Keep it short

For Josine Lafontaine, a master's student in biology, competing in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition was challenging, but worth the effort. “I learned a lot about how to communicate concepts and how to appeal to an audience. The editing process was really informative,” she said.

The 3MT competition, developed by the University of Queensland in Australia, challenges graduate students to present their research projects in three minutes or less to a non-specialized audience. Their presentations are judged on three criteria: communication style, comprehension and engagement.

Lafontaine earned first place in the Master's Division of Concordia’s second annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition for her presentation titled “How are Bacteria Evolving and Why Should We Care?”, which explained her work in bioinformatics, or, as she describes it, “taking a lot of DNA, and making a lot of logical inferences about where it came from and what it means.”

Preparing for the competition was no easy task, Lafontaine says, recalling how she spent hours on her presentation, only to realize that she was going in the wrong direction, and needed to start over.

“Having to chuck it all away and start again, you at least know what doesn’t work,” she says, smiling. In spite of the frustration she faced, Lafontaine says she would encourage other grad students to participate in the competition.

“It really helps your communication skills, and helps you not to be nervous around an audience. It also helps you focus on the most important parts of what you’re studying. When you only have three minutes to talk about it, you really have to know the reason for what you’re doing.”

Two distinguished alumni: Gina Cody, president of Construction Control Inc., and CTV News Anchor Mutsumi Takahashi joined Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning, Ollivier Dyens on the judging panel for the final round of the competition.

“I was really surprised at the calibre of the presentations, how well they spoke, how well they expressed themselves,” Takahashi said after the contest. “When I did my MBA here, I used to think it was such a shame that people had these great ideas and they didn’t know how to sell them.”

Cody said students need opportunities such as the 3MT competition to practice presenting themselves and their ideas. “As an entrepreneur, or when you go for an interview, you have to express yourself in a short period of time. You have to say what you want to say, and you have to keep them listening to you,” she says. “I think this competition is a great experience for students.”

The competition’s other winners are:

•    Winner, PhD Division: Navid Sharifi (PhD Mechanical Engineering)
•    Runner-up, PhD Division (tie): Nassim Tabri (PhD, Psychology) and Kiran Vadaga (PhD, Psychology)
•    Winner, Masters Division: Josine Lafontaine (Master's, Biology)
•    Runner-up, Masters Division:  Pierre Chuard (MSc, Biology)
•    Winner, Heat 1 People’s Choice Award: Maniya Aghasibeig (PhD, Mechanical Engineering)
•    Winner, Heat 2 People’s Choice Award: Kiran Vadaga (PhD, Psychology)
•    Top Presentation in French (to represent Concordia at the Acfas conference, May 2 to 7 in Quebec City): Idir Guermah (PhD, Humanities)

Related links:
•    2013 Concordia 3MT competition
•    “Graduate students prepare for Three Minute Thesis Competition” — NOW, February 6, 2013