College of College of Graduate Studies

Unisa PhD candidate making a mark at the 2021 National Three-Minute Thesis Competition

Share

Ms Nonkanyiso Pamella Shabalala

The Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) is an annual competition held by more than 900 universities around the world. It is a research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland in Australia whereby doctoral students have three minutes to present their research. The competition cultivates the academic, presentation and research communication skills of postgraduate students. Furthermore, it challenges the research postgraduate students to communicate the significance of their research projects and results to a non-specialist audience in three minutes in a language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience. The 3MT supports the development of research students' ability to effectively explain their work.

The College of Graduate Studies coordinates the event on the institutional level and included all colleges. Though the University of the Free State hosted the first national 3MT in 2015, Unisa participated for the first time in 2021 under the leadership of Prof Khanyisile R Mbatha, Acting Director of the School of Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Studies at the College of Graduate Studies. The national 3MT was hosted by the University of the Free State on 29 October 2021. Prof Mbatha said that "part of the supporting role CGS provides to our postgraduate students is to make sure they are ready for the world out there".

Unisa doctoral candidate, Ms Nonkanyiso Pamella Shabalala, registered in the College of Education: Department of Science of Technology Education, blew the judges away with her presentation entitled "Managing environmental education curriculum through distributed leadership strategies in KwaZulu-Natal secondary schools". She was awarded the first runner-up at the 2021 National Three-Minute Competition held on 29 October 2021. Congratulations are in order, Ms Nonkanyiso P Shabalala.

Ms NP Shabalala is the PhD winner of the Unisa Ninth Research and Innovation Postgraduate Showcasing (Social Science Discipline) held on 2 and 3 July 2021.

* By Prof Khanyisile Mbatha (Acting Director, School of Interdisciplinary Research & Graduate Studies) and Hanli Wolhuter (Communication and Marketing Specialist, College of Graduate Studies)

Share

Publish date: 2021-11-29 00:00:00.0

Unisa Shop