Mind-bending research, made simple

UC graduate students spend years on their thesis. Can they explain it in just three minutes?

UC Grad Slam is an annual contest in which master’s and Ph.D. students across UC campuses – in disciplines ranging from hard sciences to humanities – compete to sum up their research for a general audience.

Watch the final on

05.03.24

Grad Slam 2024 is on!

On March 2, UC Santa Cruz became the first campus to name a Grad Slam champion. Congratulations to Natalie Pedicino for her presentation on a novel virus’ impact on gut health.

Keep up with the latest winners and upcoming contest dates, and check out talks from last year’s campus champs.

Onwodi Ifejeokwu

UC Irvine

Kill the cancer; spare the brain!

More Finalists

UC’s 50,000 masters and Ph.D. students are a force for the innovation and new ideas that keep California on the forefront.

See what our graduate students are up to