Psychology student wins McMaster Three Minute Thesis

Psychology PhD student Matthew Berry gave a performance worthy of the stage, walking away as this year’s McMaster Three Minute Thesis (3MT) champion.

The 3MT challenges competitors to explain their research and its broader impact in just three minutes, using one static presentation slide. Adjudication panels are comprised of non-specialists, making it important that presentations are accessible for a wide audience.

Berry’s winning presentation, Scientifically Quantifying the Craft of Acting, garnered top spot in a field of 15 competitors representing four Faculties. In April, he will represent McMaster at the Ontario Provincial 3MT.

Rounding out the top five finalists:

Second Place goes to Anthropology PhD student Kaitlin East for her 3MT, Stress, Death and Dying.
Third Place is Shawn Hercules, Biology PhD student, for his presentation, Race and Breast Cancer: Is there a link?
Fourth Place goes to Master’s student Steven Mancini, Neuroscience, for Enhancing the Aging Brain.
Fifth Place is Master’s student Jasprit Pannag, Nursing, Taking the shock out of shock therapy: Pre-implantation education for implantable cardioverter defibrillator patients.

Each of the top five finalists will receive the Dean’s Award of Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research, $500, and a $50 Phoenix gift card – courtesy the Graduate Students Association and the Phoenix. Additionally, Berry (Science), East (Social Sciences), and Mancini (Health Sciences) win $500 each for placing first in the new Faculty Award category.

With her presentation, Engineering a New Material to Regrow Skin, Nicola Muzzin captured first place for the Faculty of Engineering. Muzzin is a Master’s student in Chemical Engineering.

Faculty awards for Humanities and Business went to top presenters in the preliminaries:

Master’s student Sookie Bardwell, Gender Studies and Feminist Research, for her presentation, In This Together: Self and Community Care for Sustainable Social Change Work.
Armagan Ozbilge, PhD student in Business (Management Science), won the DeGroote School of Business Faculty Award for his 3MT, Donate More to Earn More.

The Competitor’s Choice Award ($250) – as voted by 15 finalists and preliminary heat participants on hand for the Final – goes to Kaitlin East.

McMaster’s biggest 3MT to date

Close to 80 Masters and PhD students presented in the Concert Hall over five preliminary heats throughout Wednesday and Thursday, making for a challenging adjudication.

Judges for this year’s Final include:

Peter Dyakowski, Saskatchewan Roughriders
Patrick Deane, President and Vice-Chancellor, McMaster
Annette Hamm, Host, CHCH Morning Live
Pearl F. Veenema, President and CEO, Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation
Doug Welch, Vice-Provost and Dean, Graduate Studies, McMaster

Republish this Article for Free

Republish this Article

We believe in the free flow of information. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivs 2.5 Canada (CC BY-ND 2.5 CA), so you can republish our articles for free, online or in print.

All republished articles must be attributed in the following way and contain links to both the site and original article: “This article was first published on Daily News. Read the original article.”

<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Psychology PhD student Matthew Berry gave a performance worthy of the stage, walking away as this year’s McMaster Three Minute Thesis (3MT) champion. </span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">The 3MT challenges competitors to explain their research and its broader impact in just three minutes, using one static presentation slide. Adjudication panels are comprised of non-specialists, making it important that presentations are accessible for a wide audience.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Berry’s winning presentation, <i>Scientifically Quantifying the Craft of Acting</i>, garnered top spot in a field of 15 competitors representing four Faculties. In April, he will represent McMaster at the Ontario Provincial 3MT.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Rounding out the top five finalists:</span></p>

<ul class="ul1">
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Second Place goes to Anthropology PhD student Kaitlin East for her 3MT, <i>Stress, Death and Dying.</i></span></li>
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Third Place is Shawn Hercules, Biology PhD student, for his presentation, <i>Race and Breast Cancer: Is there a link?</i></span></li>
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Fourth Place goes to Master’s student Steven Mancini, Neuroscience, for <i>Enhancing the Aging Brain</i>.</span></li>
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Fifth Place is Master’s student Jasprit Pannag, Nursing, <i>Taking the shock out of shock therapy: Pre-implantation education for implantable cardioverter defibrillator patients.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Each of the top five finalists will receive the Dean’s Award of Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research, $500, and a $50 Phoenix gift card – courtesy the Graduate Students Association and the Phoenix. Additionally, Berry (Science), East (Social Sciences), and Mancini (Health Sciences) win $500 each for placing first in the new Faculty Award category.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">With her presentation, <i>Engineering a New Material to Regrow Skin</i>, Nicola Muzzin captured first place for the Faculty of Engineering. Muzzin is a Master’s student in Chemical Engineering.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Faculty awards for Humanities and Business went to top presenters in the preliminaries:</span></p>

<ul class="ul1">
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Master’s student Sookie Bardwell, Gender Studies and Feminist Research, for her presentation,</span> <span class="s1"><i>In This Together: Self and Community Care for Sustainable Social Change Work.</i></span></li>
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Armagan Ozbilge, PhD student in Business (Management Science), won the DeGroote School of Business Faculty Award for his 3MT, <i>Donate More to Earn More.</i></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">The Competitor’s Choice Award ($250) – as voted by 15 finalists and preliminary heat participants on hand for the Final – goes to Kaitlin East. </span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1"><b>McMaster’s biggest 3MT to date</b></span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Close to 80 Masters and PhD students presented in the Concert Hall over five preliminary heats throughout Wednesday and Thursday, making for a challenging adjudication. </span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Judges for this year’s Final include:</span></p>

<ul class="ul1">
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Peter Dyakowski, Saskatchewan Roughriders</span></li>
 	<li class="li4"><span class="s1">Patrick Deane, President and Vice-Chancellor, McMaster </span></li>
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Annette Hamm, Host, CHCH Morning Live</span></li>
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Pearl F. Veenema, President and CEO, Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation</span></li>
 	<li class="li3"><span class="s1">Doug Welch, Vice-Provost and Dean, Graduate Studies, McMaster</span></li>
</ul>

Media Enquiries

Phone: (905) 525-9140 ext. 24073
Email: comms@mcmaster.ca

The Communications and Public Affairs Office is staffed from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.

The University has a broadcast quality television studio to facilitate live and pre-recorded interviews with media. Learn more about our experts.