This year’s Three Minute Thesis competition saved the best for last in the view of the judges. The 10th and final presenter, Sumaiya Hasan, stepped onto the stage at the Normal Theater and delivered a 155-second distillation of her master’s research. Shortly thereafter, she received the top prize for her presentation, Decoding Protein Localization to Unravel Diseases.
Hasan had the audience imagine a cell as a puzzle and each protein as a puzzle piece as an illuminating way to explain her research using fruit flies to explore the molecular mechanisms possibly linked to cancer.
“My research is about and revealing the exact reason behind the cancer and also opens up the potential direction for cancer therapeutics. So next time when you think about the puzzle, remember my research where I am putting together all the pieces to unlock the secret of life itself,” Hasan said in conclusion.
Hasan competed against fellow graduate students February 29 before an enthusiastic crowd, which included Acting Provost Dr. Ani Yazedjian, college deans, department chairs, mentors, friends, and family who filled the historic theater in Uptown Normal with cheers and howls following each presentation.
Hasan earned $750 for first place and qualified into the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools’ Three Minute Thesis contest in April. Her presentation concluded an enjoyable and intellectually stimulating 45 minutes as the students covered topics from rural education to heart failure while competing to determine who could best explain their research to a general audience in 180 seconds or less with the aid of a single static slide.
“It’s been a great event,” said Dr. Noelle Selkow, director of the Graduate School. “It’s great to have the community and ISU support to have a full theater and support our students, and it’s really just a great day to highlight our student and mentor achievements.”
Watch the livestream of the Graduate School’s Three Minute Thesis competition.
Hasan was inspired to enter this year’s contest after watching her School of Biological Sciences colleague Sadia Sultan win last year’s edition. Hasan is the fourth biology student to win the event in its eight-year history. She credited her mentor, Dr. Kevin Edwards, with helping her prepare and the competition for giving her the opportunity to learn how to talk to non-biologists about her complicated research .
“I can now explain to them what I’m working on,” said Hasan, of Bangladesh.
Breanne Evans, a master’s student in the Creative Technologies Program, won $500 for placing second and another $750 for taking home the People’s Choice award for her presentation, Reconnecting to Play: Exploring Jean Piaget’s development stages of play through interactive art. In her presentation, Evans noted the importance of play for children’s cognitive development and to keep adults in the present and improve their long-term problem-solving.
“My research found that as they engage in the sensory excavation zone imagination, adults can experience the stress-relieving benefits that play can bring. So whether it’s their art or another source, find a way to reintroduce play into your lives and let your imagination run wild,” Evans said in her presentation’s conclusion.
Evans is conducting her study for a capstone class, which involves creating an art project to explore her research question, with mentor Dr. Kristin Carlson.
“The process of the Three Minute Thesis helped me to narrow down the research that I had been doing to make it a bit more easy to explain to other people and also helping me find new avenues and ways that I can direct my research as well,” said Evans, of Bloomington-Normal. “It’s really interesting—the audition that I went in with and then the final product are very different. My thesis committee was able to really steer me into what would be good to add, what would be good to take out, and how to best go about memorizing the speech.”
Presenters were judged on communication, delivery, and organization by a four-member panel comprising Dr. John Baur, professor emeritus of chemistry, Illinois State University; Rohen Agarwal, senior manufacturing process engineer, Rivian; Dr. John Vozenilek, chief medical officer and vice president for innovation and digital health, OSF Health Care System; and Dr. Diane Wolf ’89, ’92, M.S. ’95, Ed.D. ’15, educator and student advocate. Dr. Craig C. McLauchlan, associate vice president for Research and Graduate Studies, served as master of ceremonies.
The Graduate School organizes the University’s competition—similar academic competitions are held worldwide and originated at the University of Queensland in Australia—to showcase the wide range of research conducted by master’s and doctoral students at Illinois State. This year’s participants represented the Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment, Department of Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, and School of Communication in the College of Arts and Sciences; the Department of Agriculture and School of Kinesiology and Recreation in the College of Applied Science and Technology; the Mennonite College of Nursing; the Creative Technologies Program in the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts; and the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations in the College of Education.
“This event highlights students learning about research,” Selkow said. “It’s not an end-all-be-all experiment or study that they’re doing, but they’re learning the skills and really how they can continue to apply those concepts in thinking as they graduate from here and be lifelong learners.”
