those who have won 1st place in a previous Grad Slam. (Currently enrolled graduate students who have won 2nd or the people’s choice in a prior Grad Slam may enter again.) Participants have a maximum of three minutes to explain their graduate research or artistic endeavor to a general audience.
Prizes
- First Place, Grad Slam Champion: $3000
- Second Place: $1500
- People’s Choice: $750 (decided by text message voting, one vote per audience member, both those in person and watching the live stream)
Every UC holds a Grad Slam, and the ten UC Grad Slam champions compete in the UC Office of the President’s Grad Slam. The UC system-wide Grad Slam will take place on Tuesday, April 29, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, at the UC Center Sacramento.
2025 UC Santa Cruz Grad Slam Winners
Champion, Winning $3000
Jenna Myers
Biochemistry Ph.D., 4th year
A Sticky Situation: The Age-Related Influx of Clot-Producing Platelets
Hometown: Lake Geneva, WI
What excites you most about your graduate work? While biochemistry tends to focus on cellular mechanisms far beyond what the eye can see, I love being able to apply it to a larger system (blood) that is translatable and allows us to consider the big picture! Plus, stem cell research is a super innovative field.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? I mean, the ocean/redwood combo is pretty hard to beat.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! As a kid, I had two pet donkeys!
Runner-Up, Winning $1500
Eva Edelson
Microbiology & Environmental Toxicology Ph.D., 3rd year
If It Ain’t Folded, Let’s Fix It: Hidden Structures in Human Health
Hometown: Los Altos, CA
What excites you most about your graduate work? That my research contributes to ongoing efforts to support patients with rare diseases and unmet medical needs. I hope to use my skills as a scientist and science communicator for patient advocacy and to bridge the gap between basic science and the people it serves.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? The beautiful location, cutting edge molecular biology research, and proximity to my family.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I’m a big fan of marine biology and a certified scuba divemaster.
People’s Choice, Winning $750
Piyush Gandhi
Economics Ph.D., 4th year
Extinguishing the Blaze: Reducing Air Pollution in India
Hometown: New Delhi, India
What excites you most about your graduate work? Its tangible impact—cleaner air, reduced pollution, lower healthcare costs, and improved livelihoods; conducting fieldwork in the vibrant Indian countryside while engaging with farmers to understand challenges and contribute to solutions that benefit communities and the environment.
Why did you choose to attend UC Santa Cruz for graduate study? Its strong research community at the intersection of development and environmental economics.
Tell us a bit more about yourself! I love playing cricket and tennis and am learning poker. In poker, beginner’s luck has been on my side :’)
All 2025 Finalists
Finalists (Piyush Gandhi, Inês Pedrosa e Melo, Juanita Gomez, Amy Reid, Riley Collins, Prajna Hebbar, Eva Edelson, Haley Taylor, Em Padilla, and Jenna Myers) at UC Santa Cruz Grad Slam, Saturday, March 1, 2025
System-wide Grad Slam Rules from the UC Office of the President
Eligibility
All graduate students currently enrolled in UCSC master’s or doctorate graduate programs are eligible to compete. Prior first-place winners of Grad Slam may not compete. In cases of collaborative research, the presenter’s contribution to the project must be salient and clearly specified.
Visuals
Slides
- A maximum of one static Microsoft Office PowerPoint slide, exclusive of the title slide to be generated by the UCSC Graduate Division, is allowed but is optional. No Prezi or other slide presentation formats are allowed.
- The slide must be static. Media, sound, transitions, and animations are not allowed.
- Students must create their PowerPoint slides themselves; they cannot ask someone else to design the slides.
- The use of PowerPoint templates is allowed but discouraged. Check out this page of Slide Design Principles.
- The slide can include visual elements (charts, maps, photos, clip art, etc.) created by someone other than the student, as long as the slide credits the original creator.
- Submissions may not contain any copyrighted material, such as licensed graphics.
Props are allowed but need to be cleared by the Graduate Division Grad Slam organizer, require minimal set-up, and produce no mess.
Scoring
Judging focuses on the presentation and the ability to communicate graduate research or artistic endeavors to a non-specialist audience. Judges rate presenters with a score of 1 to 5 in each of four categories (see below):
- 1=Poor
- 2=Fair
- 3=Good
- 4=Very Good
- 5=Excellent
Judges may give scores with half-points above 1 and below 5 (1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5). Judges give scores in the following four categories:
- Accessibility: The presenter translated their graduate study focus, their contribution to this work, and its disciplinary significance (why is this work important?) into language that all of us can understand.
- Organization: The presenter delivered a talk that followed a clear and logical sequence.
- Delivery: The presenter delivered the talk with an effective performance style in terms of body language, eye contact, expression, volume, and pace.
- Engagement: The presenter conveyed enthusiasm for their graduate work and captured and maintained the audience’s attention.
Timing commences when the student engages with the audience. (If engagement starts with a hand clap, a gesture, or any other such engagement prior to speaking, the clock begins at that time; if there is no such engagement, the clock starts when the student begins speaking.) Timing will end after the last word is spoken. Points will be deducted from the final score, beginning with one point at 3:03, and one point being taken off for every two seconds that the speaker continues beyond 3:03.
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