Gathered in the B123 auditorium on Thursday, Sept. 24, 12 Livermore postdocs used three minutes and a single slide to answer the question "Why is my research important?" Science movie trivia, a fashion show and guest appearances from previous participants contributed to the red-carpet theme of the 10th annual LLNL Research SLAM. Rakia Dhaoui and Connor Holiski, finalists from the 2025 SLAM, served as the event's emcees.
Talks were judged using an extensive rubric quantifying intellectual significance, individual contribution to the project, clarity, delivery, visuals and engagement. The esteemed panel of judges included LLNL's Pat Falcone, Kris Kulp, Dustin Riggs and Doug Rotman alongside José Hernández, the president and CEO of Tierra Luna Engineering, regent of the University of California and retired NASA astronaut.
New this year, the SLAM also included the presentation of the 2026 Deputy Director's Science and Technology Postdoctoral Excellence in Publication Awards. Five awardees were recognized for outstanding publications as nominated by Laboratory leadership: Wonjin Choi, Elizabeth Grace, Michael Pokornik, Ethan Rosenberg and Mohit Tekriwal.
After the publication award presentations, 12 research talks and interstitial acts, the audience adjourned to a reception while the judges deliberated. Laboratory Director Kim Budil announced the three winners as selected by the judges, in addition to the People's Choice winner, determined by audience votes.
The event was sponsored by the Laboratory's Academic Engagement Office (AEO). Eric Schwegler, director of AEO, views the SLAM as a natural extension of the office's contributions to LLNL. "Part of AEO's role is to strengthen our postdocs' skillsets as soon as they get into the Laboratory," he said. "It's worth investing in scientific communication skills, since that's an area that traditionally hasn't been focused on. We spend a lot of time thinking about publication skills or actually executing the research, but traditionally very little about how to communicate. The SLAM is an excellent opportunity for us to focus on those skills early on, in a way that benefits postdocs throughout their entire career."
Philip Cameron-Smith noted that participating in the SLAM allows finalists to stretch their skill sets. "The SLAM is a reminder of how important the creative and artistic sides of our brains can be, and bringing a little bit of that back into our scientific cohort is very valuable," said Cameron-Smith.
LLNL's Chief Protocol Officer Dustin Riggs counts the SLAM as one of his favorite LLNL events. "Every year I walk away from SLAM more convinced these postdocs are the future of this Lab. Seeing how directly their research connects to real, present-day problems is exactly what makes this event so special," said Riggs.
Previous SLAM participants were excited to see how the 2026 cohort performed. Claire Doody, a 2024 SLAM finalist and 2025 emcee, complimented the finalists' dedication. "What surprised me was how well the finalists were able to bring all their hard work together and present the best possible talks. Everyone was incredible! Just sitting in the audience, there was no way that I could tell who was going to win. The visibility that you gain from just being a part of the Research SLAM, on top of the skills that you learn, are so incredibly important, and it's worthwhile for everyone to participate. Because regardless of how far you go, you gain so much," said Doody.
Rigoberto Moncada Lopez, a 2025 SLAM finalist, concurred. "It's deceptively hard to prepare a three-minute speech, but once you're able to master it and show it to everybody else, it's totally worth it. Sometimes you don't have to be literal about what you're doing, but you need to show the importance of what you do and tie it to some sort of metaphor or recent event that makes people understand your research. Just focus on what people need, and then they'll remember your talk, regardless of how complicated or how obscure your subject is," said Lopez.
The winners of the event were awarded cash prizes (first place, $4,000; second place, $3,000; third place, $2,000; and People's Choice, $750). The winning presentations are noted below:
First place: Sumita Ghosh, "Counting Neutrinos to Safeguard Reactors"
"I'm happy that I got to make my team proud, and I'm excited and nervous for the future competitions. It's useful to know that there's a space where being understandable is valued, because I know there's a lot of spaces where that's not always true. That gives me more confidence in being able to communicate in a way that more people can engage with me in, which I appreciate. The SLAM also allows you to meet people across the Lab who are working on things that are wildly different from your own space, which is really cool. I hope I can keep the friends that I've made here," said Ghosh.
Second place: Emily de Jong, "The Secret Vertical Life of Clouds"
"I'm a little relieved that it's done! But I feel very positively about the experience. I was warned that it was a lot of work, but it was very fun. I'm excited to put some of the prize money towards a little time off next summer. One element I'll take away from Research SLAM coaching was the importance of centering the motivation for my research front and center - not trying to bury it in too many jokes," said de Jong.
Third place: Ajinkya Desai, "When Fires Throw (Burning) Curveballs…"
"I feel really fortunate that I was able to tell the stories of firefighters who deserve our attention, and how we as researchers are trying to help first responders. I have an acting background from my pre-scientific career - I had taken a break from it for a while. It's been fun to see that I haven't had to quit acting cold turkey, I'm just able to access old skills through my current scientific career. I feel grateful for the opportunity to be able to marry the acting experience with science communication, and I hope to be able to do that in the future as well," said Desai.
People's Choice Award: Sophia Jiang, "Into the Weeds: Investigating Illegal Pesticides in Cannabis Cultivation"
"I had no idea I could make it this far, and I'm so honored to have won the People's Choice Award. I learned a lot from the entire training process. Coming from someone who usually feels very uncomfortable doing public speaking, the coaching we received will help me be able to talk to anyone about the work I do along with more technical things like conference presentations or grant writing. I recommend that any postdoc participate in future SLAMs," said Jiang.
The top three winners earned a spot to compete against researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories in the 6th
