Master’s candidates challenged to relate thesis in 3 minutes

6 students to compete today in UBCO’s Three Minute Thesis event

Interested in ecofeminism, biomedical implants or fungal biofertilizers?

If you are, or if you’re just curious as to what these things are, an event at UBC Okanagan today could be for you.

Students who are working toward their master’s degree will give an overview of their research and why it’s important in a highly condensed format — a threeminute presentation.

Six UBCO students are the finalists in this year’s Three Minute Thesis competition. Their challenge is to present their complex, years-long research in an engaging, accessible and compelling way, using a single static slide.

The best presenter, as judged by a panel of non-specialist judges, wins $2,500.

“The 3MT gives students a chance to hone their communication skills and show a potential employer that they can explain something very complex in simple terms,” says Miriam Grant, a UBCO dean.

The University of Queensland was the first post-secondary institution to hold a 3MT, in 2008, and the event has since spread around the world.

At today’s 3MT at UBCO, creative and critical studies post-graduate student Brittni MacKenize-Dale will talk about her thesis, Swine — Ecofeminism and the Question of the Animal in Novel Form.

Biology student Corrina Thomsen’s presentation is entitled Are Fungal Bio-fertilizers an Invisible Invasive Species?

Electrical engineer Raja Saravana Kumar’s presentation is Diamond and Health: Biomedical Implants With Diamond-like Carbon Coating.

The other presenters are mechanical engineer Sebastian Lemus-Fonseca (Improving the Landscape of Southern B.C. With a New Abrasive Form for Manufacturing); interdisciplinarian John Sasso (A High-Performance Prescription to Win the Fight-or-Flight of Your Life); and biochemist Wyatt Slattery (Alzheimer’s Disease: My Grandma’s Story).

The event attracts many members of the UBCO community, but the public is welcome to attend. The 3MT starts at 4 p.m. at the University Centre Ballroom.

The 3MT gives students a chance to hone their communication skills and show a potential employer that they can explain something very complex in simple terms.

Miriam Grant