Grow your communication skills and share your research.
GRADflix is a research communication opportunity for graduate students where participants create a video, moving slide show, or animation of no longer than 60 seconds (one minute) that describes their research to a non-specialized audience.
GRADflix is generously supported by graduate students through the Graduate Studies Endowment Fund.
Jump to: Why participate | Competition information | Resources | Final showcase
Why participate?
- Learn a new skill: use digital narrative to explain a complex idea, and develop your "elevator pitch" while doing so!
- Expand your network: having a video about your research will make it easier to network online. Add the video to your LinkedIn profile, or add a link to your resume. In addition, the GRADflix showcase event will allow you to network with other students, judges, and faculty members.
- Broaden your communication skills: this competition will be developing your research communication skills, while teaching you how to communicate to non-specialist audiences.
- Gain greater exposure for your research: video is an accessible, easy-to-share format for telling your research story.
- Win prizes: you'll have the chance to win a monetary prize.
- Apply the skills you learn through this competition to your teaching: many professors use technology in the classroom, and video is one way to integrate technology in to your teaching.
- Enter more competitions: depending on your field of study and funding source, your video may meet the criteria for submission to SSHRC's Storytellers competition or NSERC's Science Action! competition. Consider submitting your video to other competitions, too!
Competition information
Important dates
The dates for the 2025 GRADflix competition will be announced in fall 2024.
Eligibility and rules
To be eligible to participate in GRADflix, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be a University of Waterloo graduate student who is registered in a master's (thesis or MRP) or PhD program at the time of the GRADflix competition.
- Master's and PhD students who have degree completed, but have not yet convocated, are eligible to participate.
- You must be willing to allow your video to be made public and provide a photo and short biography if you are selected as a finalist. Your photo and biography will also be made public.
- By submitting your video, you are agreeing that your submission is an original work created by you, and that you have all necessary rights in and to the submission.
- You must attend the in-person showcase to be eligible to win a prize, or have a delegate who can accept the prize on your behalf. If you are a finalist and not able to attend or arrange a delegate, you must be willing to work with Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs to ensure there is someone in attendance, such as a department or faculty representative, who can accept a prize on your behalf.
- Previous finalists who did not win first prize are eligible to compete again if the video submission is materially different, as determined by Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA), from that of their previous submission. GSPA is happy to provide guidance, so please reach out to us at gradventure@uwaterloo.ca.
Video requirements
- Videos can take many forms, but must include: movement (slide transitions, zoom, or a subject moving on video) and sound (voice over, sound, and/or music).
- Your video may be less than 60 seconds, but may not be longer than 60 seconds.
- Your video must focus on research conducted for your thesis, MRP or dissertation in your current graduate program at University of Waterloo.
- If your video is selected, you may be asked to submit a script for closed captioning purposes. If your video is selected and you advance to the next round of the competition, closed captioning will be required as the winning videos will be uploaded to YouTube. Participants may submit a video in another language other than English. If your video submission uses a language other than English, you will be asked to submit multiple scripts (one providing an English translation and one in the other language used in your video).
- When creating your video, keep copyright in mind. As your video will be made available online, you need to make sure that you are using third party content properly. If you want to avoid copyright complications, take a look at the resources provided by the Univeristy of Waterloo's Copyright and Licensing Librarian, Lauren Byl.
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Abstracts, oral descriptions, slides, pictures and videos can all constitute public disclosure and affect intellectual property rights and patentability. If this may be a concern, consult with your supervisor, the Office of Research or the Intellectual Property website for further information.
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You also agree that this submission does not infringe upon or violate any laws or any third party rights, including, but not limited to, copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights and must not constitute material that would be considered libelling, defamatory, a privacy violation, tortious or a contract breach.
Judging criteria
Communication (50%)
Your ability to communicate your research effectively and efficiently to a general audience through language and visuals. A strong video will demonstrate:
- Ability to explain complex ideas to a non-specialist audience
- Well-designed script with clear language and terminology
- Good pacing and sequencing of information (i.e. easy to follow)
- Audio and visuals that add information, clarify ideas, or complement the message
- Clear explanation of contribution(s) to research/scholarship
Note: The GRADflix competition will be judged in English. For videos that include a language other than English, judges will base their assessment on the English transcript or subtitles, provided with the video.
Creativity (30%)
Your ability to present your research in a unique and thoughtful way. A strong video will demonstrate:
- Creative use of (limited) time
- Novel and interesting presentation of information
- Engaging format that captures audience interest
Technical quality (20%)
Your ability to produce a video with quality visual and audio components. A strong video will demonstrate:
- High quality sound and images
- Integration of appealing audio/visual elements
Note: By submitting your video, you are agreeing that all sounds, images, information, etc. are cited or credited in the video, as required. See submission details for further information.
BONUS! Social Impact
GreenHouse sponsors an additional prize for “Most compelling social impact story”. GreenHouse is a social impact incubator that offers programs, opportunities, and a community for students to develop problem-solving skills, form innovative ideas, and make new forms of sustainable impact around social or environmental change.
The social impact prize will be judged separately from the rest of the judging criteria and will not impact your ability to win the 1st to 4th places or People’s Choice prizes.
Tell us how your research has the potential to make a difference in the well-being of people and/or the planet. How urgent is the problem and how big is it?
Prizes
- 1st place prize: $750
- 2nd place prize: $500
- 3rd place prize: $250
- 4th place prize: $250
- People's choice award: $250
- Social impact award: $250 (sponsored by GreenHouse)
Examples
Wondering what we're looking for in terms of style? You have lots of options! Check out some of the following examples on YouTube of grad student videos. Notice that some are animations, others are video-recorded, and some are made with PowerPoint or sketches.
| Video type | Example |
|---|---|
| Animation |
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| Video recording |
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| Stop motion |
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| Mixed media |
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Knowledge translation (KT) in health research is significantly important. If we are not able to describe what we are investigating in research world, the change at practice level will not be easy to achieve. KT is the way to connect the research world to the practice world. What's the point of doing all the research if we can't make any changes at the practice level?
GRADflix showcase
The 2025 GRADflix showcase date will be announced in fall 2024.
Previous GRADflix showcases
Interested in previous years' showcases? Check out our playlists of video submissions on YouTube, as well as our GRADflix alumni webpage.