Graduate School

Research Matters

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Research Matters

Research Matters, hosted by the Graduate School, is a live event, featuring short talks by graduate students on why their research matters. These brief talks showcase exceptional graduate student scholarship and celebrate their ideas.

Research Matters

Please join us for Research Matters on April 17, 2025. Brown community, alumni, faculty, staff, and all students are invited to attend

Graduate Students

Be a speaker for Research Matters 2025. Tell us why your research matters! We are looking for 5-minute talks on research projects by Brown University doctoral and master’s students. The talks are for a general audience.

What’s Involved

  1. Nomination. Faculty, staff, and students are invited to nominate a graduate student with a compelling research story to tell. Graduate students may also self-nominate. Nominations for the Research Matters 2025 event are due by December 20, 2024.
  2. Application submission. Graduate students (no nomination required) are invited to apply with a submission of their research and talk description and short video of themselves presenting their scholarship by January 31, 2025. (Applicants are encouraged to read Speaker Tips.)
  3. Selection and Semi-finals. Semi-finalists will be invited to give a live talk (no more than 5 min.) at a scheduled session(s) in mid-February. The selection panel will be comprised of faculty, graduate students and the Graduate School.
  4. Final selections. Those selected to speak at the live event are expected to attend a number of training, practice, and mentoring sessions, including a rehearsal scheduled the day before the main event (April 16).
  5. Research Matters 2025. The live event is planned for April 17, 2025. All talks will be video recorded and will be featured on the Graduate School website.

Get Inspired

Watch videos from previous Research Matters events:

Research Matters 2024

Watch the videos from the Graduate School's Research Matters event, which was held on April 18, 2024. The brief talks showcase excellent student scholarship and foster intellectual exchange across disciplines.

Research Matters 2023

Watch the videos from the Graduate School's Research Matters event, which was held on April 19, 2023. The brief talks showcase excellent student scholarship and foster intellectual exchange across disciplines.

Research Matters 2022

Watch the videos from the Graduate School's Research Matters event, which was held on April 21, 2022. The brief talks showcase excellent student scholarship and foster intellectual exchange across disciplines.

Research Matters 2019

Watch the videos from the Graduate School's Research Matters event, which was held on April 9, 2019. The brief talks showcase excellent student scholarship and foster intellectual exchange across disciplines.

Research Matters 2017

Watch the videos from the Graduate School's third Research Matters event, which was held on November 4, 2017. The brief talks showcase excellent student scholarship and foster intellectual exchange across disciplines.

Research Matters 2016

Watch the videos from the Graduate School's second Research Matters event, which was held on November 5, 2016. The brief talks showcase excellent student scholarship and foster intellectual exchange across disciplines.

Research Matters 2014

Watch the videos from the inaugural event, which was held as part of the 250th Anniversary Fall Celebration on September 27, 2014. The symposium featured short talks by graduate students and alumni.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ml_XOZYwzl4

Learn more about students’ experiences participating in Research Matters.

Questions

Please contact: Vanessa Ryan, Senior Associate Dean of Student Development and Byrd McDaniel, Assistant Director of Student Development at Graduate_Dean@brown.edu.

Nominations

Nominees will need to submit the following via an application form by January 31, 2025:

  • A 350 word description of your talk and research project.
  • A short video: Give us a sense of you speaking about your innovative idea and research project. This can be as short as one-minute, but no more than 3 minutes. You can use a smartphone or built-in webcam. Video quality is not the priority, as long as you are audible. We just want to get a brief sense of you as a speaker.

If you are unable to submit a short video, please email graduate_dean@brown.edu.