Do you want to engage an audience, convince folks your work is important, and explain your research in less time than it takes to microwave mac and cheese, brush your teeth, or listen to your favorite song? Then the Nutshell Games is for you!

    While some may find the challenge daunting, over 250 graduate students have risen to the occasion – and we are entering our tenth Nutshell Games season. The reason behind the event’s popularity? Not only is it educational, but it’s also fun, for presenters and the audience alike! For those graduate students willing to step up to the plate and hone their skills of connection and communication, we have good news: Registration for the 2025 Nutshell Games opens at 8 a.m. on Monday, August 25!

    All Virginia Tech graduate students who are engaged in research are welcome to sign up to participate in this fun and fast-paced presentation competition. This year’s Nutshell Games will take place on Thursday, October 23, at 5:30 p.m. at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. A prep and training workshop for presenters and alternates will be held on Thursday, October 2, 5-8 p.m., an opportunity for participants to learn skills that they can carry with them beyond their graduate careers. 

    Interested students should sign up as soon as possible – only 30 students will have an opportunity to give a talk. Click the link here to sign up.

    This crowd-pleasing public event, held at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, includes prizes for the top five presenters and access to video recordings for all presenters. Contenders are ranked by our unique panel of judges including campus representatives, community partners, and the most important of them all, at least one seventh grader. Five winners will be selected, and their home departments will receive $500 for the winner's use in program-sanctioned research costs or conference participation. All participants will gain access to a professionally recorded video of their presentation. 

Nutshell Games rules

●      Time: Presentations are limited to 90 seconds maximum. Timing will begin when the presenter starts the presentation through speech or movement.

●      Props: No PowerPoint slides are permitted. No additional electronic media (e.g., sound and video files) are permitted. One prop is permitted (for example, a piece of lab equipment or a photograph).

●      Presentations are to be spoken prose (i.e., no songs, poems, or raps).

●      Presentations are to begin in front of the audience.

●      The judges' decision is final.

Nutshell Games judging criteria

●      Did the presenter capture and keep the audience's attention?

●      Did the presenter convey enthusiasm for the research?

●      Did the presentation make the audience want to know more?

●      Was the research communicated in language appropriate to a public audience?

●      Did the presenter communicate the significance and background of the research?

●      Did the speaker have good eye contact and an interesting vocal range?

●      Did the presenter convey confidence in the research?

    The first Nutshell Games was held as part of the opening celebration for the Center for Communicating Science in the spring of 2017. Since then, the event has typically been held in collaboration with Virginia Tech’s annual Science Festival or as part of the graduate student-organized ComSciCon-Virginia Tech, a series of communicating science workshops for graduate students. 

    Previous Nutshell Games video recordings are available at the Center for Communicating Science Youtube channel.