Graduate Studies announces 2025 Graduate Student Poster Showcase winners

Three students were awarded scholarships at the 2025 Graduate Poster Showcase (GPS25) held on Feb. 27. Congratulations to Hamideh Shojaeianin first place, Samuel Coulter in second place, and Adrianna Fragozo in third. All come from the School of Engineering. 

The showcase providesstudents with a critical opportunity to practice communicating their research, says Bill Gannon (Biology Professor) who oversees student events for Graduate Studies. In the past, GPS25 was combined with LoboBites(a 3-minute thesis event) in the fall, but Graduate Studies offered it as a stand-alone event this year to highlight the importance of posters as a key form of research communication.

The showcase invited graduate students of all disciplines and backgrounds to present their scholarship in visual format to a diverse audience. All students selected for the competition received a scholarship of $100 to offset the cost of poster printing. Ten finalists were selected from the preliminary round to compete for a chance to win scholarships of $400 (first place), $200(second place) or $100 (third).  

In order to compete, students applied by submitting an abstract about their research. Gannon says that approximately one-third of applicants had difficulty putting together a professional abstract, showing that research communication is an important arena for professional development. "We're trying to get students, and all of us really, to make our content relevant and understandable to wider audiences," Gannon said.  

He worked with students to make the information in their abstracts and posters accessible to the average reader.  

On the day of the presentation, each student set up their poster board in a ballroom in the Student Union Building. Students then answered questions from attendees, including preliminary-round judges. The format was similar to a poster session at a professional academic conference, and it gave students the chance to practice their research communication within the UNM community.

The preliminary scores helped to narrow 60 participants to 10 finalists, who then competed for a final panel of judges in the last round.

"Graduate students have the opportunity to participate and learn from each other while presenting their work to their colleagues and the public. I was there to get an experience, and it was my first poster," said first-place winner Shojaeian. 

Shojaeianis a dual master's candidate at the UNM School of Architecture and in the Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. Her work primarily focuses on leveraging in situresources to develop sustainable housing solutions using advanced technologies such as 3D printing.  

"During the poster session, I enjoyed exchanging ideas with my fellow graduate students about our research and discussing potential improvements or avenues for further study," said Fragozo. "It was enlightening to witness the diversity of excellent research happening at UNM; it made me feel, more than ever, that we belong to an R1 institution." 

Preliminary judges ranged from staff and administrators to local professionals, retirees, and local government officials. The final-round judges represented leaders in both research and graduate education from across campus. Gannon said he heard many judges comment that UNMstudents are involved in a wide-range of interesting and important research. Further, judges noticed that students were prepared and seemed to enjoy the interactions.

"It's a great way to connect with the community other than academics," Gannon said. "It shows the community what we're studying here at the university and opens up a dialogue between the community and those doing interesting work." 

While poster sessions often featured projects from STEM fields, Gannon wants to remind students of future Graduate Studies events that those in the arts, humanities, social sciences , and other disciplines should participate in. The poster showcase presents an opportunity for all fields to highlight the rich and vital areas of research and scholarly activities currently being cultivated at UNM.  

Graduate Studies will host another competition for research communication -- LoboBites-- in the fall. These events give the public a great view of the depth and breadth of UNM's graduate scholarship, while also helping students develop important professional skills. "We want to get students out of their 'silo' and give them a chance to see research that is being done in other fields and share their own," Gannon said.