UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Graduate students from across Penn State will showcase their research and scholarship for a general audience while practicing their communication skills and competing for monetary prizes at the Graduate Exhibition, hosted by the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025, the Graduate Exhibition will include a video gallery viewable online from March 24 to 28; a research, design and visual arts exhibit on March 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the HUB-Robeson Center; and musical performances on March 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Recital Hall and streamed online. All events are free and open to the public.
The goal of the Graduate Exhibition is for graduate students to hone their research and scholarly presentation skills when communicating with the general public. This valuable skill can help with increasing awareness of different areas of research as well as helping graduate students build their professional networks and potentially find future collaborators.
Members of the general public are encouraged to attend to learn more about cutting-edge research and creative scholarship being led by graduate students throughout Penn State. In a few hours, attendees can learn about a cross-section of Penn State research highlights, as 283 graduate students from 15 academic colleges and 88 graduate programs are participating in the Graduate Exhibition this year.
The Graduate Exhibition includes five categories to encompass the breadth of academic focuses of Penn State graduate students: research poster, design, performance, visual arts and video. Two hundred and twenty-one students will be exhibiting research posters, nine exhibiting design projects, six students displaying visual arts exhibits, 11 performing scholarly music and 36 presenting five-minute videos. This is the highest number of participants in the Graduate Exhibition since 2013. A full list of exhibitors and their projects is available on the Graduate Exhibition website.
Students are also competing for monetary awards in each of the Graduate Exhibition’s five categories, as well as an award for projects that touch on aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion, and a University Libraries-sponsored award for data visualization. Students placing first, second or third in each of the five categories, as well as the five subcategories of research posters, will receive $1,000, $500, or $250, respectively. This year, the Graduate Exhibition also will include a people's choice award for the visual arts and performance categories, voted on by attendees. The students receiving the highest number of votes in each category will receive a $100 prize, sponsored by the Graduate and Professional Student Association. Community members can cast their vote for the visual arts category between 1 and 4 p.m. in the HUB Gallery, and for the performance category after the performances from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, March 28, in Recital Hall.
No registration is necessary. For more information, visit the Graduate Exhibition website.