Pharmacology grad student wins SIU 3-Minute Thesis competition
What’s the fastest you’ve ever explained your work to someone?
A trio of the School of Medicine’s graduate students took that challenge to the next level at the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition on the Carbondale campus on Friday, February 2.
The 3MT is a research communication competition that was originally developed by the University of Queensland in 2008. The contest has grown in popularity, and 3MT contests now occur at more than 600 universities and institutions in 65 countries.
The competition challenges students to summarize their research for a non-specialist audience using only three minutes of speech and a single PowerPoint slide, following pre-determined guidelines.
This year, 13 doctoral students from various SIU departments participated in the event. The School of Medicine candidates were Shalini Guha (Biochemistry); Samikshya Kandel (MMICB); and Rajaram Kshetri (Pharmacology and Neuroscience) - pictured above in the group photo front row, left to right.
Kshetri won first place for the explanation of his research that focuses on understanding the neurobiological basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how the cerebellum is involved in the development of ASD (shown presenting in top photo). He received an $800 cash award and will represent SIU in the 80th Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) 3MT Competition, scheduled during the 2024 Annual Meeting on April 3-5, in St. Louis.
