The University of Winnipeg’s 10th annual 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition is returning to Eckhardt Gramatté Hall on Friday, March 3 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Over the course of the afternoon, 15 Faculty of Graduate Studies students will be presenting their complex research on a single slide to a panel of judges and a live audience in just three minutes.
I also see the 3MT as an opportunity and a nudge to articulate my thesis project more coherently not just to the audience, but also to myself.
Mohammad Anas Shoebullah Khan
The winner of this year’s 3MT will receive $1,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2023 Western Regional 3MT at the University of Saskatchewan on May 7. There is also a new $500 second-place prize and a $500 People’s Choice Award.
The 3MT is a research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland, which challenges postgraduate degree students to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
Meet this year’s 3MT participants
Mohammad Anas Shoebullah Khan is a first-year student in the Master of Arts in Environmental and Social Change program.
Anas loves the concept of the 3MT and feels that it will allow him to develop the skills required to communicate complex academic concepts into easily consumable information.
“I also see the 3MT as an opportunity and a nudge to articulate my thesis project more coherently not just to the audience, but also to myself,” he said. “There is nothing more encouraging than to have clarity about what you intend to do with your thesis research.”
Anas will be presenting his research, Fishing for Human Rights: Perspective from India’s Dried Fish Economy, in which he’s working with Drs. Alan Diduck and Kirit Patel on exploring human rights dimensions of the dried fish economy in Gujarat, India.
“Dried fish has immense social, cultural, nutritional, and economic value, yet very little is known in academic or policy literature about this informal economy. Because much of the dried fish economy is localized and has informal existence, human rights concerns are almost invisible,” he said. “My thesis research is about demystifying the working of this economy in South Gujarat, and about humanizing the people in dried fish value chains.”
Bilguundari Enkhtugs is currently in her second year of the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice program.
While she’s looking forward to sharing her thesis during the 3MT Competition, she also hopes to improve her presentation skills and get to know about research projects her peers are doing.
“In the busy world we live in, not too many people have the time to chat about my thesis, including its findings and practical implications, so I saw this venue as an opportunity to share my research with academic and non-academic audiences,” she said.
Enkhtugs’s research, Experiences of Cyberbullying Through the Presentation of Self: Health Consequences and Needs, is under the supervision of Drs. Kevin Walby and Katharina Maier.
“Given that the effects of cyberbullying are disturbing and call for serious attention, especially in cases involving self-harm or internalized deviance, I aim to explore how young adults with experiences of cyberbullying cope with the negative consequences of it,” she explained. “I also aim to understand how young people present themselves in the virtual and physical spaces, and how their self-presentation changes over time using prominent sociologist Erving Goffman’s (1959) concept of The Presentation of Self.”
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, Amandeep Kaur decided to stay at UWinnipeg to study in the Master of Science in Bioscience, Technology, and Public Policy program.
One of the reasons Kaur decided to participate in the 3MT Competition is because she loves public speaking and would like to improve her presentation skills.
Kaur will be presenting her research, Developing Simple Tests to Triage Thyroid Cancer Patients for Surgery, which is being conducted in Dr. Anuraag Shrivastav’s cancer lab.
“My research investigates the different effects of elevated protein expression in the two most common thyroid cancer types: papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and follicular thyroid cancer (FTC),” she said. “PTC and FTC are differentiated thyroid cancers. Differentiated thyroid cancer cells are very similar to tumors visually, which is the reason why clinicians have a hard time differentiating between them without surgical procedure.
Her research would lead to the necessary tools needed to diagnose patients that have benign or malignant tumors, which would save healthcare costs, physicians’ time, and prevent possible physical harm and suffering associated with contemporary methods of certain thyroid cancer screenings.
Judging the competition is Andrea Legary, Chair of the Board of Directors, Research Manitoba; Paul Samyn, Editor, Winnipeg Free Press; and Sherri Walsh, Managing Partner, Hill Sokalski Walsh LLP.
The 3-Minute Thesis Competition is a free event that’s open to the entire UWinnipeg community. To learn more, visit the official UWinnipeg 3MT webpage.
