Researchers’ reflections on the 2020 Visualise Your Thesis Competition

It’s been a big year in more ways than one. During a time when we’ve had to dig deep to continue to find good things, it’s been a privilege to see just some of the amazing work researchers like yourself continue to do.

This year, the Visualise Your Thesis (VYT) competition continued to grow both at home and overseas, going purely online for the first time. If you’re new to VYT, it’s a competition which challenges graduate researchers to communicate their research project in an engaging 60-second digital narrative. (Learn more.)

In their own words, here are reflections from researchers on their competition experiences and on research communication more broadly:

Communicating research: our VYT experience | RED Alert blog from La Trobe University’s Graduate Research School

Stephanie Lynch and Nicole Pavich from La Trobe University share their experiences and advice in this 2-part blog series.

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

You can view their VYT entries by clicking on links below:

• Nicole Pavich (@nicolevpavich), “Environment, Ethics & Aesthetics: Film’s Role in Framing a Sustainable Fashion Future”
• Stephanie Lynch (@stephh_lynch), “Bacteriophages as a treatment option against canine pyoderma” 

Visual presentation competition provides platform for engaging with theses

Megan Hardeman, Annaclaire McDonald, Donovan Garcia-Ceron, Ané van der Walt, Maleen Jayasuriya, Gwendolyn Foo, Nicola Rivers, Carmen Glanville, Kelly Wilson-Stewart share a case study of the VYT competition available via figshare:

Read more

• Annaclaire McDonald, University of Technology Sydney
  Fantastic Metals & Where to Phyt Them​ – 2019 1st Place Winner of the Local UTS VYT Competition
• Donovan Garcia-Ceron,La Trobe University
  Exploring Extracellular Vesicles From Plant Fungal Pathogens
• Ané van der Walt, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH)
  The Narrative Atlas: creative prototyping and multivocality in archaeology – 2020 2nd Place Winner of the International VYT Competition
• Maleen Jayasuriya from University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
  One Small Step for a PhD Student, One Giant Leap for Mobility Scooters – 2020 3rd Place Winner of the International VYT Competition
• Gwendolyn Foo, The University of New South Wales (UNSW)
  Using Robots to Solve the World’s Fastest Growing Problem – Highly Commended in the 2020 International VYT Competition
• Nicola Rivers, Monash University
  Everything not saved will be lost – Highly Commended in the 2020 International VYT Competition
• Carmen Glanville, The University of Melbourne
  Protecting Pets by Changing People – 2019 3rd Place Winner of the International VYT Competition, 1st Place and People’s Choice Award Winner of the Local Unimelb VYT Competition
• Kelly Wilson-Stewart, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
  Protecting nurses from radiation exposure – 2020 1st Place Winner of the International VYT Competition

Explore other researchers’ VYT entries

These are only a small slice of the fantastic research shared through VYT across the years and competing institutions, and an even smaller sliver of the research work undertaken across 2020. If you’re interested in seeing more entries for yourself, you can start by visiting the Visualise Your Thesis figshare site.

One final thing – thank you.

Whether the challenges you faced were self-chosen and publicly shared à la VYT or more quietly shouldered, thank you for continuing. Each research journey is unique, but often share recognisable stretches of solitary, sometimes isolating work. We hope that in some small way this is a reminder of the living, growing and diverse community of which you are an important part. Here’s to the next chapter*.

*Forgive the pun.