Graduate Students at Trent Take the 3MT Stage to Showcase their Complex Research
Eliza Nicholson takes home top prize at 2017 Three Minute Thesis competition
Three minutes, one PowerPoint slide, and a theatre full of people with attentive ears and curious minds. This is what 20 graduate students at Trent University faced for the annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) event on March 21, 2017 at Market Hall.
With impressive prize money and a chance to progress to a provincial competition on the line, presenters brought their best. With topics ranging from Kingston Penitentiary Inside Out, to Fishing with Activated Carbon, a wide range of innovative research, across numerous disciplines at Trent was put on display for the crowd.
After the many complex research topics were shared with the crowd, and the judges deliberated, Eliza Nicholson, a Masters student in Educational Studies was named the winner of the night with her project titled, First-Year University Experience: Potential Meets Opportunity. Ms. Nicholson explained to the crowd that she researched a group of students who were admitted to Trent below minimum admission requirements in order to understand their experiences, struggles, and successes in an order to uncover ways that the university can better support these students, and also to highlight the amazing things that Trent is already doing to support this group of students.
“I was surprised and humbled to win the top prize at the competition,” explains Ms. Nicholson. “It felt great to be have my research validated by a supportive environment of graduate students, faculty, and members of the University and Peterborough community. I would like to extend my appreciation to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Cathy Bruce, for her guidance in helping me to articulate my research in a way that was relatable and impactful to the audience.”
Additional 3MT 2017 winners included:
- Beverly McClenaghan, an Environmental and Life Sciences student, was awarded the School of Graduate Studies Runner-Up prize ($250) for her presentation, Decoding the Diet of a Declining Aerial Insectivore
- Brad Daniels, a Psychology student, took home the Catharine Parr Traill College Honourable Mention ($250) for his research, Money for Nothing: Perceptions of a Basic Income in Canada
- Ross Chiasson, a Public Texts student was awarded the Provost’s People’s Choice Award ($250) for his presentation, Boon or Disease: Vigilantism and Mortality in Public Texts
The Trent University Three Minute Thesis competition is sponsored by the School of Graduate Studies, the Academic Skills Centre, Trent Graduate Student Association, Traill College, the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, and External Relations and Advancement.