UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For graduate students, being able to explain and sell your research in a brief, concise manner is a valuable career skill for finding jobs and landing research funding. With this in mind, the Materials Research Institute (MRI) is holding a call for participants involved in graduate materials or engineering research to enter the PPG Elevator Pitch Competition.

The event will be held virtually on May 13, with the finals to be held at the virtual Millennium Café on Gather.Town on May 18.  

Graduate student participants in the PPG Elevator Pitch Competition are asked to submit an “audition video” of their research pitch recorded in Zoom by May 3, so judges can choose the top 45 pitches for the May 13 event. 

The video should be two minutes or less, with no more than four supporting slides. Two faculty-led training sessions will allow participants to refine and improve their pitch. A small panel of judges from academia and industry will evaluate the final pitches, and prizes will be awarded to the top five entries, including a first price of $750.  

More details on format and submitting entries can be found at the MRI pitch competition page. The event is sponsored by PPG, global manufacturer of paints, coatings and specialty materials.