3MT® Competition to Showcase Graduate Student Research
Mickelene Hoggard, winner of the 2016 FAU 3MT Competition, explains her research on snails to the audience.
Can an 80,000-word thesis or dissertation be explained in three minutes or less? That’s the challenge facing 128 graduate students participating in Florida Atlantic University’s second annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition. The competition forces doctoral and master’s students to explain their complex research projects in three minutes or less to an audience that has no background in their area of study.
For the next two weeks, participants from eight of FAU’s colleges will present their research in the first round of preliminary heats at FAU’s Boca Raton and Harbor Branch campuses. Research topics include a health assessment of sharks and rays in the Indian River Lagoon; the effects of beachfront development and climate change on sea turtle nesting; and the singing behaviors of the northern cardinal.
“I encourage the FAU community to come see the amazing research performed by our graduate students here at FAU,” said Deborah Floyd, Ed.D., dean of FAU’s Graduate College. “These powerful, bite-sized talks from our student researchers will be captivating to most any audience, and there will be a topic of interest for everyone.”
Following the presentations, a panel of judges will rate the students on content, comprehension, audience engagement and communication. Finalists will advance to the 3MT® Championship on Friday, Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Barry and Florence Friedberg Lifelong Learning Auditorium inside FAU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Boca Raton campus.
The 3MT® Competition, originally founded by the University of Queensland in 2008, is now hosted at more than 600 universities worldwide. The goal of the competition is to help graduate students develop their presentation and academic communication skills.
For more information about dates, times and locations of the 3MT® Competition, visit fau.edu/graduate/3MT.php
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Tags: faculty and staff | science | students | research | graduate college