The whole idea of a 3 Minute Thesis was a new experience for me. I have always had immense difficulty sticking to a word limit, and found it hard to ‘kill my darlings’ as all the words penned down seemed so very important to me. Given this background, condensing my 25 minute research proposal presentation, along with obtained preliminary data to 3 minutes, was a feat indeed. I discovered that it was indeed possible, and that I can condense what I have to say, without diluting its essence. In academic writing, I think this is extremely important and I feel that this skill will help me write my thesis and journal articles.
The importance of publishing one’s research really struck me during the competition. Researchers spoke of ground-breaking research that they were involved in, and it is essential that this is made available to the wider research and general community. I’ve become more motivated to re-work on some of my earlier research projects that I have been procrastinating on, disheartened after some rejections from journals.
I think the 3MT is a wonderful platform to interact with researchers from different fields that otherwise one would not have met. At UQ, I met people from various backgrounds, all who put in a lot of effort to make their research comprehensible to those from other backgrounds. While doing a PhD, it is easy to get lost in one’s subject, and this is a wonderful refresher, to remind oneself of how important the research is, to feel excited about it once again.
It would have been nice to obtain feedback about the performance at the semi-finals, as all the presentations seemed so good, that it was hard to understand how the finalists were picked. This information can help me better hone my skills. I am pleased I got this opportunity to create awareness about this urgent issue of the palm oil crisis, and help them understand that the world is not as black and white as we might like it to be.
Overall I am very happy and grateful to have been able to participate in the 3MT, all the way to the Asia-Pacific Finals.
Penned by Cassandra Sundaraja.