Shannon Brady, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Developmental Psychology, has been named the 2024 finalist at the UCR Grad Slam Finals, a UC-wide competition for graduate students to present their research or creative projects with opportunities and workshops for professional development. As UCR’s campus winner, Shannon earned a grand prize of $5000 through a fellowship and will move on to compete in the UCOP Grad Slam Finals on May 3 at LinkedIn’s headquarters in San Francisco with a chance to win upwards of $7000. 

“It’s still so surreal,” Brady said. “I’ve always loved to tell other people about myself and the work that I do…but it’s rare that I get to share my work with the broader community.”

Brady’s winning presentation, “Thinking Out Loud: Is Self-Talk a Secret to Success?” delves into the impact of self-talk on children’s emotional well-being, aiming to challenge negative misconceptions of self-talk by highlighting its benefits.

According to Brady, being named the UCR Grad Slam finalist opens doors for her research and development by potentially using some of the winnings to compensate participants who contribute to her project and raise public awareness by publishing papers and speaking at conferences.

“It's really gratifying to see Shannon's hard work paying off,” said Elizabeth Davis, Brady’s faculty advisor and an associate professor of psychology at UCR. “Her creative dissertation study is high-quality research, and seeing her distill the complex ideas from that project down to just a couple of minutes is so impressive!”

Brady previously participated in UCR’s 2023 Grad Slam but didn’t place. However, the opportunity allowed Brady to pivot and grow her presentation skills. She has also grown her passion for science communication to discussing psychology with others. 

Along with the upcoming UCOP Grad Slam Finals, Brady looks forward to continuing sharing her research project. “A big piece of my dissertation project is to help change the narrative that people hold about the act of talking to oneself, so I’m most excited about getting another opportunity to share my work with a new audience,” she said.

Beyond Grad Slam, Brady is excited to get started on her research project this summer by making visits to labs that study children to look at data and collect information for her research.

“Bigger picture, I’m excited to continue finding new ways to share my work with the community and other people who can benefit from applying psychology in their everyday lives,” she said.

“Shannon is on a very impressive scientific trajectory already, and will undoubtedly continue to impress her colleagues in the last year of her training,” Davis said. “After she's done at UCR and has earned her Ph.D., I foresee a bright future conducting and disseminating research to broad audiences.”

The UCOP Grad Slam Finals will be available to watch online via live stream at the UCOP Grad Slam website on May 3. 

For more information about Grad Slam, please visit gsrc.ucr.edu/grad-slam and gradslam.universityofcalifornia.edu.

FEATURED PHOTO. Shannon Brady / Credit to Aronne Chan, photographer.