Perera Places as Finalist in Regional 3-Minute Thesis Competition

Ruvindu Perera, a doctoral student in the Cell and Molecular Biology program, placed as one of the top 12 finalists out of more than 60 competitors in the regional 3-Minute Thesis competition Feb. 19-20 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Perera, who is also a Doctoral Academy Fellow, presented on his research project titled "Developing a Vaccine to Prevent Lameness in Broiler Chickens." He faced off against graduate students from universities across the South, as far west as Texas and as far east as Virginia, and received a $150 cash prize for placing as a finalist.

"The Regional 3MT Competition was a wonderful, life-changing and unforgettable experience," he said. "As excited as I was to share my research with the curious audience, I'm delighted about the wonderful people met and the friends and connections that I was able to make."

Perera qualified for the regional competition after winning the U of A 3-Minute Thesis competition hosted by the Graduate School and International Education in November, beating out more than 30 other U of A graduate students.

"Moving into the preliminaries of the 3MT competition at the University of Arkansas, summarizing roughly four years of research into three minutes was highly challenging," he said. "The 3MT competition revealed the importance of making science meaningful and simply understood to any audience, a skill that I'll cherish and build up on for the rest of my career. I'm immensely grateful for the CEMB program director, my advisers and all my colleagues for encouraging and supporting me to join the competition. Moreover, I'm grateful for the Graduate School & International Education for supporting me through the university and regional competitions. It was a humble pleasure and privilege to represent the University of Arkansas at a grand stage."

"Watching Ruvindu compete at the CSGS regional competition on behalf of the University of Arkansas was nothing short of amazing, and seeing him named as a finalist was just icing on the cake," said Julia Smith, associate director of graduate student support and coordinator of the U of A's 3MT event. "To stand on a stage in front of so many higher education professionals from all over the southern region has to be so nerve-wracking, but he did it with confidence and poise. Everyone is GSIE is so proud of him."

His advisers are Dr. Adnan Alrubaye and Dr. Palmy Jesudhasan.

"Ruvindu Perera exemplifies the very best of graduate scholarship at the University of Arkansas," Alrubaye said. "Winning first place in our campus 3MT competition and advancing as a finalist in the Regional 3MT is a testament not only to the excellence of his research but also to his extraordinary ability to communicate complex science with clarity, confidence and purpose. We are incredibly proud of his achievement."

"I am incredibly proud of Ruvindu Perera for winning UARK's 3MT Thesis competition and advancing to the regional finals, a testament to the excellence of his research and his outstanding ability to communicate it with clarity," Jesudhasan said.

The competition, which was created by The University of Queensland in Australia, helps students learn how to communicate clearly their academic and research endeavors in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience. Graduate students are tasked with presenting their research in a tight timeframe with only one presentation image.