Gayatri Kumar

From watermelons to forest fires, U of T graduate students unpack research in three-minute thesis competition

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 15:49:17 +0000

From watermelons to forest fires, U of T graduate students unpack research in three-minute thesis competition

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 04/27/2022 - 11:49

Cutline

Atefeh Mohammadi took home the top prize in this year's Three Minute Thesis contest for presenting research on using a compound found in watermelons to treat a common long disease in premature babies (photo courtesy of Atefeh Mohammadi)

Gayatri Kumar

Topic

Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Dentistry

Forestry

Graduate Students

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology

Research & Innovation

School of Graduate Studies

As an undergraduate student, Atefeh Mohammadi used to attend the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition with a friend – “for funsies,” she says with a laugh – and watch in awe as the competing graduate students tried to present their research in just three minutes.

“I thought it was so fun and so cool,” she says. “And, of course, so challenging.”

It was a challenge Mohammadi met head on. Earlier this month, the second-year master’s student from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology placed first in the 3MT final, taking home the top prize at the annual competition for her presentation on neonatal lung disease.

“It’s every grad student’s dream to get a platform to talk about what you do,” she says about her decision to enter this year’s competition. “And the other thing is that I love science communication. I believe very strongly that everyone should make their research accessible to the public.

“What’s the point of doing what you’re doing and arriving at your findings if you’re not going to communicate that to the people who can use them?”

Mohammadi was one of nine finalists in this year’s competition, which challenges participants to present the complexities of their research to a generalist audience in just three minutes, using only one static slide. The global higher-education event has been one of the signature programs of the Centre for Graduate Professional Development since 2013 and encourages graduate-student researchers to develop their public engagement skills.

Judges assess the presentations for clarity, comprehension and engagement, rather than the quality of the research. The winner of the U of T final receives a $1000 prize, as well as the opportunity to compete in the Ontario-wide final featuring winners from other universities.

This year’s winners also included: Shivam Sharma, of the Faculty of Dentistry, who won both second place and the People’s Choice Award for his presentation on wound-healing in diabetes patients; and Melanie Wheatley, of the Institute of Forestry and Conservation in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, who won third place for her presentation on fighting forest fires from the sky.

As for Mohammadi, her presentation focused on how citrulline, a compound occurring naturally in watermelons, can help treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) – a common lung disease in premature babies that causes tissue damage in the grape-like alveoli (air sacs) of the lungs. Existing courses of treatment for BPD produce inconsistent results and have many side effects. But if Atefeh can confirm that the substance does indeed help alveolar cells (specifically, the type 1 cells) fight off inflammation, her findings may pave the way forward to a safe and inexpensive treatment.

As with her research protocol, Mohammadi says the most difficult element of the competition was figuring out where to start. During the competition’s first round, she says she worried that offering too many details about her work would scare off her audience. But the feedback she received after each round encouraged her to include more details of her research and learn to trust her material.

Finding the balance between scientific sophistication and accessible communication is something Mohammadi considers a lot in the course of her work. For the past three years, she has been a show host as well as the social media and promotions lead for the Raw Talk Podcast, a student-led project from the Institute of Medical Science that aims to bring medical science innovation to the general public in an accessible, engaging format. (Now in its sixth season, Raw Talk has tackled a variety of topics, ranging from underrepresentation in STEM to refugee health care in Canada and the science and ethics of organ donation.) Next year, Atefeh will move into a new role as one of the podcast’s executive producers.

Mohammadi says she often feels like there’s a wall with scientists on one side and the public on the other. “Especially now with the pandemic happening and the spread of misinformation, there’s a real need to break down that barrier between scientists and the general public,” she says. “Building that trust has become so important. And social media is where it all happens.”

She’s also glad to note that senior academics and faculty members are beginning to recognize the importance of non-traditional methods for disseminating student research. “For some people, it’s a complete shift. In the past, they might have thought it a waste of time – ‘You could be doing research instead, or publishing’ – but that attitude is changing.”

As for other graduate students who might be considering the competition, Mohammadi encourages them to sign up. “I can’t think of a reason why you shouldn’t do it,” she says. “3MT will help you understand for yourself the most important aspects of your work, and also what aspects need to be translatable to make its value known. I went into it with no pressure on myself, which I would recommend to everyone.

“It’s the perfect challenge for graduate students.”

PhD student wins Three Minute Thesis contest for presentation on medieval Persian poet

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 16:51:38 +0000

PhD student wins Three Minute Thesis contest for presentation on medieval Persian poet

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 04/13/2021 - 12:51

Cutline

Faraz Alidina, a third-year PhD student in the department of Near and Middle Eastern civilizations, says the format of the annual 3MT contest "really forced me not to hide behind jargon, prolixity or complexity" (photo courtesy of Faraz Alidina)

Gayatri Kumar

Topic

Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Arts & Science

Faculty of Music

Graduate Students

Humanities

Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations

School of Graduate Studies

What do short stories from medieval Persian literature teach us about today’s political discourse?

Faraz Alidina can tell you – in less than three minutes.

The third-year PhD student in the University of Toronto’s department of Near and Middle Eastern civilizations in the Faculty of Arts & Science recently won the 2021 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition for his research on the works of 13th-century Persian poet Farid al-Din Attar.

“I feel very grateful that I was able to win because historically, at least at U of T, this competition has been dominated by students in the sciences,” says Alidina, adding that it can be particularly difficult to for humanities students to summarize esoteric-sounding research in such a short time.

Alidina was one of a dozen competitors at the virtual 3MT final that saw graduate students from across U of T’s three campuses attempt to explain their research in under three minutes to a panel of non-specialist judges. The annual event, hosted by CBC Ideas producers Nicola Luksic and Tom Howell, had over 250 audience members cheering on the participants.

Alidina, who says he was encouraged to enter the event by his PhD supervisor, Associate Professor Shafique Virani, won $500 for his first-place finish. Heather MacDonald of the Faculty of Music took second spot for her presentation on preventing oboe-related injuries, while Julie Sato of the department of psychology placed third for her work on postnatal nutrition and brain development in premature infants. Emily McGaugh of the department of physiology took home the People’s Choice Award for her presentation on how stem cells can help cure type 1 diabetes.

For his presentation, Alidina opted to take a creative approach. He began with the story of Shahrzad, the famed storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights who hoped that her intriguing tales would delay her execution and persuade the murderous king to change his ways. Like Shahrzad, many writers in the medieval period – writing in Persian, Latin, Arabic and Italian – realized that princes and people were best convinced not by means of abstract principle, but through story.

With his research, Alidina explained that he hopes to unpack the narrative techniques – or what the Arabic literary tradition calls the “science of rhetoric” – behind the short stories of the 13th-century poet Farid al-Din Attar, a writer with a style so persuasive that critics sometimes referred to it as “the horsewhip.”

“These medieval authors used short stories not just to illustrate a point or an abstract ethical concept, but because stories actually provided a unique medium through which the consequences of ethical and political positions could be explored in their specificity,” Alidina said in a Zoom interview after the event. “Ironically, fiction is the best place where we can model the world as it is, in its uniqueness and its variance.”

Probing medieval theories of persuasion is hardly an esoteric pursuit for Alidina, who holds a master’s degree in religion from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree in political science and Middle Eastern studies from McGill University. He says that understanding what persuades people has taken on new urgency in the age of alternative facts and conspiratorial thinking. Citing recent examples like Brexit, he notes that attributing human action to self-interest doesn’t always explain political and electoral outcomes.

While he’s still in the early stages of developing his research, Alidina says that preparing for 3MT helped him articulate the major questions underlying his work.

“The format of the competition really forced me not to hide behind jargon, prolixity or complexity. And I thought that was a useful exercise, regardless of whether I came in first or didn’t make it past the first heat.”

Alidina hopes his victory will inspire more participation from students in the humanities.

“In the humanities, we’re perhaps more inclined to have this purist vision of our intellectual lives – knowledge for the sake of knowledge. There’s nothing wrong with having that internal compass of curiosity, but that doesn’t mean we should shy away from thinking about how our work can play a role in the world in which we live.

“The humanities has a very unique and specific voice, particularly in this time. We shouldn’t be afraid to speak a little louder.”

Excellence is Black award fund to support Black graduate students

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 16:28:31 +0000

Excellence is Black award fund to support Black graduate students

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 04/12/2021 - 12:28

Cutline

Excellence is Black is a student-led academic award supported by students from U of T’s Rotman School of Management, the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Law.

Gayatri Kumar

Topic

Our Community

Black Graduate Students Association

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Rotman School of Management

School of Graduate Studies

A new student-led academic award is poised to provide more financial support and mentorship for Black graduate students at the University of Toronto.

Excellence is Black is a joint undertaking between students from U of T’s Rotman School of Management, the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Law. In addition to inspiring and supporting future generations of Black talent at the university, the initiative aims to connect Black graduate students across campus and celebrate their achievements.

“Often, you hear two main things when you survey Black students: We don’t have access to role models, and we don’t have access to finances,” said Frank Otabor, a second-year MBA student at the Rotman School of Management and one of the initiative’s founding members.

Looking to make a difference, he reached out to the Black students’ associations in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Law and received an enthusiastic response.

Noroh Dakim, a second-year medical student and member of the organizing committee, also felt that community, in addition to financial support, was crucial for Black graduate students at U of T.

“There are very unique experiences that come with being a Black individual in academia, or indeed on any career path,” said Dakim, who is also a member of the U of T Black Medical Students’ Association. “Finding a community where you feel like your experiences are heard, validated, recognized and appreciated is so important.”

Black graduate students, faculty, alumni and community members held an inaugural award gala virtually on March 27. The celebration of Black excellence featured an array of speakers from U of T and beyond who spoke on “overcoming over-commitment burnout,” building self-confidence and more.

In her opening remarks, U of T Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr acknowledged the importance of breaking down systemic barriers to create a more equitable and inclusive campus.

“The University of Toronto can only be great if brilliant people from every community feel like the university is a place that will welcome them,” Regehr said. “And the University of Toronto can only be great if these brilliant people have the supports to succeed once they are here.”

Regehr described some of the steps the university has taken in recent years to address the underrepresentation of marginalized communities, including the creation of 100 faculty positions for Black and Indigenous scholars. Over the past three years, the number of access and outreach programs to bring new students to the university has also increased, she said.

Regehr expressed gratitude for the efforts of graduate students who put together the Excellence is Black award.

“In addition to what this is doing for current students, you are building a foundation of inclusive excellence for the future,” she said. “Because of students like you, we are on the right path and the future looks bright.”

Colin Lynch, the founder of the Black Opportunity Fund, an endowment directed by the Black community for Black Canadians, delivered the event’s keynote speech. Attendees also heard from Dahabo Ahmed Omer, the executive director of the BlackNorth Initiative, a coalition of business leaders across Canada who are working to create better representation for Black Canadians in boardrooms across the country.

In virtual networking sessions, participants discussed the specific challenges facing Black graduate students and Black professionals entering the workforce.

Rhonda McEwen, director of U of T Mississauga’s Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the special adviser to the vice-president and principal on anti-racism and equity, was one of the workshop facilitators. She is due to begin her term as the campus’s vice-principal, academic and dean this summer.

McEwan, who worked in digital communication media for 15 years, shared her experiences with navigating corporate life and finding confidence in her talents. “Don’t let yourself be burdened by those ideas of tokenism,” she told students in a breakout session.

Clockwise from top left: Excellence is Black organizers Frank Otabor, Noroh Dakim, Rebecca Barclay Nguinambaye and Novalee Davy.

The burden of representation was top of mind for Sandra Osazuwa, president of the Black Graduate Students Association, who led one of the workshops on being Black in academia.

“Often, as we move up the ranks, we become the only ones available,” said Osazuwa, who is pursuing a doctorate in counselling and clinical psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and is the only Black student in her program. “I get asked to a lot of speaking opportunities, which puts a lot of stress on me – versus my peers – and interferes with what I should be doing as a student.”

She hopes the discussions will help administrators see the need for adequate compensation for equity, diversity and inclusion work.

While the event was focused on graduate students, seats were reserved for undergraduate and high school students considering their academic futures. “So often we see these negative images of marginalized groups that are perpetuated by the media,” said Stephane Martin Demers, a fourth-year student who is president of the Faculty of Music Anti-Racism Alliance “And so often the way Black people see themselves is dependent on how the white community sees them or how non-Black people see them. So, our vision is not filtered through our own understandings.”.

Martin Demers, who is also part of U of T Scarborough’s Modern-Day Griot Project, said events like Excellence is Black can help create a new narrative that lifts up Black communities. “What a conference like this does is show Black youth that they can do it – that there is a place for them at U of T,” he said.

Excellence is Black is currently seeking donations to meet its initial award fund goal of $100,000. Nominations for the inaugural awards are expected to open by the end of the academic year. Awards will be given to students, both domestic and international, with demonstrated financial need and a proven commitment to community leadership. U of T’s Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, Rotman School of Management, Faculty of Law and the School of Graduate Studies are among the award’s initial sponsors.

“My vision is that it becomes a recurring event, and that we create that framework to make it sustainable,” said Otabor, who will be graduating with his MBA this spring. “We want to keep chipping away at those barriers until they are no longer there.”