Submission Guidelines for Knights in Focus
Showcase your research or creative work and share in the Knights and Focus Video Competition. Open to all currently enrolled UCF graduate students, this is your chance to share how UCF has shaped your journey. The top videos will receive scholarship awards and be featured on the College of Graduate Studies social media platforms.
The competition is open to all currently enrolled master’s and doctoral students at UCF. Participants must maintain enrollment through at least the Spring 2027 term. Previous winners are not eligible to participate in Knights in Focus. If you have previously submitted a video for the competition and did not receive an award, you are welcome to apply again in subsequent years. However, each submission must feature a new video. Videos submitted in previous competition years may not be resubmitted. Avoid sharing confidential information or addressing topics that are sensitive, offensive, or potentially controversial. Join a workshop at the Graduate Student Center on November 13 to help sharpen your message and finalize your ideas. Topics will cover: Need equipment to film your video? Check out cameras, microphones, and other gear from UCF Libraries through the Technology Lending and Support services. Eligibility
Submission Requirements
Content Highlights
Preparing to Film
Judging Process
All qualifying submissions will be evaluated by a panel of UCF staff, faculty, and students, who will choose the first and second-place winners of the competition and select several candidates for the People’s Choice award. The selected candidates videos will then be shared on the College of Graduate Studies social media platforms, and graduate students can vote for their favorite through Qualtrics. An additional award will also be given to the video that receives the most likes across the College of Graduate Studies social media accounts.
The judging process will begin in January 2027, once the submission window has closed and all videos are screened and processed. Finalists will be notified via their UCF email, and winners will be announced and receive their awards in March at the Knights in Focus Spotlight Celebration during Student Research Week.
Judges will evaluate video submissions based on the following criteria:
- Clarity – Is your message clear and easy to follow?
- Delivery – Are you confident, authentic, and engaging?
- Relevance – Does the content align with the competition theme?
- Impact – Does your story leave a strong impression?
Tip: Think about what would resonate with future students, fellow researchers, or alumni watching your story online.
Awards
The top winners will be awarded $6,000 in scholarships, divided among them:
Winner – $2,000
Runner-up – $1,500
People’s Choice First Place – $1,000
People’s Choice Second Place – $750
People’s Choice Third Place – $500
Most Social Media Likes – $250
The top videos will be shared on the College of Graduate Studies’ official social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube giving your work an outlet to shine.
Join us for a viewing party during UCF Student Research Week, where we’ll announce the winners, celebrate your efforts, and showcase our best submissions.
Disqualification Rules
- Violation of competition guidelines
- Submission exceeds time limits
- Failure to submit a completed model release form
- Content submitted after the deadline
- Inappropriate, offensive, or discriminatory content
- Discussion of highly controversial topics or sensitive information
- Violation of copyrighted material or intellectual property rights
- Use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate, edit, or enhance video content, audio, visuals, or other creative elements of the submission
Confidentiality and Intellectual Property
The presentation of research in Knights in Focus will be publicly accessible. (i.e., in the public domain.) The presentation of the research will not affect any pre-existing rights following the competition, except as stated below:
- Due to the nature of the competition, we will not ask judges, reviewers, staff or the audience to sign non-disclosure statements. If your research is being/has been conducted under contract with an outside sponsor, students should discuss the related contractual terms of confidentiality and intellectual property with their supervisor before participating in this competition.
- Videos submitted to this competition are open to the public at large, and may be posted to a public website or platform.
- Any data or information discussed or presented in video submissions should be considered ‘public’. If your research includes confidential or culturally sensitive material we advise that you discuss your competition entry with your supervisor(s) before entering Knights in Focus.
Permissions and Releases
When you submit your video, you:
- Confirm that you created all content and did not violate any third-party rights.
- Grant the College of Graduate Studies a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license to use, publish, and share your video in print, digital, and promotional formats.
- Must sign and submit a Model Release Form. We will not consider entries submitted without this signed form.
You will retain full ownership of your work.
Deadline
Submit your final video through the Knights in Focus Submission Form by December 31 at 11:59 PM (EST). Late submissions will not be accepted. For more information or questions, contacts us at graduate@ucf.edu.