Professional Development

Gain valuable experience in presenting your research to non-academic audiences.  

Public Speaking

Grad Slam provides an opportunity to hone your public speaking skills. 

Network

Presenting your research can open the door to new opportunities.

Expand your CV/Resume

Participating in Grad Slam will look great on your CV/Resume.

Prize Money

You could win up to a $12,000 stipend!

The prizes are all fellowships and regular rules of financial aid apply:

• UCOP Grand Prize: $7,000
• UCOP First Runner-Up: $4,000
• UCOP Second Runner Up: $2,000
• UCOP Audience Choice Award: $1,000
• UCR Grand Prize: $5,000
• UCR First Runner-Up: $2,000
• UCR Second Runner-Up: $1,000
• Audience Choice Award: $1,000
• Up to 8 Honorable Mentions: $250

General Rules and Guidelines for Grad Slam Competition

• Presentations can be no longer than 3 minutes.
• Only one static PowerPoint slide may be used (no animations, videos, or sound).
• Timing commences when the student engages with the audience. If engagement starts with a hand clap, a gesture, an audio or video clip 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 the speaker continues after that.
• The UCR competition has two stages:

1. Semi-Final will be in March.
2. Final competition will be in April.

• The UC-Systemwide Final will be in person in April 29

Guidelines for Single Powerpoint Slide:

• A maximum of one PowerPoint slide, excluding a title slide that will be generated by organizers, is allowed but is optional; no Prezi, Google Slides, or other presentation formats.
• Students must create their PowerPoint slide themselves - they cannot ask someone else to design the slide.
• Use of PowerPoint templates is allowed. The slide can include visual elements (charts, visualizations, photos, clip art, etc.) created by someone other than the student, as long as the slide credits the original creator.
• PowerPoint animation effects are not allowed.
• Embedded audio and/or video clips (including but not limited to .gif, .avi, .mp4, .mp3, and .wmv file types) are not permitted.
• Props are allowed, but need to be cleared by the program coordinators, require minimal set-up, and not produce a mess. To request use of props please email laura.mcgeehan@ucr.edu at least one week prior to the competition.
• Submissions may not contain any copyrighted material, such as licensed graphics. Images and visual elements must either be public domain, intellectual property of the student, or fall under "fair use" provisions. Click on the links below for more information. 
  • MIT'S Guide to Using Images
  • "Can I Use that Picture?" Flowchart