Student Lightning Talks

Date: 31 March 2025

A critical and integral part of the UNILISA conference series is the Doctoral Forum, which provides a platform for doctoral students to share their research and learn from one another. It also affords academics an opportunity for mentorship and capacity building.

We are excited about using the lightning talk format for our Doctoral Forum. The lightning talk format is a 5-minute presentation consisting of a brief, concentrated speech with the use visual aids. The goal is to allow students to articulate their research topic in a quick, insightful, and clear manner. It gives an opportunity to communicate the essence of the research topic concisely and effectively with others. Another goal is to get the audience excited about the topic – it can be fun and interesting while remaining on topic and adhering to the time limit.

Abstracts

Abstracts may address issues pertaining, but not limited, to the conference subthemes listed under the “Theme” tab. Abstracts should not exceed 300 words, and should include the following:

  • Theme and title of the presentation
  • Presenter details: Title, name and surname, e-mail address and telephone number(s)
  • Institutional affiliation: University where registered; details of the supervisor (Title, name and surname)
  • Clear description of the topic, including its importance / relevance (150-300 words)
  • The conference category and subtheme to which the abstract relates
  • Three (3) keywords

Lightning talks format

  • Flash format: max 5 minutes per presenter
  • Platform: Online (MS Teams)
  • Presentation format:
  • Option 1: Prerecorded 5-min *.ppt/pptx presentation format (with audio) (limited to 50 MB file size); or
  • Option 2: Prerecorded 5-min video presentation (*.mp4 for video, limited to 200 MB)
  • You must be present on the day and on time.

Important Dates

Submission of abstracts: 10 December 2024 

Abstracts for the lightning talks should be forwarded to mcguik@unisa.ac.za or Sibiypt@unisa.ac.za

Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 15 December 2024 

Any questions may be sent to: mcguik@unisa.ac.za

Lighting talks registrations

Virtual only: R500