Virtual Slam

The Graduate Division has officially launched its first-ever Virtual UCSB Grad Slam for the 2021 competition cycle. This year, graduate students are invited to submit their 3-minute video talk before the Qualifying Round deadline on February 2 .

The award-winning annual competition for the best 3-minute talk on graduate research features presentations by students explaining the central points of their project in a clear, direct and interesting manner for a general audience.

“Grad Slam is a wonderful celebration of our graduate students’ talents and creativity, and it’s so important to continue the tradition during this pandemic year,” said Interim Graduate Dean Leila Rupp. “We know our students will rise to the challenge andwait to host the Final Round.”

The Graduate Student Resource Center (GSRC) team will be offering training workshops throughout January to help students craft the content of their talks and to plan out the technical aspects of their video submissions.

“Graduate students, like everyone else, are having to adapt to this all-virtual world in the face of the pandemic,” said GSRC Director Shawn Warner. “We wanted to design this year’s Grad Slam competition in a way that helps students hone their online presentation skills and also gives them the training, resources, and feedback to do so successfully.”

Video submissions for the Qualifying Round will be judged by panels of faculty and staff, who will decide who advances to the first-ever virtual UCSB Grad Slam Final Round hosted by Interim Graduate Dean Leila Rupp on Monday, March 8, 2021 from 3:30-5:00pm.

The public is invited to tune into the Final Round to vote for their favorite presenter in the People’s Choice category. The winner of the People’s Choice audience vote will receive a $1,500 prize.

UCSB’s Grad Slam Champion will receive a Grand Prize of $5,000 and the chance to represent the university at the UC-wide Grad Slam competition.