On 13 April 2016, five doctoral candidates presented their theses in 180 seconds (three minutes) to a panel of judges and a mixed audience (made up of high school students, doctoral students, administrative and teaching staff from the University of Guyana and staff from the world of research) in Building F at the University of Guyana. This year's winner was Samantha James, with a thesis on the herpes virus.
Three minutes to seduce, explain and convince
Uclear, concise and convincing presentation of their research topic, in just three minutes - that was the challenge set to the 5 doctoral students from the University of Guyana yesterday in the "My thesis in 180 seconds" competition: to present their research topic, in simple terms, to a lay and diverse audience, all with the help of a single slide!
Five candidates from disciplines as varied as ethnobotany, mathematics, sociolinguistic studies and virology gave their presentations to a panel of six leading figures from the world of business, research and communication, and to a wider audience including three science final year classes from the Lycée Félix Eboué in Cayenne.
The doctoral students' research topics were as follows:
Samantha JAMES :
Identification of the cellular target genes of the RTA viral transactivator of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) and their involvement in viral pathogenesis.
Mouhamet DIALLO :
Prediction of solar radiation incident on the ground in the Guiana Shield using a numerical weather prediction model and satellite images.
Dave BÉNÉTEAU DE LAPRAIRIE :
Language practices and local development in the Palikur Amerindian community in French Guiana: between individual representation and community building processes.
Sihem MAHOUI :
Spot-checking of some missing data problems in diffusion phenomena in polluted domains.
Marc-Alexandre TAREAU :
Contemporary Guyanese phytotherapies. An ethnobotanical and ethnomedical approach to a crossbred pharmacopoeia.
This regional selection was organised by the University of Guyana via its Doctoral School, the Canopée des Sciences and the IRISTA GIS (Scientific Interest Group).
