Lily Yee-Sloan / en Ontario-wide Three Minute Thesis win for 91³Ō¹Ļ's Daiva Nielsen /news/ontario-wide-three-minute-thesis-win-u-ts-daiva-nielsen <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Ontario-wide Three Minute Thesis win for 91³Ō¹Ļ's Daiva Nielsen </span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2014-04-28T07:10:45-04:00" title="Monday, April 28, 2014 - 07:10" class="datetime">Mon, 04/28/2014 - 07:10</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">From left, second-place finisher at 91³Ō¹Ļ finals Joseph Bondy-Denomy, Dean Brian Corman and provincial winner Daiva Nielsen</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/lily-yee-sloan" hreflang="en">Lily Yee-Sloan</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/debra-kriger" hreflang="en">Debra Kriger</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Lily Yee-Sloan and Debra Kriger</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/features" hreflang="en">Features</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Nutritional Sciences PhD defends university's winning title</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A speedy lecture on nutritional sciences took the cake: doctoral candidate <strong>Daiva Nielsen</strong> and her brief research round-up won the 2014 Three Minute Thesis (3MTĀ®) Provincial Championship, successfully defending 91³Ō¹Ļ's title in Ontario.</p> <p>ā€œThe entire experience has been wonderful,ā€ said Nielsen.&nbsp;</p> <p>Her three-minute research presentation probed the question: Do Dietary Recommendations Based on Genetics Change Eating Behaviour? Nielsen took home the $1,000 top prize, gained valuable recognition, and earned 91³Ō¹Ļ one of 11 spots in the upcoming National 3MTĀ® competition.</p> <p>A PhD candidate in nutritional sciences, Nielsen was one of 19 finalists competing in the provinceā€™s second annual 3MTĀ® held at McMaster University on April 24. The School of Graduate Studies congratulates Nielsen on defending the 91³Ō¹Ļā€™s 2013 championship title. <a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/fully-completely-defending-thesis-three-minutes"><em>(Read more about 91³Ō¹Ļ's 2013 win)</em></a></p> <p>"I spent a lot of time focusing my overall goal," Nielsen said after qualifying for the provincial championship. "I looked at the bigger picture and thought about the most important point to get across."&nbsp;</p> <p>The annual 3MTĀ® challenges graduate students to present their complex research in an engaging, accessible, and compelling talk. Nielsenā€™s winning presentation showcased her research on genes and personalized nutrition; it also exhibited her stellar communication skills.</p> <p>Nielsen started her 3MTĀ® journey in March at the 91³Ō¹Ļ-wide competition hosted by the School of Graduate Studies. She placed first in the tough competition against 44 other 91³Ō¹Ļ doctoral candidates, landing her a $1,000 prize and a spot in the Ontario competition.&nbsp;<a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/talented-speaker-will-defend-u-ts-title-three-minute-thesis-competition"><em>(Read more about the 91³Ō¹Ļ-wide qualifying competition)</em></a></p> <p>At the provincial finals, Nielsen was one of 19 finalists from universities across Ontario. The competition was tight, but the judges selected Nielsenā€™s presentation to take home first place.</p> <p><strong>Brian Corman</strong>, dean of graduate studies and vice-provost of graduate education travelled to McMaster to support Nielsen. ā€œI enjoyed our victory. I was there because I think the event has real value and importance.</p> <p>ā€œThe 3MTĀ® is a forum for showcasing the great research being done by our graduate students. It also reminds our students that it is important to be able to explain that research to the non-specialist public so that they can appreciate the fine results of the research they help support.</p> <p>ā€œThe event itself is a lot of fun, seeing the range of student research being done across the universities in Ontario."<br> <br> The top 5 winners from the Ontario provincial finals will compete for the Anglophone national 3MTĀ® title in a virtual event using recorded footage from the provincial finals.</p> <p>Competing with Nielsen from Ontario will be Leslie Nash from Brock University, Muhammad Ali Naqvi from Ryerson University, Joseph Donohue from Western University, and Yasina Somani from the University of Windsor.</p> <p>Eleven finalists from Canadaā€™s three regional competitionsā€”Western, Eastern, and Ontarioā€”vie for the first ever Anglophone National 3MTĀ® title in May. A national francophone competition will also be held in May.<a href="http://cags.ca/3mt.php#.U15x8fldXSh"> (<em>Read more about the national title)</em></a></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2014-04-14-three-minute-thesis-deanwithnielsen_0.jpg</div> </div> Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:10:45 +0000 sgupta 6077 at This talented speaker will defend 91³Ō¹Ļ's title at the Three Minute Thesis Competition /news/talented-speaker-will-defend-u-ts-title-three-minute-thesis-competition <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">This talented speaker will defend 91³Ō¹Ļ's title at the Three Minute Thesis Competition</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2014-04-14T11:22:43-04:00" title="Monday, April 14, 2014 - 11:22" class="datetime">Mon, 04/14/2014 - 11:22</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">From left, second-place finisher Joseph Bondy-Denomy, Dean Brian Corman and winner Daiva Nielsen</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/liam-o-leary" hreflang="en">Liam O'Leary</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/lily-yee-sloan" hreflang="en">Lily Yee-Sloan</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Liam O'Leary and Lily Yee-Sloan</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/more-news" hreflang="en">More News</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/student" hreflang="en">Student</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>How do you serve up a winning Three Minute Thesis? Just ask <strong>Daiva Nielsen</strong>&nbsp;ā€“ the $1,000 prize winner of the <a href="http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/currentstudents/Pages/3MT.aspx">Three Minute Thesis</a> (3MTĀ®) 91³Ō¹Ļ competitionā€‹ for her talk: Do Dietary Recommendations Based on Genetics Change Eating Behaviour?</p> <p>"I spent a lot of time focusing my overall goal," she explained. "I looked at the bigger picture and thought about the most important point to get across."</p> <p>A PhD candidate in nutritional sciences, Nielsen is undertaking research to personalize nutrition to the level of genes. "It is a new field, and I wanted to get the ideas across clearly."</p> <p>To prepare for the 3MTĀ®, she practiced her talk in front of her lab group and supervisor, and then kept improving it, choosing her study design as the focus of her presentation.</p> <p>"My study design is the gold standard. I am looking at the most direct relationship."</p> <p>The 3MTĀ® challenge is to present complex research information in an engaging, accessible, and compelling way. On March 26, the School of Graduate Studies, in partnership with Student Life, hosted the 3MTĀ®, a University-wide competition for doctoral students. Fifteen finalists from three divisional heats competed for two prizes.</p> <p>As the 91³Ō¹Ļ winner, Nielsen will be heading to McMaster University to participate in the ā€‹3MTĀ® provincial competition April 24 and defend 91³Ō¹Ļ's championship title won last year.</p> <p>"I will be revising my presentation slightly by incorporating some of the <a href="http://www.news.utoronto.ca/defending-u-ts-title-three-minute-thesis-competition">feeā€‹dback from the judges</a>," Nielsen said. "The new material will add enthusiasm and simplicity. It will be like a mini-Ted Talk.</p> <p>"In science, it is important that other people understand our research. We need to disseminate our findings."</p> <p><strong>Joseph Bondy-Denomy</strong>&nbsp;agrees about the importance of accessibility. A PhD candidate in molecular genetics, his talk, Harnessing Viruses as the Next Generation Antibiotic, earned him second place.</p> <p>"I asked myself what someone who is outside the field of science would think," he said, adding it is important to practice with someone who provides honest, critical feedback. "It makes all the difference."</p> <p><strong>Brian Corman</strong>, dean of graduate studies and vice-provost of graduate education, said students taking part in the 3MTĀ® gain valuable experience in distilling their research discoveries and their impact into a three-minute talk aimed at a non-specialist audience.</p> <p>"This provides them with the opportunity to develop the communications skills they need to explain their important work to the public that has supported them. The 3MTĀ® competition allows the 91³Ō¹Ļ the opportunity to showcase the significant research being done by our graduate students."</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2014-04-14-three-minute-thesis-deanwithnielsen.jpg</div> </div> Mon, 14 Apr 2014 15:22:43 +0000 sgupta 6035 at Fully, Completely: explaining a thesis in three minutes /news/fully-completely-defending-thesis-three-minutes <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Fully, Completely: explaining a thesis in three minutes</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2013-04-24T04:05:23-04:00" title="Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 04:05" class="datetime">Wed, 04/24/2013 - 04:05</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Jasdeep Saggar (left) took top honours and Abraham Heifits (right) placed second in the provincial Three Minute Thesis competition</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/lily-yee-sloan" hreflang="en">Lily Yee-Sloan</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Lily Yee-Sloan</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/more-news" hreflang="en">More News</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/medicine" hreflang="en">Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/computer-science" hreflang="en">Computer Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/awards" hreflang="en">Awards</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">91³Ō¹Ļ students take top prizes in competition</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p> It was not your typical dissertation panel:&nbsp;a swimmer, a lawyer, an economist, a policy analyst and&nbsp;a guitarist from the Tragically Hip.</p> <p> They&nbsp;gathered at Queenā€™s University to judge 30 doctoral presentations from students representing 16 Ontario universities at the Ontario Three Minute Thesis (3MTĀ®) competition.</p> <p> Each graduate student had three minutes, one static slide,&nbsp;and no other props to convey their research topic to the non-specialist judging panel. The 91³Ō¹Ļ entered two scholars.</p> <p> The competitors scored first and second place.</p> <p> <strong>Jasdeep Saggar</strong> won top honours. A PhD student in medical biophysics,&nbsp;Saggar claimed the championship trophy and $1,000 for her presentation on hypoxia-activated pro-drugs: a novel approach for breast cancer.</p> <p> "My participation in the&nbsp;three minute thesis competition has been nothing short of exhilarating; representing the 91³Ō¹Ļ at the provincial level is an honour and truly humbling," said Saggar."Iā€™ve always been passionate about science communication and received the most satisfaction and joy after being approached by non-specialist audience members who said that they understood how chemotherapy worked after hearing my talk.</p> <p> "Being able to communicate with a multi-disciplinary audience is crucial for knowledge dissemination. After all, science alone cannot be truly appreciated until its value is contextualized within the domain of human health."</p> <p> Second-place winner <strong>Abraham Heifets</strong> is a PhD student in computer science. He posed the question: how can we make better medicines? Computer tools for chemistry.</p> <p> "Participating was a lot of fun," said Heifets. "I appreciate the huge amount of work that it took to organize these competitions. It is rare to have the opportunity to practice describing my work honestly, accurately, simply, and succinctly; I believe that everyone, including researchers, needs these skills to communicate effectively."</p> <p> Third place went to Chau Minh Phan, a PhD student in vision science from Waterloo University whose presentation focused on treatment of fungal eye infections using contact lenses and nanoparticles.</p> <p> The five-member judging panel ā€“ Rob Baker (guitarist for the Tragically Hip), Vicki Keith (marathon swimmer), Hugh Christie (lawyer), Donald Drummond (economist), and Peter Gooch (Council of Ontario Universities) ā€“ made the decision at the province-wide event.</p> <p> School of Graduate Studies Dean <strong>Brian Corman </strong>was at Queenā€™s to support the two 91³Ō¹Ļ finalists.</p> <p> ā€œThis is a proud moment for the School of Graduate Studies and for the 91³Ō¹Ļ," said Corman. "To capture first and second place amongst a prestigious group of graduate researchers doing excellent research at 16 Ontario universities is an impressive achievement. I am indeed very proud of the presentations made by winners Jasdeep and Abraham.</p> <p> ā€œDoctoral students may be deeply immersed in their research, but to be able to encapsulate their research and to clearly, but concisely, convey it in laypersonā€™s terms is a critical skill. Universities must continue to translate their research to the community in a comprehensible manner.ā€</p> <p> The 3MTĀ® provides a platform to hone the skills for that activity. It showcases innovative and significant research undertaken by our graduate students. Participants present their research and its wider impact in 3 minutes or less to a panel of non-specialist judges. The challenge is to present complex research in an engaging and compelling way, using minimal visual aids.</p> <p> The School of Graduate Studies held divisional heats to choose two students to represent the 91³Ō¹Ļ at the provincial finals. Approximately 60 doctoral students from across all four SGS divisions ā€“ humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, and life sciences ā€“ competed in divisional rounds in March.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/3MT-13-4-26.jpg</div> </div> Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:05:23 +0000 sgupta 5305 at