Research Competitions
Postdoc Scholar Lightning Talks
Lightning Talks at USF are a fast-paced, community-building format that spotlights postdoctoral scholar research, sparks interdisciplinary conversation, and makes research accessible to students, colleagues, and the wider campus community.
About Postdoc Scholar Lightning Talks
Lightning Talks at the University of South Florida are an annual event featuring brief, engaging research presentations hosted by the Office of Graduate Studies and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. The series began in Fall 2024, partnered with the 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) competition, and invited USF postdocs to give less than four-minute talks on their current research. The effort proved so popular that it became a regular, ongoing series. Since 2025, the format has been reduced to three minutes maximum to align with our 3MT, but includes multiple slides to prepare them for lightning talk opportunities at conferences.
The format is intentionally concise โ each presenter distills their research into a short, accessible talk, using only a few graphical slides, making complex academic work digestible for a broad audience. Presentations span a range of disciplines, from engineering, public health, goesciences, education implementation, and behavioral science.
2026 Lighting Talks Competition Winners
Big ideas, short timeline, and incredible research! Our postdocs and visiting scholars took the stage at the USF Postdoc & Visiting Scholar Lightning Talks Competition and made every minute count.
Please join us in celebrating our winners:
๐ Ana Paula Dos Santos Rodrigues
- Title: A Health Promotion Project to Reduce Cancer Risk in Latinos Living in Rural/Agricultural Communities
๐ Michaela McGuire
- Title: Malaria infections and malnutrition in Cameroon
๐ Erin Gibbons
- Title: Food for Thought: Using the Diet to Fight Pancreatic Cancer
A big thank you as well to the judges who gave their time, and to everyone who came out to cheer on our presenters.
From left to right: USF World's Marcia Taylor, Office of Graduate Studies Dean Derek Wildman, Ana Paula Dos Santos Rodrigues, Erin Gibbons, Michaela McGuire, and Postdoctoral Affairs and Graduate Student Success Dr. Tracy Costello.
Previous Lightning Round Winners
2025
1st Place (Tied)
- Kelly Navas
- Title: Small Change Big Impact
- College of Education
- Department: Center for Research, Evaluation, Assessment and Measurement
- Yu Zeng
- Title: The Mystery of Ballistic Tongues: natureโs hidden catapults
- College of Arts & Sciences
- Department: Integrative Biology
People's Choice
- Yongxiang Li
- Title: Paternal behavior is controlled by preoptic Trpc5 neurons
- Morsani College of Medicine
- Department: Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences
USF World Winner
- Ana Paula Rodrigues
- Title: Diet quality in a diverse sample of pediatric cancer survivors with overweight/obesity: A cross-sectional comparison with the general population
- College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
- Department: Child & Family Studies
2024
- 1st Place
- Sam Afoullouss
- Title: Our Hidden Pharma-Sea
- College of Arts and Sciences
- Department: Chemistry
- Sam Afoullouss
- 2nd Place
- Felix Rodriguez Cardozo
- Title: Groundwater Monitoring with Seismic Noise
- College of Arts and Sciences
- Department: Goesciences
- Felix Rodriguez Cardozo
- People's Choice
- Vishnukumar Raghu
- Title: A Portable System for Non-Invasive Cerebral Blood Flow Monitoring: A Life-Saving Tool for Disability Prevention
- College of Engineering and Morsani College of Medicine
- Department: Medical Engineering
- Vishnukumar Raghu
Participate
Postdoc Scholar Lightning Talk Guidelines
- 3-minute maximum presentation
- Countdown timer provided for all participants in real time
- 5 content slides maximum - 16x9 format
- Title slide already provided with your presentation title, name, and department
Workshops for slide design, presentation preparation, and practice/feedback:
Presentation: Lightning Talks - Communicating Your Research in Under 5 Minutes
Presented by Tracy Costello, Ph.D., Assistant Dean, Postdoctoral Affairs and Graduate Student Success
Lightning talks are an opportunity for you to share your research in 3-5 minutes with a streamlined slide deck (typically 1-3 slides, but fewer than 10), programmed to automatically advance. The primary purpose of this fast-paced presentation is to spark new conversations and collaborations. This lecture will discuss tips and tricks for presenting that will help you make your point concisely and be well-prepared for future conference talks and competitions!