Think of it as an elevator pitch, but in a huge lift in an unusually tall building. Graduate students have just three minutes and one slide to explain their thesis projects — some of which can amount to some 80,000 words in finished form — in simple terms to an audience from all walks of life. From wastewater management to AI companionship, medicinal cannabis and quantum tunnelling, the research projects featured in the Three Minute Thesis competition run the gamut across University of Alberta faculties.
"It represents so many things that we aspire to, putting student experience at the heart of everything we do as part of our mission and goals at the University of Alberta," says Tracy Raivio, dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Started at Queensland University in 2008, the competition is held annually in more than 85 countries and at the U of A since 2015. This year's 15 finalists competed March 21, with Howe Simpson from the Department of Physics taking first prize for his presentation, "Getting Atoms to Say 'Cheese' as a Quantum Photographer."
Simpson will go on to compete in the Western Canadian finals on May 6 at the University of Victoria.
Watch the full presentations by all 15 U of A finalists.
