2012 Three Minute Thesis
Trans-Tasman 3 Minute Thesis competition – UWS winner
UWS 3MT contestant Tim Paris, won the prestigious 2012 Trans-Tasman 3 Minute Thesis competition hosted by the University of Queensland.
Tim competed with finalists from more than 30 universities across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the South Pacific, so this is a fantastic achievement.
Titled "Brain Waves that Predict the Future", Tim’s 3 minute presentation focussed on his PhD research on the differences in the way the brain processes expected and unexpected events.
As a result of his success, Tim has received a $5000 research travel grant and UWS has been invited to host the 2013 Trans-Tasman 3 Minute Thesis competition.
Congratulations to Tim and his supervisors – Associate Professor Jeesun Kim and Professor Chris Davis from the MARCS Institute, and Dr John Cass from the School of Social Sciences and Psychology. Tim in enrolled in the MARCS Institute.
More information about the 3 Minute Thesis competition is available at: threeminutethesis.org (opens in a new window).
UWS 2012 Winners
First and People’s Choice; Tim Paris, MARCS Institute, “Brain Waves that Predict the Future” View Tim's video presentation (YouTube) (opens in a new window)
Second; James Oliver, School of Health and Science “Bio-ethanol from the Outback” View Jame's video presentation (YouTube) (opens in a new window)
Third; Kirstin Robertson-Gillam, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, “Choir Therapy Reduces Depression in Middle Age” View Kirstin's video presentation (YouTube) (opens in a new window)
All contestants l-r
Xiangbe He, Maneesh Mathai, Linhan Zhang, James Oliver, Kirstin Robertson-Gillam, Tim Paris, Trish Murphy, Grant Bickerton and Munirah Shaik Kadir
Final: Contestants (in alphabetical order)
Grant Bickerton
School of Social Science and Psychology
Title: Burning out after being on fire: A dark side of work engagement for Australian religious workers
View Grant's video presentation (YouTube) (opens in a new window)
Xiangbai He
School of Law
Title: Integrating climate change adaptation within Yangtze water resources management: A legal perspective
Maneesh Mathai
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics
Title: Social life networks
View Maneesh's video presentation (YouTube) (opens in a new window)
Trish Murphy
School of Medicine
Title: Stemming cataract
View Trish's video presentation (YouTube) (opens in a new window)
Munirah Binte Shaik Kadir
School of Education
Title: Making physics easy and interesting: Is it mission impossible
View Munirah's video presentation (YouTube) (opens in a new window)
Linhan Zhang
School of Business
Title: The role of water accounting in business management
View Linhan's video presentation (YouTube) (opens in a new window)
Trans-Tasman Final at UQ - 11 October 2012
Schools and Research Institutes will hold preliminary competitions to select their finalists before mid August.
For information on the previous UWS winners visit 2011 Three Minute Thesis, 2010 Three Minute Thesis, and you can also watch videos of the 2010 UWS Three Minute Thesis Final (opens in a new window). The University of Queensland has a video clip on 3mt (opens in a new window).
3MT develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of research students' capacity to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience.
Research higher degree (PhD and MPhil) students have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their thesis topic and its significance. 3MT is not an exercise in trivialising or ‘dumbing-down’ research but forces students to consolidate their ideas and crystalise their research discoveries.
Eligibility
Anyone who is active in a *doctoral or *M(Hons) program (including thesis under submission) will be eligible to participate in 3MT. Graduates are not eligible.
Competitors who are eligible on the date of their first presentation in their local competition shall remain so for the Australia and New Zealand Final irrespective of subsequent changes to their status (e.g. those who subsequently graduate before the date of the Australia and New Zealand final).
* Note: degree must be at least two thirds research (definition drawn from Grant Guidelines 2006 for Higher Education Support Act (HESA) 2003)
UWS Prizes
- All participants will receive a UWS Flash drive.
- First prize of $2000 plus economy airfare, one nights’ accommodation and airport transfers for the winner and one supervisor to the University of Queensland to compete in the national title.
- Runner up prize of $1000
- People’s Choice prize of $500
Trans-Tasman Prizes
- Winner: $5000 research travel grant
- Runner-up: $2000 research travel grant
- People's Choice: $1000 research travel grant
Rules
- a single static PowerPoint slide is permitted (no slide transitions, animations or 'movement' of any description)
- no additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted
- no additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted
- presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum and competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified
- the decision of the adjudicating panel is final
Judging Criteria
- Communication style: was the thesis topic and its significance communicated in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience?
- Comprehension: did the presentation help the audience understand the research?
- Engagement: did the oration make the audience want to know more?
What students say about 3MT
Networking, prize money, job offers, confidence in speaking, good practice in communicating research consolidates ideas, free food and people are interested in what you have to say.
3MT develops students’ capacity to communicate ideas well to non-specialist audiences and to the wider community.
It’s a lot of fun and generates public and media interest in what researchers do Competitors report the 3MT helped them ‘crystallize’ thoughts about their thesis and how they communicate their research.
