2018 3MT UAlberta Finals People's Choice Award winner Nada Alshumaimeri, runner-up Katherine Bishop and winner Danish Dar pose with their trophies. (photo: Gurveer Choan)
Danish Dar, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering won first place for his presentation, "The Fuel of the Future".
The 3MT has benefited and helped me in a lot of ways. The biggest change was finally having a concise and easy to understand way of explaining what I do or what my research is about without going on a 20 minute tangent only to have a lost expression on the person I'm explaining my work to. I never really had a good way of answering the question "what's your research about?" Every time it was a different answer. I guess, I finally was able to have an appropriate elevator pitch that was digestible, easy to understand, and compelling. Watch Danish Dar's 3MT presentation.
Katherine Bishop, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts was the runner-up for her presentation, "Food For Thought: A Biochemical Study of Ancient Greek Shepherding".
The 3MT helped me in a number of ways. Not only did it help me to craft my research pitch into something worthwhile for the competition, but I have developed the tools necessary to adapt my research "so what" to any audience. This has helped me at conferences (I was actually accepted to speak at a conference in August because of my 3MT), grant proposals (Killam Award), community-based events (Research in a Suitcase), and networking with colleagues or future collaborators.
The 3MT also motivated me to encourage my peers to get involved. I saw the benefits to my own professional development, but was dismayed by the lack of arts graduate students who participated in 3MT-related events. Because of FGSR, and the support and initiatives they create, I have been able to mentor fellow graduate students' professional development journeys. In particular, I have helped to create an arts-specific 3MT event and training session, the Arts Impact Initiative.
Above all of this, I have had students, colleagues, and members of the public recognize me as the sheep or goat girl, and been able to engage with them on a more personal level.
The 3MT gave me the tools necessary to successfully communicate and advocate for my research. Watch Katherine Bishop's 3MT presentation.
Nada Alshumaimeri, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry earned the People's Choice Award for her presentation, "The Locked Door in Genetic Blinding Diseases".
The 3MT has helped me to develop my communication skills and convey my message precisely. One of the nice responses that I didn't expect was people talking to me about their relatives having blinding diseases. I also think the benefit of 3MT was connecting to the audience and sharing our experiences even if it wasn't at a scientific level.
I would encourage all students to participate in 3MT. Watch Nada Alshumaimeri's 3MT presentation.
The Written Three Minute Thesis
Creating and presenting your thesis in three minutes is a challenge, but it's also a very beneficial exercise to help you reframe your research question, see how your research fits into the larger picture and hone your communication skills. And, if you are not interested in presenting, you can still create and publish your work through the Written Three Minute Thesis (W3MT), an initiative created by professional development team member, Charity Slobod, in partnership with eParliament.