March 14, 2019
For Immediate Release

Waterloo – More than 40 graduate and undergraduate students will compete for thousands of dollars in prizes at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) event on March 27.

Competitors are challenged to present their research in a way anyone could understand, in three minutes or less. They’re allowed one slide but no notes and no props. The competition has historically been open only to master’s and doctoral students but this year undergraduates will also compete.

“This event is an opportunity for students to showcase the valuable research they have conducted at Laurier. Opening the event to undergraduate students is one of the many ways Laurier is recognizing and highlighting undergraduate research opportunities,” said Jeffery Jones, interim associate vice-president of research. “Undergraduate students contribute tremendously to propelling Laurier’s research portfolio forward and their dedication and enthusiasm for cutting-edge research is remarkable.”

Undergraduates will be presenting on topics as varied as tourism, fish populations and metal nanoparticles while master’s and doctoral students will present on food sovereignty in Canada’s North, representations of disability in film and protein structure and function, among many other topics. A variety of disciplines will be represented, including psychology, applied computing, health sciences and religious studies.

Competitors will vie for $3,500 worth of prizes and the winning graduate student will go on to represent Laurier at the provincial competition, which will be held at McMaster University on April 17.

Students will be judged on their ability to effectively summarize their research in a way that is both engaging and understandable to the audience. The panel of judges includes:

• Eden Hennessey, research and programs director for Laurier Centre for Women in Science
• Tristan Long, associate professor in the Department of Biology
• Shelley Martin, interim CEO of Vineland Research and Innovation Centre
• Heidi Northwood, dean of Liberal Arts and interim senior executive officer of the Brantford campus
• Avvey Peters, chief strategy officer at Communitech
• Tarique Plummer, president and CEO of the Students’ Union
• Catherine Thompson, reporter with the Waterloo Region Record

Laurier’s Three Minute Thesis competition runs from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 27 in the Senate and Board Chamber on Laurier’s Waterloo campus. The event is free and open to all, with no registration is required for spectators. For more information, visit students.wlu.ca/3MT.