Faculty of Medicine graduate students shine in "Three-Minute Thesis" competition

Andrew Ming-Lum, a fourth-year graduate student in Experimental Medicine, won UBC’s inaugural “Three Minute Thesis” competition May 10.  Ming-Lum, a student in the Dept. of Surgery, won the $1,500 prize and spoke on “Drugs from the Sea: For Treatment of Inflammatory Disease.”

The second-place winner, who also won the “People’s Choice” award, was Guang Yang, a PhD candidate in the neuroscience program of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies. Guang spoke about new therapeutics for stroke victims.

Third place went to Leah Lim, a student in the Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, who described her research on drug combinations to treat tuberculosis.

The “3MT” is intended to help graduate students develop effective presentation and communication skills. Participants have three minutes to explain their research project to a non-specialist audience. They can use only one slide, and no electronic media or props. The idea originated at the University of Queensland in Australia, and has grown to include over 50,000 PhD and Master of Philosophy students from 33 universities in Australia and New Zealand.

UBC is the first university in North America to host an official 3MT competition, and is hoping to expand it to B.C., Canada and North America.

This year’s competition, organized by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, drew 97 students from various faculties at UBC. 

For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/about_us/Awards_and_Honours.htm#3MT