TALLAHASSEE Fla. (WTXL) — The inaugural Florida State University Three-Minute Thesis competition gives participating doctoral students three minutes to explain their thesis topics in a manner that is informative, entertaining and accessible.
The academic competition was developed by the University of Queensland in Australia. There will be cash prizes for first and second place and also a People’s Choice award selected by the audience.
More importantly, the live event serves as a professional development opportunity for students, who must present their research in a concise manner under great stress.
The competition was open to all Florida State doctoral students, regardless of where they are in their course of study. The 12 finalists were selected from more than 40 competitors. They are: Jonathan Christian, chemistry; Judy Hefren, social work; Bryan Hochstein, marketing; Caroline Johansen, biological oceanography; Neleen Leslie, communications; Takudzwa Madzima, nutrition, food and exercise science; Mingfei Qiu, statistics; Shavecca Snead, educational leadership and policy studies; Andrea Stathopoulos, neuroscience-biology; Paul Stewart, chemistry; Sarah Strazzo, geography; and Nan Zhao, computer science.
The event takes place tonight at 6pm, inside the College of Medicine auditorium.
“The Three-Minute Thesis competition encourages our graduate students to hone their speaking skills to effectively communicate the importance of their research to a diverse audience,” said Dean of the Graduate School Nancy Marcus. “This lively fast-paced event will surely highlight the wide range of research efforts being conducted by FSU's outstanding doctoral students.”
