3MT at NU

Brilliant graduate students are hard at work sharpening and condensing millions of ideas, thousands of hours, and hundreds of pages into one beautiful, streamlined and concise presentation to wow judges at the annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. This year’s 3MT takes place on March 22, at 12:30 p.m. in room A226.

Competitors are vying for a trip to the provincial finals at the University of Waterloo on April 12 as well as cash prizes, $500 for first place; $250 for second place; and $250 for the Peoples Choice Awards.

3MT is an annual competition for masters and doctoral students in which participants present their research and its wider impact in three minutes.  Developed by the University of Queensland in 2008 to promote effective communication of research, over 170 universities from more than 18 countries will compete this year.

The challenge for the speakers is to present complex research material in an engaging, compelling way, and in such a way that the material can be understood by those outside that field.

One of the strengths of the competition is that it benefits both those who speak and those who spectate. In today’s competitive research climate, it is necessary that researchers are able to promote their work. Presenting with a specific set of constraints forces the speakers to focus on the message of their work, distilling their research into a clear form, without over-simplifying or making overly complex arguments, and highlighting the wider implications of this research.

The audience members are given an X-Factor style chance to vote for one of the winners: the People’s Choice.

Contestants represent three programs at Nipissing: Master of Arts, History; Master of Education; and Master of Environmental Studies. Contestants, with their area of study and 3MT titles include:

• Jaclyn Allen, MA History: Muslim or Canadian?
• Katie Calcaterra, Master of Education: Sex, Dating and Relationships Among Heterosexual Young Adults on Campus
• Stephen Kemp, MA History: Rebel Yell? John C. Calhoun, the Missouri Compromise, and the Politics of Slavery
• Nicholas McGuire, MA History: Being Resilient, Being Reliable, and Being Resourceful: The Citizen-Soldiers of the Algonquin Regiment, 1960s to 1990s
• Emily Paul, MA History: As for the Fighting, Men Will See to That
• Paige Restoule, Master of Science, Environmental Studies: Where the Three Rivers Meet