Explain 'Polymeric Radiopharmaceuticals for the Treatment of Pediatric Osteosarcoma' in three minutes. Michael Schulz can.

Published: March 18 2015

Category:Awards & Honors, InsideUF

Former UF chemistry Ph.D. student Michael Schulz won the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools’ Regional Three Minute Thesis competition recently in New Orleans.

Schulz was one of 26 students from universities across the Southeast who attempted to explain their complex research in three minutes to a panel of judges. A University of Florida student when he took home the top 2014 award at the UF 3MT® finals, Schulz was recognized at the regional competition with a People’s Choice Award for his presentation, titled “Polymeric Radiopharmaceuticals for the Treatment of Pediatric Osteosarcoma.”

The most common primary bone cancer in children, pediatric osteosarcoma hasn’t seen a significant improvement in treatment options since chemotherapy was developed in the 1970s. Schulz said, unfortunately “amputation remains an all-too-common treatment option.” His work focused on developing a new form of radiotherapy, which uses radiation to kill malignant cells.

Three Minute Thesis competitors are challenged to present their research in a way that intelligent people without a specialty in any specific field can understand it. They are then scored on their communication of the research, audience comprehension and the audience’s desire to learn more based on the oration.

Schulz said that he felt “very honored” to receive the award. “I tried to make my research interesting, relatable and accessible to anyone, and it seems that I was successful,” he said. His work was done in collaboration with UF professors Kenneth Wagener, Christopher Batich, Wesley Bolch, Rowan Milner and several students. 

The 3MT is a research communication competition originally developed by the University of Queensland in 2008, and now has been widely adopted at universities around the world. The exercise challenges master’s and doctoral students to present a compelling talk on their thesis/dissertation topic and its significance. Many of these can exceed 80,000 words and take hours to present, but students in this competition have just three minutes and one slide to convey their often highly technical research to a lay audience.

The Conference of Southern Graduate Schools is an organization of more than 200 graduate schools located in 15 states throughout the South.

Credits

Writer: Paul Bernard
Source: Matthew Mitterko, mmitterko@aa.ufl.edu, 352-392-0098
Source: Bradley Osburn, bradjo88@gmail.com

Category:Awards & Honors, InsideUF