You’re invited to participate in UNL’s second annual Student Research Days Slam, coming to the Wick Alumni Center on March 31, 2023.
The Student Research Days Slam is a campus-wide contest in which graduate and undergraduate students from ALL DISCIPLINES are challenged to communicate their work in short, dynamic, engaging presentations, with a winner to be decided by the audience. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., and the Slam competition will follow noon–1 p.m.
Are you a graduate or undergraduate student engaged in research or creative activity in any field? Apply to present at the Slam. Share your work with your peers in a fun and supportive environment, and add a little bling to your C.V. Speaking of bling: The winner will receive a $500 prize, and the other finalists will each receive $100!
Are you interested in learning more about UNL student research in a fun, informal setting with free food? Reserve a seat in the audience. Cheer the Slammers on, and then it’s up to you to decide who gave the most compelling presentation and deserves to be crowned Supreme Slammer. There is no registration deadline, but space is limited!
Read about last year’s inaugural Slam.
Timeline
Presenter applications will be accepted through March 15.
Finalists will be announced March 20.
Winner will be decided at the Student Research Days Slam on March 31.
Application Process
Students interested in presenting at the Student Research Days Slam will submit a 90-second video application via Flipgrid. The Flipgrid app can be downloaded free from both the App Store and Google Play, or you can submit your video at flipgrid.com with a Google, Apple or Microsoft login.
From these video applications, the selection committee will choose five finalists to present at the Slam on March 31, where each finalist will give an eight-minute presentation responding to this year’s prompt:
What is it about your research or creative activity that gives you life, makes you feel ‘glitter in your stomach’? Tell us about the moments, experiences or aspects of your work that most excite and exhilarate you.
Resources for Applicants
While the content and style of your Slam presentation are entirely up to you, we encourage you to make your presentation as interesting, engaging and as meaningful as possible to those outside your discipline. The selection committee is interested not only in the content of your story, but also in your ability to engage the viewer with your creativity and narrative skills.
A few resources to help you develop a compelling Slam idea:
- Kurt Vonnegut on the shapes of stories (video)
- Randy Olson on effective storytelling templates (video)
- Guillermo Orts-Gil on ‘Science, Emotion, Communication!’ (blog post)
- The Story Collider on “In & Out of Love With Science: Stories about relationships with STEM”
