Both Chaudhry and Spriester advanced to the finalist round of competitors, with the top nine students competing for the final competition awards. Although not placing in the final top spots, Spriester summarized the experience well, “… this was a great competition. The amount of talent and dedication in the competition was fantastic. It was great to represent CSUB together with Misbah.”
It should be noted that quality research such as the research presented at the CSU Grad Slam requires strong foundations.
Dr. Luis Vega, Graduate Student Center director and one of the statewide competition organizers, stated: “Graduate student research is a time- and resource-consuming investment that adds high value to a graduate education. Our campus benefits from having a $3 million Title Vb grant, directed by Drs. Anna Jacobsen and Debra Jackson, with the aim of elevating graduate education in terms of increased research, enrollment, and support systems.”
Through this grant, eight graduate research fellows in STEM fields are funded to conduct high quality research, working closely with faculty advisers. Chaudhry was part of this year’s cohort. Spriester was supported by a National Science Foundation CREST (Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology) grant that supports students in biology, geology, math and engineering.
In preparation for next year’s Grad Slam competitions, both at CSUB (December 2021) and statewide (May 2022), current graduate students and those admitted for fall 2021 are encouraged to visit the CSUB Graduate Student Center for posted updates. The graduate newsletter in early fall 2021, which is emailed to the entire campus, will also have updated information on preparation workshops.
The 12 CSU campuses who participated in this year’s statewide Grad Slam competition were: Bakersfield, Chico, Dominguez Hills, Fresno, Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Northridge, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose (host) and Sonoma. Video of participants and the competition can be found at: https://www.sjsu.edu/cgs/events/csu-grad-slam/index.html.