Pregnant cows in the dark, thought experiments in quantum physics, bees and weed(killer), and the mysterious disappearance of a giant salamander species: All these and many more have been the topics of Nutshell Games talks. 

    What are you pursuing in research? How effectively can you communicate it to an audience who may not speak your research language? Add a 90-second limit to the requirements, and you’ve got the Nutshell Games, a fun and fast-paced presentation competition hosted since 2017 by Virginia Tech’s Center for Communicating Science. Graduate students are challenged to translate their research for a public audience – in a format one observer called a “TED Talk on four espresso shots.”

    The eighth Nutshell Games will take place on Saturday, November 11, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. A prep and training workshop for presenters and alternates will be held Wednesday, November 1, 6:30-9:30 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 this link to register.

    This crowd-pleasing public event, held at the Moss Arts Center as the final event of the Virginia Tech Science Festival, includes prizes for the top five presenters and video recordings for all presenters. Contenders are ranked by our unique panel of judges including campus representatives, community partners, and, most important of all, a local seventh grader. Winners are awarded $500 each in professional development funds. 

    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 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.

By Heather Winslow, Center for Communicating Science graduate assistant