Taking part in last year’s 3 Minute Thesis Competition helped winner, Keely Kidner, out of her mid-PhD slump—a phenomenon known as the ‘thesis doldrums’.
“At that time, the last thing I wanted to do was talk about my research. But it was a great exercise. It helped me sort out what I was doing,” she says.
Keely, who is nearing completion of a PhD in Applied Linguistics, heard about the competition from her supervisor, Professor Janet Holmes. She was selected out of 31 entries to represent Victoria University at the Australasian Grand Final of the 3 Minute Thesis Competition.
Keely had just 180 seconds to describe her thesis, which explores how language and power is used to discuss controversial mining operations in Canada and New Zealand. It investigates what the industry is doing to legitimise expansion of mines and what local activists are doing to counteract that.
“My thesis is really complicated—there are lots of issues, case studies and things going on,” she says.
Keely recalls waking up in the middle of the night thinking about her presentation. “I had to get up to draw my slide,” she says. “But it was advantageous because I’ve used the diagram in my thesis and every conference presentation since.”
Taking part in the 3 Minute Thesis Competition is definitely beneficial says Keely. “It forced me to sort out the big picture and find a way to describe to people what I was doing. Working through that process was really valuable in itself. Plus there are some amazing prizes!”
The 3 Minute Thesis Competition kicks off on 8 September and is open to research students—Master’s by Thesis or Doctoral—with entrants allowed three minutes to give a dynamic presentation of their thesis topic and its significance.
Keely’s advice for students considering entering is to go for it. “What do you have to lose?”
Hear Keely Kidner giving her winning presentation from the 2013 Victoria University Three Minute Thesis competition: http://youtu.be/KAG73PUDw5o
Registrations for the 2014 Three Minute Thesis Competition close on Friday 22 August. For more information visit www.vuwpgsa.ac.nz.
