About the GradShow
The GradShow is the premier interdisciplinary celebration of Colorado State University graduate students’ creativity, research, and entrepreneurship. It offers students a platform to present their work, develop their ability to communicate complex ideas to the general public, and gain valuable conference experience.
2025 Key Dates
- Aug. 29 – Call for abstracts opens
- Oct. 3 – Deadline to submit abstracts (unless capacity is reached before)
- Mid-Oct. – Acceptances will be sent out
- Mid-Oct – Training session on how to present your research (details to come)
- Nov. 19 – 2025 GradShow !
Who can participate
Graduate students currently pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree are eligible to participate. This includes domestic, international, and online students. Please note this is an in-person event.
We also welcome graduate students who plan to graduate in the fall to participate. We encourage submissions from all areas of study. Students are limited to one first-author entry per person and scholarship awards are distributed to a single awardee per poster.
Abstracts will be accepted until capacity is reached, or by Oct. 4. We accept proposals for previously presented works and research at any stage.
How to Enter
- Identify your work type: specify if your work is research / entrepreneurial based, or creative.
- Follow submission requirements: details for each submission type are listed below.
- Submit your proposal at: gradshow.colostate.edu using the “Submit Proposal” link at the top of the page. Submit early – a limited number of proposals are accepted.
Note: Project titles are limited to 10 words and abstracts to 250 words. Presenters should submit titles that are ready to publish. Once acceptances notices are sent to presenters, accepted abstracts and titles are immediately provided to judges. Presenters may adjust titles and abstracts on their final posters, however, we recommend letting judges know of any important changes during your presentation.
When you submit your work to the Graduate Student Showcase, it will be open to the public. If you are not certain that your work can be shared openly, please check with your advisor before submitting. Do not share information or data that cannot be made openly available due to privacy, copyright, national security, or other concerns in this public venue.
If you have any questions, contact the GradShow committee.
Proposal Requirements
For Visual, Written, or Performing Arts Submissions
- Project title: Limit of 10 words.
- Project abstract: (250 words max)
- Description of the work.
- Significance of the work.
- How it will be displayed/disseminated, including technology to be used.
- How the piece fits into the broader visual/creative/performing context.
- How the piece fits within your artistic/graduate profile.
For Research, Scholarship, and Entrepreneurship Submissions
- Project title: Limit of 10 words.
- Project abstract: (250 words max)
- Procedure/description.
- Results/outcomes.
- Implications/future directions.
- For early-stage projects: explain completed work and expected outcomes.
Creating a scholarly poster
Posters are required for all presenters. Blank PowerPoint and InDesign templates will be provided in Fall 2025. If you are in the College of Health and Human Sciences, please download and use the appropriate template for your department/school.
If you have never created a scholarly poster in your discipline, please contact Maggie Mataczynski. If there is enough interest within your department, they may host workshops and/or consultation services.
Poster Dimensions, Printing Costs, and Tips
Dimensions: 4’x3’ (landscape) or 3’x4’ (portrait). Landscape is the most common orientation. Please do NOT exceed these dimensions.
Display: We will provide stands that can accommodate both dimensions and/or pins/clips to hang your poster.
Printing Tips:
- Save your poster as a PDF. Send it as an attachment for online orders or to save on a flash drive for in-person printing.
- Proofread carefully before printing, professional-quality color posters are expensive to print.
- Print early.
Check if printing costs are covered:
- First, check with your faculty advisor/mentor/PI for funds and recommendations on where to print your poster. In many disciplines, faculty advisors will pay the cost of their student’s poster printing.
- If your faculty advisor cannot support the printing of your poster, check with your program director, department chair, or college dean’s office for recommendations on where to print and to ask if they cover costs.
Commercial printing:
- If you are unable to print through your college and reservations here are some other options:
- FastPrint: you will need to charge a department account.
- Amazon.com: Search for vendors who can print and deliver posters. One option is EzPosterPrints.
- FedEx: Order online.
- OfficeDepot: 2216 E. Harmony, prints take 1-2 business days.
- Staples: Order online.
Note: If you plan to have your poster mailed from an online printer, order your poster at least seven days before the GradShow
Graduate School Plotter
The Graduate School has a plotter available for graduate students by reservation only. This is a pilot year for printing, so availability is very limited. We recommend trying to print through your college first, as your college technology fees may allow for printing in your college at no additional charge. Learn more about printing options on the Graduate School Plotter.
Awards
All research proposals and creative works are automatically considered for the “Great Minds in Research” and “Distinction in Creativity” awards. Students are automatically entered into their corresponding college-specific awards, including students within interdisciplinary programs.
Additional awards are based on specific criteria. Upon submission, you will be asked to elect which additional awards you would like to be considered for. View the awards page for more information about awards and to review last year’s winners. Award values are subject to change and may be distributed as decided upon by the GradShow planning committee.
What to expect at the GradShow
Check-in: To be eligible for awards, ALL presenters MUST check in between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m., in the Lory Student Center, regardless of their assigned presentation time.
You are expected to remain at the GradShow between 9:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and will have an assigned presentation time period.
Presentation groups: Proposals will be assigned to either a “Green” or “Gold” group. Green group presenters are expected to be at their poster from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Gold group presenters are expected to be at their poster from 10:30 – 12:30 p.m. To be eligible for all awards judged by special groups, such as Office of International Programs, participants must remain at the GradShow for the duration of the event. When not scheduled to be at their posters, participants are encouraged to network and explore the work of fellow presenters.
Evaluations: At least two judges will visit your poster during your assigned Green or Gold session to evaluate your presentation for awards open to all participants. Judges are not required to identify themselves, so they may not inform you that they are evaluating your work. Some presentations may be reviewed by additional judges if they are eligible for select awards, such as the Graduate Student Council’s New Graduate Student Award. In the spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration, judges are randomly assigned and are likely to be from outside your field. Judges may include faculty, postdoctoral scholars, staff, alumni, students, and community members. They are asked to review the list of presenters assigned to them in advance to avoid any conflicts of interest.
Evaluation Criteria
Your poster and three-minute talk will be scored based on your type of work (described below.) Additionally, some presentations may be judged for select awards using award-specific rubrics.
Research or Entrepreneurial Posters are scored based on: Background/Introduction, Purpose, Design, Results/Outcomes, Conclusions, Impact, and Poster Appearance/Layout.
Visual or Performing Arts Posters for creative presentations are scored based on: Concept of Work, Background, Execution, Inventiveness/Originality, and Overall Impression. Scores in these categories are based on the performance and/or the visual portfolio/photo, the poster, and the 3-minute Talk. Depending on the artistic genre, you may speak with many interested viewers (in the case of having a physical object for display) or you may perform a written, dance, or musical piece at a designated time. An informative poster that provides the work’s title, a short description, an artist profile, and other relevant visuals, texts, or QR codes/short links for visuals will be crucial for attendees to understand your work in your absence or post-performance. Include your artist’s statement and consider illustrating your artistic process in your posters.
All poster presenters are scored on their spoken presentation, also known as a 3-minute talk.
3-Minute Talk
Judges will likely be from outside of your field of study, so prepare a 3-minute talk that explains your project to a non-expert audience. Provide enough information so that others understand your project’s significance, but not so much as to overwhelm or confuse listeners. Avoid the use of jargon. Judges may reach out with questions or comments during the judging process.
Practice making your presentation engaging and informative. Meet with your advisor to get feedback on how to improve your scholarship and how to present in an interdisciplinary environment.
Feedback
Individual feedback from judges is not provided. We recognize that graduate students are often interested in what they could do to improve, however, the judging for the GradShow is only for identifying award winners.
We encourage you to meet with your advisor, committee members, and/or other faculty members in your program to get their feedback on your project. They are the experts on how to improve your scholarship and on how to communicate clearly with non-experts. Inviting your advisors to the GradShow is another opportunity for feedback.
Questions?
Contact our team at [email protected] for any additional questions or assistance. Good luck!