Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Symposium

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Research Symposium Research Symposium

The Graduate School and the Office of Postdoctoral Programs hosted the Sixth Annual Graduate + Postdoctoral Research Symposium on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, from 12:00-6:30pm on the Coral Gables Campus. This half-day symposium showcased transformative scholarly research from graduate students and postdoctoral fellows across disciplines at the University. 

The symposium includes a keynote speaker, poster and oral presentations, and TED-like talks. The symposium concluded with a catered reception and awards ceremony. Students, postdocs, faculty, and staff from all campuses were invited to attend.

All graduate students and postdoctoral fellows were encouraged to apply for one of three participation formats: poster presentation, oral presentation, or TED-like Talk.

Cash prizes were awarded to the top presentations.

To submit the application you will need to: 

  • Upload a 350-word abstract (12-point Times New Roman font, single-spaced)
  • Upload a headshot for your presenter profile
  • Get your advisor/mentor's approval as an electronic signature on your application

2025 Applications will open on November 4, 2025, at 11:59pm ET.

For questions, please contact the Graduate School at graduateschool.miami.edu. 

Application Closed

Previous Graduate + Postdoctoral Research Symposiums

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  • 2024 Recap

    The Graduate School and Office of Postdoctoral Programs hosted the Sixth Annual Graduate + Postdoctoral Research Symposium on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at the Shalala Student Center on the Coral Gables Campus. 

    The symposium included poster and oral presentations, TED-like talks, and a keynote address by Dr. Phil Hanlon, University of Miami’s Distinguished Presidential Scholar. He served as the President of Dartmouth College from 2013 to 2023. Prior to Dartmouth, he served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan, where he was also the Donald J. Lewis Collegiate Professor of Mathematics. He began his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1981-1983) and was a BantrellFellow in Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology (1983-1986). As a mathematician, Hanlon's academic research is focused on probability and combinatorics, the study of finite structures and their significance as they relate to bioinformatics, computer science, and other fields. Hanlon has earned numerous awards for his mathematical research, including a Sloan fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Henry Russel Award, and the Presidential Young Investigator Award. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and held an Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship. Hanlon earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth (Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1977) and earned his PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 1981

    Oral Presentation Winners 

    • Arts & Humanities
    • Social & Behavioral Sciences
      • Winner: Eddie Wintergalen, Ph.D. student in Student in Environmental Science and Policy
    • Health & Life Sciences
    • Physical Sciences & Engineering

    Poster Presentation Winners

    • Health & Life Sciences
    • Social & Behavioral Sciences
    • Physical Sciences & Engineering

    Ted-like Talk Presenters

    • Judith Bohnenkamp, Ph.D. student in Business
    • Fairuziana Humam Hamid, Ph.D. student in Community Well-Being
    • Alexa Parra, Ph.D. student in Nursing

     

    For event pictures, click here.

    For a full agenda and the list of presenters and abstracts, click here.

    For the keynote speaker's biography, click here. 

  • 2023 Recap

    The Graduate School and Office of Postdoctoral Programs hosted the Fifth Annual Graduate + Postdoctoral Research Symposium on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at the Shalala Student Center on the Coral Gables Campus. 

    The symposium included poster and oral presentations, TED-like talks, and a keynote address by Dr. Len Pinchuk, who is an appointed Distinguished Research Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami. Dr. Pinchuk has 138 issued U.S. patents and over 100 publications and founded 10 companies. His inventions are used by over a billion patients worldwide with a financial impact of well over $100 billion. He was inducted into the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2012, and he received the National Academy of Engineering 2019 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, the world’s top prize in bioengineering, for innovations in medical devices that enable minimally invasive angioplasty treatment of advanced coronary artery disease. Dr. Pinchuk received a B.Sc. in chemistry from McGill University and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Miami. 

    Oral Presentation Winners 

    Poster Presentation Winners

    • Health & Life Sciences (4-way tie)
    • Social & Behavioral Sciences
    • Physical Sciences & Engineering

    Ted-like Talk Presenters

     

    For event pictures, click here.

    For a full agenda and the list of presenters and abstracts, click here.

    For the keynote speaker spotlight article, click here. 

    For the video of the keynote address, click here. For the video of the TED-like Talks presentations, click here.

  • 2022 Recap

    The Graduate School and Office of Postdoctoral Programs hosted the Fourth Annual Graduate + Postdoctoral Research Symposium on Friday, April 1, 2022, at the Shalala Student Center on the Coral Gables Campus. 

    The symposium included poster and oral presentations, TED-like talks, and a keynote address by Dr. Hortensia Amaro, who is a Distinguished University Professor and Senior Scholar on Community Health at the Wertheim College of Medicine and Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work at Florida International University. Dr. Amaro’s scholarship has dramatically advanced the understanding of gender and ethno-racial inequities in substance use disorders and co-occurring disorders treatment, HIV prevention, and other urgent public health challenges. Her esteemed career has spanned scholarly research, translation of science to practice, top-level policy consultation, and service on more than seven National Academies committees and boards.

    Oral Presentation Winners 

    • Arts & Humanities Winner: Yasamin Rezaei, Ph.D. student in Literary, Cultural and Linguistic Studies
    • Social & Behavioral Sciences Winner: Theoni Varoudaki, Ph.D. student in Psychology
    • Health & Life Sciences Winner: Alessandra Maggioni, Master's student in Public Health
    • Physical Sciences & Engineering Winner: E. Riley Blocker, Ph.D. student in Physics

    Poster Presentation Winners

    Ted-like Talk Presenters

     

    For event pictures, click here.

    For a full agenda and the list of presenters and abstracts, click here.

    For the video of the keynote address, click here. For the video of the TED-like Talks presentations, click here.

  • 2021 Recap

    The Graduate School hosted the Third Annual Graduate + Postdoctoral Research Symposium on Friday, April 16, 2021, completely virtually.

    For a full list of presenters, click here.

    For a summary of the event, read the article published in News@TheU.

     

    Keynote Address

    Dr. Erin Kobetz, Vice Provost for Research and Professor in the departments of Medicine, Public Health Sciences, and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Miller School of Medicine. 

    To view Dr. Kobetz's keynote address, click here. 

     

    First TED-like Talk

    Cho-Hee Shrader, PhD Student in Prevention Science and Community Health in the Miller School of Medicine

    Presentation: What Is Homophily and How Can It Halt HIV?

    To view Cho-Hee Shrader's presentation, click here.

     

    Second TED-like Talk

    Marina McLerran, Master's Student in Music Education in the Frost School of Music

    Presentation: Instrumental Music Education for Music Students with Hearing Impairment

    To view Marina McLerran's TED-like Talk, click here.

  • 2020 Recap

    The Graduate School hosted the Second Annual Graduate + Postdoctoral Research Symposium on Thursday, March 5, 2020, at the Shalala Student Center on the Coral Gables Campus. 

    Oral Presentation Winners 
    Poster Presentation Winners

    The symposium included poster and oral presentations, TED-like talks, and a keynote address by Dr. Hansel Tookes from the IDEA Exchange. Dr. Hansel Tookes, MD, MPH, is the Founder and Medical Director of the IDEA Exchange. As Medical Director, Dr. Tookes works to empower, educate, and serve the communities of South Florida, especially, Miami-Dade County, through harm reduction. With a passion for behavioral interventions and innovative approaches to HIV prevention, his goal is to continue to conduct translational research that will effect changes in health policy to improve the health of the community. He has extensive experience in working with low socioeconomic status patients and drug users. He has extensive training on inpatient HIV care and in outpatient continuity HIV care. His experience with his patients has enabled him to be an effective advocate in the State of Florida. (Sourced from ideaexchangeflorida.org/about.)

    For event pictures, click here.

    For a full agenda and the list of presenters and abstracts, click here.

    For a video of the keynote address and the TED-like Talks presentations, click here.

  • 2019 Recap

    Poster Presentation Winners
    • Health & Life Sciences
      • Winner: Hallie Quiroz, Postdoctoral Fellow in Vascular Research
      • Winner: Morgan Gianola, Ph.D. Student in Psychology
      • Runner-up: Natalia de la Oliva Muñoz, Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuroscience 
    • Engineering & Physical Sciences
      • Winner: Nima Hosseinzadeh Nanehkaran, Ph.D. Student in Civil Engineering 
      • Runner-up: Yusuf Secerdin, Ph.D. Student in Industrial Engineering
    • Social & Behavioral Sciences
      • Winner: Vanesa Mora Ringle, Ph.D. Student in Psychology
      • Runner-up: Estefany Saez Flores, Ph.D. Student in Psychology
    • Arts & Humanities
      • Winner: Victor Rubio, Master's Student in Music Education
      • Runner-up: Lorena Knezevic, Master's Student in Architecture
    • People’s Choice: Babak Vafaei, Ph.D. Student in Civil Engineering
    Oral Presentation Winners
    • Risk & Resilience Session: Judith Lobo, Ph.D. Student in Psychology 
    • Ecosystem Science Session: Maria Cartolano, Postdoctoral Fellow in Marine Biology and Ecology 
    • Advancing Biomedical Research Session: Mirza Muhammad Fahd Qadir, Ph.D. Student in Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology 
    TED-like Talks Winner
    • Alvaro Ruiz Emparanza, Ph.D. Student in Civil Engineering

    For event pictures, click here.

    For a full list of presenters and abstracts, click here.

    For the full video of the keynote address and Ted-like Talk Presentations, click here

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