As the semester kicks off, undergraduate students are thinking about what classes they must complete in order to finish their degree.
Graduate students, however, are looking forward to the upcoming event, the Three Minute Thesis.
In order to participate in this event, graduate students must be recommended by faculty within their majors and then decide whether or not they would like to present.
What is a Three Minute Thesis?
The goal of a Three Minute Thesis is to communicate the work of the graduate student, whether it be experimentation in engineering, psychology or any other subject, in no more than three minutes.
This becomes a challenge because, according to NDSU, as a typical thesis would take around nine hours to present, but when looking for jobs in that person’s field the chances of having a nine-hour interview are next to none.
The Three Minute Thesis pushes graduate students to communicate their work in clear and concise ways that employers and the general public alike will understand.
Renee Bourdeaux, a former participant and finalist in this event who presented about “Financial Conversations Between Romantic, Committed Partnerships,” talked a little bit about her experience.
She said that the event was “great” preparation for the career world, and practice to “succinctly explain” her research in understandable terms.
Bourdeaux expressed difficulty in compressing her two-year thesis project into only three minutes, but that it was worthwhile as she got to speak on something she was passionate about.
As Bourdeaux has graduated from NDSU with her Ph.D., she will not be participating in the Three Minute Thesis this year.
The event will take place 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 1 in the Memorial Union. The winner will receive $1,000.
Last year, the grand champion Manpreet Bains presented about “Modulatory Effects of Neural Proteins on Your Microbiome.”
Finalists also presented on topics such as pacemakers or pancreatic cancer treatment.
The original idea to hold a Three Minute Thesis event started in Australia, and has since spread around the world because of its ability to ready students for employment opportunities, and also prepares them to speak to the public about their research.
This year the Three Minute Thesis is open to the public and will not only reveal the groundbreaking work of the graduate students but could even spark curiosity in the brains of undergraduates.