Q&A with 2024 Berkeley Campus Grad Slam Winner Victoria ChevéeVictoria Chevée, final year Ph.D. candidate in molecular and cell biologyLast spring, Victoria Chevée, a final year Ph.D. candidate in molecular and cell biology, now a postdoctoral fellow at the Pasteur Institute in Paris (France), became Berkeley’s 2024 Grad Slam Champion for her presentation, “A Bacterium’s Journey: From Guts to Brain.” Victoria went on to compete against the nine other campus champions across the UC system. In this Q&A, Victoria talks about her experience with Grad Slam and her recommendations to other graduate students who might want to participate in the competition this year or in the future. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Victoria! Could you tell us how you heard about Grad Slam and what made you decide to participate in the competition? Thank you for having me! It was actually a friend of mine from our lab who previously participated in Grad Slam and recommended that I try out. I’m very interested in science communication and outreach and felt like this would be a great way to practice making my research accessible to everyone. What was the preparation process for Grad Slam like for you? Preparing for Grad Slam was quite fun. Since there is a one-slide limit, you have to think really creatively about how you want to convey information while keeping it light. It’s a challenging task, but it feels great once you get it to flow well. Also, the UC Berkeley support team was incredible! (Priya, Linda, and Wendy—thank you all again so much!) They spent a lot of time helping me re-work my slide and practice the delivery to make everything as polished as possible. What were some of the most challenging aspects of preparing for Grad Slam, for both the campus and UC systemwide competitions? The most difficult aspect was definitely time management. It was my last semester at Cal, so things were really intense with graduation and postgrad planning, but I also wanted to dedicate enough time to adequately prepare for Grad Slam. Balancing everything was a challenge, but I’m really happy with how it went in the end. What did Grad Slam do for your professional development and networking skills? I definitely learned a lot during this process. Preparing short talks that are accessible to anyone is really helpful while looking for a job in any field. I constantly think back to how I presented my work in Grad Slam when I’m asked about my previous work these days. It is also nice to have something very concrete to put on my resume that shows I am competent in public speaking. What advice would you give to other students thinking about competing in Grad Slam? Go for it!! It’s a really fun experience; you get to think really deeply about your own work as you deconstruct it and make it more approachable. It’s good for your CV, and you get to meet many wonderful people who will help you hone your skills, encourage you, and support you through the whole process. It’s quite a wonderful experience. What is next for you? I am originally French, and I moved back to my home country for a postdoc with Dr. Eberl at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and am actually changing fields somewhat to explore how cognitive functions affect immune responses to infection. It is going well so far, and I am looking forward to a lot more science talks! If you would like to compete in Grad Slam, read the guidelines for this year’s competition and submit your three-minute video by January 31!
Q&A with 2024 Berkeley Campus Grad Slam Winner Victoria ChevéeVictoria Chevée, final year Ph.D. candidate in molecular and cell biologyLast spring, Victoria Chevée, a final year Ph.D. candidate in molecular and cell biology, now a postdoctoral fellow at the Pasteur Institute in Paris (France), became Berkeley’s 2024 Grad Slam Champion for her presentation, “A Bacterium’s Journey: From Guts to Brain.” Victoria went on to compete against the nine other campus champions across the UC system. In this Q&A, Victoria talks about her experience with Grad Slam and her recommendations to other graduate students who might want to participate in the competition this year or in the future. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Victoria! Could you tell us how you heard about Grad Slam and what made you decide to participate in the competition? Thank you for having me! It was actually a friend of mine from our lab who previously participated in Grad Slam and recommended that I try out. I’m very interested in science communication and outreach and felt like this would be a great way to practice making my research accessible to everyone. What was the preparation process for Grad Slam like for you? Preparing for Grad Slam was quite fun. Since there is a one-slide limit, you have to think really creatively about how you want to convey information while keeping it light. It’s a challenging task, but it feels great once you get it to flow well. Also, the UC Berkeley support team was incredible! (Priya, Linda, and Wendy—thank you all again so much!) They spent a lot of time helping me re-work my slide and practice the delivery to make everything as polished as possible. What were some of the most challenging aspects of preparing for Grad Slam, for both the campus and UC systemwide competitions? The most difficult aspect was definitely time management. It was my last semester at Cal, so things were really intense with graduation and postgrad planning, but I also wanted to dedicate enough time to adequately prepare for Grad Slam. Balancing everything was a challenge, but I’m really happy with how it went in the end. What did Grad Slam do for your professional development and networking skills? I definitely learned a lot during this process. Preparing short talks that are accessible to anyone is really helpful while looking for a job in any field. I constantly think back to how I presented my work in Grad Slam when I’m asked about my previous work these days. It is also nice to have something very concrete to put on my resume that shows I am competent in public speaking. What advice would you give to other students thinking about competing in Grad Slam? Go for it!! It’s a really fun experience; you get to think really deeply about your own work as you deconstruct it and make it more approachable. It’s good for your CV, and you get to meet many wonderful people who will help you hone your skills, encourage you, and support you through the whole process. It’s quite a wonderful experience. What is next for you? I am originally French, and I moved back to my home country for a postdoc with Dr. Eberl at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and am actually changing fields somewhat to explore how cognitive functions affect immune responses to infection. It is going well so far, and I am looking forward to a lot more science talks! If you would like to compete in Grad Slam, read the guidelines for this year’s competition and submit your three-minute video by January 31!