Want to hear about the exciting and important research that Brock graduate students are contributing to Brock’s growing reputation for research excellence?
Come out to Pond Inlet on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 4:30 to 6 p.m., and watch the preliminary round of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Contest.
The contest challenges graduate students to tell their research story in a fraction of the time typically allotted to research presentations and in a way that conveys the nature and importance of complex research to a non-specialist audience and panel of judges.
Judging the preliminary round will be Rudi Kroeker, former Chair, Brock University Board of Trustees, and President and CEO, Whiting Equipment Canada Inc; Cathy Majtenyi, Research Communications/Media Relations Specialist, Brock University; and Jayne Morrish, Knowledge Translation Officer, Brock’s Centre for Lifespan Development.
The judges will determine the top five presenters who will advance to the 3MT® contest finals that will be held on Thursday, April 9 as part of the 10th Annual Mapping the New Knowledges Graduate Student Research Conference.
The winner of Brock’s contest will receive $500 and the runner-up $250. Brock’s winner will also advance to the provincial 3MT® competition hosted by Western University on Thursday, April 23.
The top finishers in Ontario move on to a 2015 national competition that is sponsored by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) and held in May.
Last year, Brock’s Leslie Nash, a master’s student in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, placed second in the province and was one of 11 finalists for the national contest.
A coaching session for participants was held in early February. The session was presented by Vitae Essential Skills for Graduate Students and was facilitated by Julia Course, actor and performance coach. She shared strategies on how to relax and prepare mind and body for a presentation, how to connect voice and gestures, how to hook the audience with a compelling opener, and various rehearsal techniques to minimize performance anxiety.
This year participants in the 3MT® and MNK conference events will earn credit toward a Vitae Essential Skills certificate awarded by the Dean of Graduate Studies.
The 3MT® competition was initially developed in Australia by the University of Queensland in 2008, soon followed by other Australian and New Zealand universities, culminating in the first Trans Tasman competition held in 2010. Since then, the 3MT® has spread internationally and is now a regular event held at universities across Canada.
