Graduate research takes center stage at UC Grad Slam

First place and People's Choice award
Tahirah Williams, UC Merced, quantitative and systems biology
"More than slime: When mucus meets the Valley Fever invader"

Second place
Carla Bassil, UC Berkeley, electrical engineering and computer sciences
"Machine learning-assisted gas sensor chip for food safety applications"

Third place
Brandon Courteau, UC San Francisco, biochemistry and molecular biology
"Protein 'Love Island': How recoupling HER3 could reveal new breast cancer therapeutics"

The 10 contestants on the stage in Sacramento had already won their campus competitions as part of UC's systemwide Grad Slam program. Now in its 11th year, Grad Slam highlights the breadth and impact of UC research while offering the public a window into graduate education and the ideas shaping our future.

The program challenges participants to distill years of work into three-minute, TED-style talks that inform and entertain. Participants spend months preparing - refining their storytelling, developing relatable metaphors and sharpening public speaking skills to bring complex ideas down to earth.

The goal of the program goes far beyond the competition: to equip graduate students with the communication skills necessary to secure funding, advance careers and demystify research for a general audience.

For Williams, making the work easier for the public to digest was a key motivator to join the program. "One of the major challenges with Valley Fever is the lack of awareness and information about the disease - that's one of the reasons it is such a huge problem," she said. "I was a little nervous to do Grad Slam, but I took on the challenge because I believe it's critical to reach a broad audience with this information."

Research that powers California and shapes the world

While the competition spotlights 10 finalists, it reflects on the work of more than 63,426 graduate students across the UC system. Their groundbreaking research spans every field, driving innovation in California and shaping solutions to the most pressing problems facing communities here and around the globe. Grad Slam gives audiences a glimpse of how that work stands to affect our daily lives and why it matters.

"UC's role in training the next generation of researchers is a centerpiece of our academic mission," said UC Provost Katherine Newman, who bestowed prizes at the event. "We produce highly skilled, analytic, extraordinarily insightful professionals, and they help to drive the modern economy of California and help to shape the whole world in countless ways."

Grad Slam talks are judged according to six criteria, including clarity, delivery and engagement. This year's judges included Partho Ghosh, professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at UC San Diego; Hayes Raffle, a product innovator and principal designer at Google; UC Board of Regents Chair Janet Reilly; Livia Shmavonian, deputy cabinet secretary and senior advisor for economic and workforce development in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom; and Kya Young, a neuroscience student at Sacramento Community College. The event was sponsored by Google Gemini.

In addition to the graduate student presentations, this year's event also included a keynote on protecting research funding by California State Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón.

As the event wrapped up, Tahirah Williams had a message for graduate students considering next year's competition: "I would say, do the thing that scares you. It is worth taking the risk for the things you will learn, the connections you'll make, and the skills you'll develop along the way. And you never know, you might just win."

The state legislature is considering Senate Bill 895 (SB 895), the California Science and Health Research Bond Act, and it's a historic opportunity to invest in California. Join us in letting them know research is a priority for you.

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