Today I competed in the Perfect Pitch 2016 competition at University of Washington – and I won first place in my division!

This competition brought together students and researchers from four different institutes that are affiliated with the Washington Research Foundation (WRF). Participants were expected to describe their research in under a minute and a half with the aid of just a single powerpoint slide. The idea was to communicate your research to a general audience by clearly and succinctly describing the problem or scientific question that your research seeks to address, what you’re doing to try and solve that problem, and what kind of impact your research might have.

Communicating about science is a difficult task, and trying to do it in under 90 seconds without using jargon is an even greater one. I found the challenge very instructive and exciting, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to give it a try.