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Queen’s graduate students spend years developing the ideas that make up their theses or dissertations. The annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition asks them to explain all that work in 180 seconds or less. The goal is to help graduate students think about how to describe their research for a general audience and hone their presentation skills at the same time.

The university recently hosted its own 3MT finals to determine who will go on to represent Queen’s at the Ontario 3MT finals in Toronto in May. Eleven students from an array of disciplines were invited to present at the finals after making it through the qualifying heats. The panel of non-specialist judges awarded first place to Dilakshan Srikanthan, an MD/PhD student in Translational Medicine, and runner-up went to Danielle Harper, a PhD student in Pathology and Molecular Medicine.

“The Three Minute Thesis event offers graduate students an excellent opportunity to tell a story of the significance of their research without relying on abstract academic narratives,” says Fahim Quadir, Dean, Queen’s School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (SGSPA). “In addition to enhancing their communication skills and strengthening their career prospects, it allows Queen’s graduate students to demonstrate the tangible impact of their master’s and doctoral research on people’s lives.”

First-place winner Srikanthan presented on the topic of “Real-Time Tumor Detection in Brain Surgery.” His research focuses on a surgical tool called the intelligent knife (iKnife). This technology helps brain surgeons instantly distinguish between tumor and healthy brain tissue during surgery, making tumour removal more precise and potentially improving outcomes for patients with aggressive brain tumors like glioblastoma.

"Competing in the 3MT challenged me to distill years of research into a message that anyone could understand,” says Srikanthan. “I've always enjoyed presenting my research, but this competition reminded me that science is at its most powerful and impactful when it is accessible. While it's the complexity that makes science beautiful, I think it is the clarity that makes it meaningful."

Srikanthan also won the competition’s People’s Choice Award.

Runner-up Danielle Harper gave a presentation titled “No calpain, no gain: a new target for metastatic breast cancer.” Her research examines a family of proteins called calpains and their involvement in breast cancer metastasis. Her work has shown that calpain-deficient breast cancer cells are less metastatic in mouse models, and she is aiming to enhance existing cancer therapies by combining them with calpain inhibition.

“For me, 3MT was more than a one-time opportunity to share my research—it was an opportunity to build my communication skills and spark ongoing conversations I plan to continue throughout my career,” says Harper. “Now, more than ever, fostering open dialogue between scientists and the public is essential, and as grad students, we rarely get to discuss our work with individuals outside our fields.”

Along with Srikanthan, Harper will represent Queen’s at the Matariki 3MT competition later this year.

The panel of judges for this year’s Queen’s 3MT finals was composed of local leaders from many different fields, including business, music, and city government. They were: Rob Baker (The Tragically Hip and Queen’s alumnus), Robert A Wood (President of 8020Info consulting firm), Allison Turner (PnuVax Incorporated co-founder and Queen’s alumna), Craig Desjardins (City of Kingston & Queen’s alumnus), and Brenda Brouwer (Professor).

During the 3MT finals, the winner of the Queen’s GRADflix competition was announced. GRADflix asks graduate students to present their research creatively through video, and this year’s winner was Yu Yan Li, a PhD student in Civil Engineering, whose submission was titled “Buried but Not Forgotten: The Aging of Landfill Barriers.”

This year also marked the second time that Queen’s SGSPA hosted the 3-Minute Research Competition, which is similar to 3MT but open only to postdoctoral fellows. This year’s first-place winner was Jahnavi Shah in the Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, who presented on “The Impact of Giant Impacts.”

Learn more on the Queen’s SGSPA website.

This story was originally published in the Queen's Gazette.