[{"id":80,"date":"2026-05-04T15:45:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/?p=80"},"modified":"2026-05-04T15:45:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:45:25","slug":"29th-annual-graduate-research-symposium-celebrating-scholarship-embracing-impact-sharing-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/2026\/05\/04\/29th-annual-graduate-research-symposium-celebrating-scholarship-embracing-impact-sharing-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"29th Annual Graduate Research Symposium: Celebrating Scholarship, Embracing Impact, Sharing Knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The annual Graduate Research Symposium brings together graduate students from a variety of disciplines to share their research with the VCU community. The signature event of VCU\u2019s Research Weeks<\/a> serves as a reminder of the integral role that graduate students play in supporting research at the university. Sponsored by the Graduate Student Association (GSA) in collaboration with the Graduate School, the event is also unique in its implementation because it utilizes a student chair and committee to organize and facilitate the event with the support of a faculty advisor providing students with opportunities to grow both as researchers and leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, the symposium has grown from being heavily STEM-focused to a broader, interdisciplinary event open to the humanities and varied research methods. The symposium has even outgrown a single session and now takes place over two sessions to accommodate the growing number of student presenters. As a result, students like Cael Sinclair, a graduate student in the English department, participated in this year\u2019s symposium. Sinclair noted, \u201cMy research on pigments and paints has a physical element and is unique enough that I felt like I could create a poster and present on it not only to highlight English research and inform people about the type of research going on in our department that otherwise might not be discussed but also get to talk about the interdisciplinary type of research you can do with an English degree that isn’t just the standard books and papers.\u201d For Erin Brown, PhD, the GSA faculty advisor, this is what the symposium is all about, \u2018exposing the \u2018VCU community to the rich array of diverse research being done by our amazing graduate students every day and recognizing the critical role they play in making our university great.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaining experience sharing their research, networking, practicing public speaking, engaging with faculty, and gaining feedback are all reasons why graduate students participate in the symposium. Additionally, students appreciate that the symposium rewards top scoring students within four broad categories an opportunity to compete for small monetary awards. These categories include life science; humanities and fine arts; social science, business,and education; and math, physical science and engineering. This year, through a partnership with the Division of Community Engagement,<\/a> and in recognition of VCU\u2019s reclassification as a Carnegie Community Engaged University, students who self-identified as participating in Community-Engaged Research were also eligible to compete for an additional award. These projects highlighted working with <\/em>community partners to address challenges and meet community needs. All symposium participants earned a digital badge for Presentation of Research <\/a>to recognize their hard work. A listing of all of the student participants and their abstracts can be found in the event digital program.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to understand why students participate in the symposium, but why would faculty give their time and expertise for this event? Michelle Troendle, MD, an Associate Professor in the School of Medicine takes mentoring seriously. This year, she used the symposium as an opportunity for her students to gain valuable experience sharing their research. More than 60 of her students worked on eleven research posters that were shared at the symposium. For some of the student presenters who attended, it was their first time at a research event of its kind, an experience that can be both overwhelming and exciting. According to Troendle, VCU\u2019s symposium is a nice way for first time researchers to share their work in a familiar setting. Jose Alcaine, PhD, Director of Research Services in the School of Education, has been a symposium judge for several years. When asked why he serves in this capacity he shared, \u201cThe VCU Graduate Research Symposium is one of my favorite events of the academic year. It is a fantastic event that showcases student work in a supportive and collegial environment. For the students, I think it is a fantastic professional development and growth experience. It is so inspiring to see their excitement in sharing their projects and research!. . . By serving as a judge and being involved in the poster discussions, I feel like I am helping advance student knowledge and the public good!\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While judging the symposium has its rewards,TyAnn McHenry, a PhD candidate in the College of Humanities and Sciences says that being a symposium committee member has \u201ccreated a meaningful space for connection, mentorship, and professional development.\u201d Fellow committee member and PhD student in the School of Pharmacy, McKenzie Hall echoes the sentiment sharing that she has \u201cgained and strengthened various skills required in [her] career path of academia and professorship, including collaboration and task management.\u201d McKenzie will continue to work on these skills next year as she takes on the role of symposium chair, a role held this year by Ronald Byamungu, a Masters student in the College of Engineering. When asked about his experience leading such a large event, Ronald stated that he has learned a lot this year about himself and leadership. Most of all he has learned to trust his instincts and how to delegate.This year\u2019s symposium was truly a demonstration of the power of collaboration and communication providing graduate students with the opportunity to highlight the important research they do each day at VCU as they transform today\u2019s challenges into tomorrow\u2019s solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual Graduate Research Symposium brings together graduate students from a variety of disciplines to share their research with the VCU community. The signature event of VCU\u2019s Research Weeks serves as a reminder of the integral role that graduate students play in supporting research at the university. Sponsored by the Graduate Student Association (GSA) in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2195,"featured_media":81,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":71,"date":"2026-03-19T12:38:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/?p=71"},"modified":"2026-03-19T12:44:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:44:37","slug":"research-talks-translating-complex-research-into-community-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/gradschool\/2026\/03\/19\/research-talks-translating-complex-research-into-community-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Talks: Translating Complex Research into Community Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For many graduate students, the most daunting question isn\u2019t asked by a dissertation chair or a grant reviewer. It\u2019s asked at a Thanksgiving table or a networking mixer: “So, what is your research actually about?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office of Professional Development (OPD) at the Graduate School prioritizes creating opportunities and spaces for graduate students to practice the skill of translating academic research into real-world impact. While the 3-Minute Thesis is a staple of research communication, some stories need more room to breathe. This is what led to the development of the Research Talks event designed to bridge the gap between deep academic expertise and broad public impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Manu Gupta shares this vision by saying, \u201cResearch Talk is more than a presentation; it is a bridge between complex discovery and the community it serves, proving that communication is as vital to research as the data itself. By stripping away jargon and embracing the art of storytelling, you transform your technical expertise into a compelling narrative that sparks curiosity and drives real-world change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"StudentsPresenters are challenged to distill years of inquiry into a 12-minute narrative, using just 10 slides to bridge the gap between their research and real life to an interdisciplinary audience. Presenters used this time and space to weave a narrative that honors the complexity of their work while stripping away the dense jargon that often acts as a barrier to understanding. Presenters presented in session panels that brought together graduate students covering similar topics across various disciplines. This brought together the interdisciplinary perspectives on these impactful topics. While presenters did their own individual presentation, the audience was able to view these topics from multiple lenses and ask questions to all panelists at the conclusion of the presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ImageGabriel Driver, a PhD student in the School of Education, represents how this event brings the academic and real life impact into focus by saying, \u201cPresenting When Grief Goes to School: Leadership, Policy, and the Emotional Lives of Black Boys during Research Talks was a powerful reminder that research is not only about ideas\u2014it is about people. Sharing this work invited me to reflect more deeply on how grief lives within educational spaces and how leadership and policy shape the ways Black boys\u2019 emotional lives are seen, supported, or overlooked. The dialogue that followed affirmed the importance of creating scholarly spaces where vulnerability, inquiry, and justice-centered research can exist together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"StudentsThe first annual VCU Graduate School Research Talks was held on Friday, February 27, 2026. There were 26 graduate students who presented at the event from the College of Humanities and Sciences, School of Education, College of Health Professionals, School of Pharmacy, Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, School of Engineering, and School of Arts. A full list of presenters and topics covered in the event can be found in the event digital program<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For events like this, campus partners help to bring everything together. Bennita Peacemaker, Head Librarian of Academic Outreach at VCU\u2019s James Branch Cabell Library said, \u201cVCU Libraries is committed to advancing graduate student research. Our valued partnership with the Graduate School allows us to support graduate students and their growth as researchers and communicators. The Research Talks event offers students a unique opportunity to connect with a non-specialist audience. As an audience member at this year’s event, I was blown away by the presenter’s dedication to their research and their generosity as they shared it with a new audience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important focus of the Office of Professional Development for this event was to provide training and support leading up to the event so that students felt comfortable taking on this challenge and presenting their research in this context. To that end, the OPD offered these two professional development sessions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n