From Research to Resonance: Applied Psychology at PhD Live!

At NYU’s PhD Live! showcase this spring, doctoral students from across the university transformed complex research into compelling, three-minute stories in an effort to make scholarship more accessible, engaging, and human.

Led in part by Elise Cappella, PhD, Vice Provost for University-wide Initiatives and Graduate Education and Professor of Applied Psychology, the initiative reflects a growing emphasis on helping researchers communicate beyond academic audiences. As Dr. Cappella has emphasized, the goal is not just to deepen expertise but to expand how that expertise reaches the world while building confidence through connection and engaging collaboration. 

Among this year’s participants was Natalie May, a Psychology and Social Intervention PhD student who recently defended her dissertation. Drawn to the program by her interest in how research translates across audiences, May saw PhD Live! as a natural extension of her work in a research-practice-policy partnership, where making complex findings digestible and relevant is part of the everyday challenge. With a background in acting as well, she was especially interested in experimenting with more engaging and creative forms of presentation.

That process, however, was not immediate.

“At the start of the program, I struggled to be clear and to distill what felt like very complex information into something short and punchy,” May reflected. “Even after I was able to shorten my pitch, I realized it wasn’t grabbing people.”

Through workshops led by experts in voice, storytelling, and performance, students were challenged to slow down, strip away jargon, and invite audiences into their work. For May, this meant rethinking her technique. 

“By the end of the program, I took a much more narratively driven approach,” she said. That shift came into focus through a pivotal creative decision: centering her research around a single, human story.

“When I decided to tell the story of a single child to represent a larger phenomenon, that really shifted the tone,” May explained. “Then I was talking about someone they could imagine and care about rather than an abstract concept.”

Stepping onto the stage, however, introduced a different kind of challenge.

“When I’m speaking with people in real life, it comes naturally to me, but once I stepped onto the stage, it was more challenging to merge performing with academic norms,” she said. 

Now, weeks after the final showcase, the program's impact continues to resonate. 

“I’m still thinking about how to balance the fact that research is ultimately the stories of real people, with the fact that we deal with patterns across many individuals,” she reflected. 

Programs like PhD Live! underscore a broader shift in how scholarship is shared—one that values not only rigor, but resonance. For researchers like May, that shift is ongoing, shaping how they connect their work to the world beyond academia.

“I’m very grateful for that experience,” she added, “and I hope I get other opportunities to practice this in my career.”