The national final of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is underway and Queen’s University’s Anastasia Shavrova is among the 11 graduate students vying for the title.

Ms. Shavrova, a master’s student in biology, advanced to the final round after winning the Queen’s competition and then placing third at the provincials with her presentation on the mating behaviour of fruit flies.

The 3MT is a communications competition for graduate students. Developed in Australia by the University of Queensland in 2008, the 3MT challenges students to explain their research in plain language in just three minutes with the support of one static slide and not other props.

Unlike the previous rounds, the national finals are not judged in person but through videos of the presentations made at the regional competitions. The judging panel for the national round includes The Tragically Hip guitarist Rob Baker – a graduate of Queen’s himself – along with Danika Goosney, Director General, Science, Knowledge Translation and Ethics at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and CBC radio producers Nicola Luksic and Tom Howell. Each of the presentations will be judged on comprehension, engagement and communication.

The national final includes a People’s Choice category which will be conducted through an online vote. The voting period is scheduled for May 9-19 and is coordinated by the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies. Queen’s University’s Chenman (Cara) Yin was the 2015 winner of the category.

The winners will be announced in June. The first place winner receives $1,500 and an all-expenses paid trip to the CAGS annual conference. Second place winner and People’s Choice winner receive $1,000 and $500 respectively.