Grad Slam 2026

Click on a finalist below to jump to their talk in the video.

You can also watch the keynote presentation by Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón.

Ready to see who won? Skip to the end to watch the announcement of the winners.

Carla Bassil

UC Berkeley

Machine learning-assisted gas sensor chip for food safety applications

UC Davis

Analyzing the cancer battlefield

UC Irvine

Can we close cancer’s escape routes?

UCLA

Mind over matter: Understanding sleep disruptions in myotonic dystrophy

UC Merced

More than slime: When mucus meets the Valley Fever invader

UC Riverside

Leveling the game: A new script for Alzheimer’s in women

UC San Diego

The early bird gets the worm: How physical activity influences sleep and brain health

UC San Francisco

Protein ‘Love Island’: How recoupling HER3 could reveal new breast cancer therapeutics

UC Santa Barbara

Reimagining climate solutions through speculative designs

UC Santa Cruz

Senses in the seascape