Dear Colleagues:
Right before Thanksgiving, Clemson’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition was held in the Watt Family Innovation Center and showcased the wonderful talent that Clemson has in its graduate student ranks. It was a great reminder of the wealth of thought talent that exists in all disciplines within Clemson’s graduate programs.
As part of the competition, the students must “pitch” to the audience what their thesis is and why it matters within three minutes. The goals of this competition are for the student to develop presentation, research, and academic communication skills, while providing support for the development of graduate students' capacity to explain their work effectively. In short, it is a demonstration of innovation.
The event was a reminder that in my almost 20 years in technology transfer and innovation, graduate students are a cornerstone of a university’s innovation ecosystem. Furthermore, many graduate students provide the intellectual heft on the invention disclosures we see at CURF and are listed as co-inventors or co-developers on the intellectual property that is developed here at Clemson. As a result, CURF has several tools to assist graduate students with developing their research within their respective programs. Some seminars and topics we’ve given in the past year that can guide graduate student innovation include:
- Training segments for Advanced Responsible Conduct of Research
- Working with Industry
- Intellectual Property Policy and Students
- Inventorship vs. Authorship
If you are a graduate student and have any questions about these or other innovation areas, please reach out to us by submitting an Inquiry Intake form.
Lastly, I want to congratulate all the Three-Minute Thesis participants for an outstanding job! Of special note -- “Congratulations” to Tessa Gagne, a master’s student in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences packaging science program, who took home the top prize for her research presentation on building better face masks to prevent concussion and other injuries in athletes. Gagne will represent Clemson at the regional competition this February. Congratulations, Tessa!
Stay healthy!
Best,
Chase
