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• What IS the Three Minute Thesis? competition?

• Why do it?

• How to get involved

• Top tips for a lay summary

• Winning 3MT presentation from 2014

• Q&A

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What is Three Minute Thesis? • Research communication competition developed

by University of Queensland – first held in 2008

• Now around 200 Universities in 18 countries take part

• Way of sharing with the public the importance of what researchers do – not about “dumbing down”

• Showcase for researchers and universities

www.threeminutethesis.org

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Eligibility

All doctoral researchers, from any discipline are eligible to apply. You must not have had your viva by the time of the national open final (1st August)

If you applied last year, you can apply again.

Remember – researchers from any year can apply!

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• A single PowerPoint slide - no slide transitions are permitted

• No additional electronic media - e.g. sound and video files

• No additional props - e.g. costumes, instruments (musical, laboratory etc.)

• Presentations must be normal spoken word - not songs, poems, raps etc.

• competitors exceeding 3 minutes will be disqualified

• The decision of the judging panel (at every stage) is final

Rules

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Judging criteria

• Communication style: was the thesis topic and its significance communicated in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience?

• Comprehension: did the presentation help the audience understand the research?

• Engagement: did the presentation make the audience want to know more?

These criteria remain the same throughout the competition

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13th March Submit a short (max 350 words) summary of your research, suitable for a non-specialist audience

25th March Attend a Three Minute Thesis presentation training event

17th April Submit a video of yourself giving your presentation

27th Apr – 8thMay Faculty finals

Late May Training session for University finalists

8th June University final

June – July (tbc) National 3MT open competition

September (tbc) Vitae national final

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Top tips for a lay summary • Consider the reader- who will they be and what is their role?

(General public v.s. member of ethics committee).

• Pitch it right – press releases aim at “averagely intelligent” 14-year olds.

• Decide what it is you want to communicate – pick a couple of

things and focus on these. Don’t try to be comprehensive or too scientific.

• Keep it simple – avoid jargon/specialist terminology. Explain where required. (“Metastasis is the process when cancer cells spread to new areas of the body”).

• Just writing something short does not make it understandable.

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• Tell a story • What is the issue that your research addresses?

• Who does/will your research affect?

• Why is it important?

• How will it make a difference?

• Make your research “relatable” – concrete not abstract

• Test your draft on friends/family – do they understand what you mean?

• Lay summaries will often seem like an oversimplification of your work – but this is the whole point!!

Example

Breast cancer cells lodge and grow in the bone as a result of their ability to (i) adhere to and cross the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels in the bone marrow and (ii) to degrade the collagen matrix. Our prior research has shown that cell surface XX expression on breast cancer cells increases their capacity to adhere to these endothelial cells and secondly, that activation of this receptor increases the expression of enzymes in breast cancer cells that degrade bone. The objective of this current proposal is to determine the true pathophysiological importance of XX to bone metastasis using two representative animal models of bone metastasis.

Problematic points

Breast cancer cells lodge and grow in the bone as a result of their ability to (i) adhere to and cross the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels in the bone marrow and (ii) to degrade the collagen matrix. Our prior research has shown that cell surface XX expression on breast cancer cells increases their capacity to adhere to these endothelial cells and secondly, that activation of this receptor increases the expression of enzymes in breast cancer cells that degrade bone. The objective of this current proposal is to determine the true pathophysiological importance of XX to bone metastasis using two representative animal models of bone metastasis.

Suggestions Adhere

endothelial cells

degrade the collagen matrix

The objective of this current proposal

Using representative mouse models

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stick to

cells

cause breakdown of bone

We now want to investigate how

This process cannot be studied in patients so we will use mice as a model

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Age Reproduction Sex

Health & Body Condition

Stress Parasite Infection

How and why does parasite infection change with individual variation in Asian elephants?

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To Discover And Understand.