Science in 4-minutes or less!

The Student Showcase will feature 4-minute ‘lightning talks’, bite-sized bits of science that showcase the essence of your research. Though it can be more challenging to deliver an impactful lightning talk than a 20-minute presentation, this important scientific communication skill can engage an audience in a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time. For more information please download the Student Showcase Guidebook!

Students are tasked with presenting an engaging snap-shot of their research, prepared for both academic and non-academic audiences. These “big-picture” presentations should discuss real-world applications, advice, and future research directions.

Audience

Hydrology Days evaluators include BOTH traditional academic researchers and non-academic audiences (e.g., consultants/private industry, municipalities/utilities, government, and non-profit organizations working across the Food-Energy-Water sector).

• Focus on these four questions: What was the motivation for conducting your research? What did you do? What did you or do you expect to find? Why does it matter (real-world implications or advice)?

Lightning Tips

Make sure to download the Student Showcase Guidebook which provides helpful information about the intentions, audience and additional resources to preparing your presentation!

Check out this 18-minute workshop for more tips: https://academicaffairs.oregonstate.edu/research/lightning-talk

Here are a few recommendations from the Nature Career Guide published on June 23, 2021:

Start strong. In the first few sentences, the audience should know why they need to pay attention. You have a fraction of your allotted minutes to establish credibility.

Tell a story. Whether a talk is one minute long or 20, it should be framed by a basic narrative. Start with a research question and follow up with experimental methods and results: the credibility that you established at the outset will build, and the audience can actually learn something.

Pace yourself. It’s normal to speak quickly when the clock is ticking, but that isn’t the best way to convey complicated scientific concepts. Don’t try to fit in more words per minute; instead, find words and images that really matter.

Keep slides simple. Some lightning speakers try to cram many concepts into each slide, but that’s a mistake. Images should be as economical as words, holding just enough information to make important points without visual overload.

Practice. Don’t follow a script, but you should practice your talk enough to know where you’re going and how long it takes to get there.

Powerpoint Templates

Participants must adhere to the following guidelines:

• Contestants must have a NAME slide – place this slide BEFORE your content slide
• Prepare slide in 16:9 aspect ratio
• Slides must be uploaded to the corresponding folder no later than 5pm Sunday March 19, 2023 (you will NOT be allowed to upload your slides right before you present!)
  • Google folders to upload presentations: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1feEWWwpXCCBxtuPvUjb6qOnL340K4SZl?usp=share_link 

Though not required, students may consider using the templates below to organize their presentations.  While there is no limit to the number of slides you may present during your 4-minutes, please keep your slides simple and follow the tips provided in the Student Showcase Guidebook!

• Slide templates in MS Powerpoint

• Slide templates in Adobe PDF

Abstract Template

All presentations are to be accompanied by an abstract for publication in the conference proceedings. The format should follow the template and instructions here:

• Abstract template in Microsoft Word format
• Abstract template in Adobe PDF format

Prizes

Cash prizes will be awarded to the top-scoring student presentations. In addition, select presenters will be featured in a special issue of Colorado Water; the publication produced by the Colorado Water Center devoted to highlighting water research and activities at CSU and throughout Colorado. Check out the most recent Special Hydrology Days Issue of Colorado Water!

Depending on the number of participants, cash prizes may be awarded in multiple categories (i.e., there may be more than one round of awards):

• First Place = $500
• Second Place = $250
• Third Place = $100

Eligibility

Those interested in entering the competition must adhere to posted deadlines, register and submit an abstract (select “Student Showcase (lightning talk)”) to finalize their participation. 

• Students are defined as those enrolled at an accredited university in an Undergraduate, Masters, or PhD program
• Students must submit a properly formatted abstract by March 3, 2023
• Students are required to present their work in the assigned session
• Register for the conference as a student by March 6, 2023

Selected competitors will be contacted to confirm participation in the Student Showcase in March.