Doctoral students sweep three-minute thesis contest

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Five doctoral students earned top honors in the Oklahoma State University Graduate College’s first-ever  Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®), which challenges participants to effectively explain their research by the end of a three-minute deadline.

“We are especially proud of these students and their ability to offer clear and concise explanations for research that is often very complex,” said Associate Provost for Graduate Education Sheryl Tucker. “I’m certain their skills will serve them well in any area of research and teaching they pursue,” added Tucker, who also serves as dean of the OSU Graduate College.

The five winners were selected from among 12 finalists who competed in the contest that originally attracted more than 40 submissions from graduate students at OSU. Each winner received a monetary prize and that prize was awarded twice this year for third place, due to a tie.

The winners, their departments, and the title of their presentations include:

First Place ($1,000) – Ali Asmari, mechanical engineering, “Estimating Impurities to Recycle Combustion Residue”

Second Place ($750) – Medhavi Ambardar, zoology, “Angry Birds and Prudent Parents”

Third Place ($500 each) – tie – Shanshan Cai, mechanical engineering, “Lifetime of Pipe Insulation Around Cold Surfaces”

and Shaun McCoshum, zoology, “Are Insect Pollinators and Wild Plants Affected by Canola Production”

People’s Choice award ($250) – Cynthia Dobbs, biochemistry and molecular biology, “Toads, Molds and Automobiles” 

The idea for the thesis competition started at the University of Queensland in Australia as an exercise to develop academic, presentation, and research communication skills and support the development of students' capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes in a language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience. The school offers an overview at www.threeminutethesis.org.