Thesis throwdown

July 03, 2014

Two CBS graduate students take top honors at U of M 3 Minute Thesis competition.

Eleven graduate students had three minutes and the use of a single slide to describe their research and its significance in a way accessible to a lay audience this spring at the 3 Minute Thesis competition, held as part of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Programs Research Recognition Day.

First prize went to Courtney Coombes (Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics) for her presentation “Microtubules: The cell’s highway system.”

Second place went to Jordan Becker (Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Biophysics) for “Finding Achilles' Heel: What DNA damage tolerance in yeast can teach us about cancer.” Coombes is a doctoral candidate in the Gardner lab and Becker is a doctoral candidate in the Bielinsky lab.

The “People’s Choice Award” went to Snider Desir (Integrative Biology & Physiology). Caitlin Conboy and Alexa Weingarden (Microbiology, Immunology & Cancer Biology) received honorable mentions.

The presentations were judged Dr. Melissa Moore (University of Massachusetts Medical Center), Dr. Tucker LeBien (University of Minnesota), Dr. Laurie Fink, (Science Museum of Minnesota) and Kerri Miller (Minnesota Public Radio).