Brief overview and prize information
The Research Alive series aims to unveil what makes music so magical through live performances and dialogue between researchers and musicians. Presented 4 times each year by various members of the Schulich community, each talk highlights exciting research, showcases live musical examples and demonstrations, and concludes with a short piece to tie it all together.
In collaboration with this series, the annual Research Alive Student Prize will be awarded to a graduate student following an audition in late April.
Since its inception, this prize has been made possible through the longstanding generosity of Jill de Villafranca and Dr. David Kostiuk, who have traditionally awarded a $1,000 first prize each year. Beginning in the 2021–2022 season, their gift expanded to include a second prize of $500, allowing the competition to recognize and support an additional outstanding scholar.
The first- and second‑place winners also receive coaching on framing their work for a general audience in preparation for their talks, which are live‑streamed, video‑recorded, and subsequently posted on the Schulich School of Music YouTube channel. The third‑place winner is invited to present their work in a special session of the Doctoral Colloquium.
Application deadline for presentation in the Research Alive 2026-2027 Series:
March 30, 2026
Application process:
Submit a short proposal by email to Stephen McAdams (stephen.mcadams [at] mcgill.ca) presenting the research in such a way as to be fun, informative for a general audience, and exhilarating from both artistic and scholarly perspectives. The proposal should be 300-400 words and include the main issue to be addressed, a rough outline of the topic, how it would be illustrated musically, what musicians would be needed, and what piece of music (10 min. max) would end the talk. The talks are just under one hour (45-minute presentation, 10-minute performance or recording), followed by a Q&A. It is the winner's responsibility to recruit the musicians and to obtain any necessary rights to publicly perform the music or present visual materials used in the talk.
A short list of three proposals will be selected for an audition in the latter half of April at which you would present a 15-minute version of your proposed talk. Two student presentations will be selected for presentation in the upcoming Research Alive season and one finalist will have a special session of the Graduate Colloquium. We look forward to your exciting proposals.
Eligibility:
Graduate students who will be enrolled in the 2026-2027 academic year.
Past Student Prize Winners
- 2025-2026: 1st Luis Almeida, 2nd Jonathan Lindhorst
- 2024-2025: 1st Ellis Reyes (YouTube) | 2nd Ninad Puranik (YouTube)
- 2022-2023: 1st Theodora Nestorova (YouTube) | 2nd Megan Batty (YouTube)
- 2021-2022: 1st Chelsea Komschlies (YouTube) | 2nd Tong Wang (YouTube)
- 2020-2021: Shanti Nachtergaele (YouTube)
- 2019-2020: Hannah Darroch (YouTube)
- 2019-2020 finalists: Hester Bell Jordan (YouTube) and Linda Pearce and Karin Cuellar Rendon (YouTube)
- 2018-2019: Lena Heng (YouTube)
- 2017-2018: Vanessa Blais-Tremblay (YouTube)
- 2016-2017: Jason Noble and Steve Cowan (YouTube)
