In the U of T Three Minute Thesis final held April 7th, Jaweria Qaiser, a PhD student in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Department of Psychology fell just short of moving on to represent U of T in the provincial competition.
Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a worldwide competition that challenges PhD students to present their thesis in under three minutes in a clear and engaging way, using only one static slide. The presenters are judged, not on academic content, but on how well they communicate.
“Making it to the finals was exhilarating!” says Qaiser. “I didn’t expect to get this far in my first year participating, but I’m glad I did. It was challenging but it gave me the opportunity to repeatedly practice communicating my work to the public.”
The virtual U of T competition was organized by the Centre for Graduate Professional Development in the School of Graduate Studies which supports graduate student professional development.
To reach the U of T final, Qaiser and 27 other students from across the University squared off in the semifinals. In addition to Qaiser, the other Arts & Science semifinalists were Chelsea Latremouille from the Department of English; Grace Gabriel, Psychology; Mohamad Ramieh, Cell & Systems Biology; Elysia Fuller-Thomson, Geography & Planning; Sam Sanchinel, Women & Gender Studies; and Titi Aiyegbusi, English.
I think everyone is rewarded differently by the 3MT, based on what their goal is. I went into it hoping to address my lack of confidence in my research — as many of us feel — a feeling which came from having only recently completed my bachelor’s degree and started my PhD in 2021. And I came out of the 3MT with practice sharing my research to a wider audience and feeling more confident in my research!
Qaiser’s thesis presentation was titled Understanding Compassion Fatigue Using Psychophysiology. Her research examined how repeated exposure to the suffering of others — for example, a partner’s ongoing work-related stress — can lead to an erosion of our compassion for that person.
“Our capacity to feel and show compassion is limited,” she explained during the 3MT finals. “The prevalence of this phenomenon has increased over the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite its prevalence — and astounding consequences — there's little understanding of how compassion fatigue holds and why it happens.”
Qaiser went on to describe the research study she has developed which will assess how compassion fatigue works at the cognitive, behavioural and physiological levels. Collectively, these measures will suggest whether the reduced capacity to feel compassion is a product of increased stress and empathy.
“The findings of my research will reveal the psychological factors underlying the experience of compassion fatigue,” she said. “And we can use this to develop interventions to help combat its emergence. This will allow support givers to maintain their own well-being while continuing to be a source of support for those in need.”
Even though she fell short of being U of T’s 3MT champion, Qaiser knows there were many good reasons to compete.
“I think everyone is rewarded differently by the 3MT, based on what their goal is,” says Qaiser. “I went into it hoping to address my lack of confidence in my research — as many of us feel — a feeling which came from having only recently completed my bachelor’s degree and started my PhD in 2021. And I came out of the 3MT with practice sharing my research to a wider audience and feeling more confident in my research!
“To anyone thinking of participating,” she says, “do it. You’ll undoubtedly be rewarded in one way or another.”