When it comes to research happening on campus, doctoral student Christina Campbell knows all about the research being done in the psychology department.
It’s the rest of the university’s studies she’s unfamiliar with.
“I love the opportunity to be able to learn from other people’s research,” she said. “I want to find out what’s happening across the campus.”
Campbell is one of more than 100 graduate and professional students participating in the Graduate Academic Conference on Friday in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building.
The conference, planned and organized by the Council of Graduate Students, or COGS, gives graduate students the opportunity to gain experience with public speaking and answering questions relating to their research.
“It’s kind of an opportunity for them to share their research and practice transferring their research to a broader audience,” said Kate Giuca, COGS secretary and chair of the Graduate Academic Conference Committee.
This is the third year this conference has been held at MSU.
“A big part of being a master’s or professional student is really focused on being able to share that research and share those findings,” Giuca said. “I think that this is our way of doing that with MSU and also trying to help students.”
Students participating also have the chance to win a cash prize of $450, which will be awarded to the top presenter. The winner will be determined by a panel of volunteer judges composed of both students and faculty.
“One good thing with the cash prize is they can use it to travel to other conferences,” Giuca said. “They can use that toward presenting at larger conferences. A lot of our presenters have the same presentations accepted into national or international conferences.”
Speaking at conferences — both the Graduate Academic Conference at MSU and others across the country — allow students the chance to network with others and receive feedback on their research.
“It helps with general presentation skills,” said Stefan Fletcher, president of COGS. “It presents them with an opportunity to be able to develop the ‘elevator speech,’ as it were.”
Fletcher said the term “elevator speech” refers to the ability to describe briefly and concisely one’s research to a person who is unfamiliar with that area of study.
In Campbell’s case, she will be presenting her research on how neighborhood environments impact juvenile crime rates — both positively and negatively — in the population.
“I’m hoping to get critical feedback about some of the research questions and things I’ll be presenting,” she said. “It seemed like a very friendly atmosphere to get feedback, so I thought that was perfect.”
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