Postgraduate student Yasmin Nouri - back in the lab this week after winning the New Zealand Three Minute Thesis competition for the University of Otago. Photo: Sharron Bennett.
Otago postgraduate student Yasmin Nouri has beaten nerves and tough opposition to win the New Zealand Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition held at the University of Canterbury last week.
Yasmin, who won Otago's Master's 3MT contest earlier this month, says she was “incredibly proud” to represent Otago, her lab and her research in the national contest last Thursday, and to come away with such a great result.
“It means so much to me to know that others can recognise the value in the science that we're so dedicated to doing. Everyone in my lab works incredibly hard, so being able to share our work and have it so well responded to is really motivating.”
Yasmin is part of Professor Parry Guilford's Cancer Genetics Lab, which is working to develop a chemo-preventative treatment for Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC).
"Yasmin is an exceptional, highly engaged student who is not only capable of carrying out world class research, but is clearly able to communicate very complex ideas with ease."
For her Master's degree she is growing “organoids” – miniature stomachs grown from mouse stomach stem cells – to test potential drugs.
She says winning this contest with her three-minute presentation affirms her love of science communication.
“It's such necessary dialogue in our increasingly science and technology focused world and I'm so excited that I can contribute to that.”
Graduate Research School Dean Professor Rachel Spronken-Smith says the final was the strongest she has seen, with students representing all of New Zealand's universities except AUT.
“The competitors were all confident and polished speakers, presenting their Master's research in under three minutes and with no hesitation.
“Yasmin did a superb presentation, with her verbal explanation nicely complementing her slide. The small contingent of Otago supporters were all very proud of her achievement and success.”
Her supervisor Professor Parry Guilford agrees.
"Yasmin is an exceptional, highly engaged student who is not only capable of carrying out world class research, but is clearly able to communicate very complex ideas with ease."
Yasmin followed up her 3MT success over the weekend, winning best poster at the New Zealand Society for Oncology meeting.