visualise your thesis la trobe

Visual presentation competition provides platform for engaging with theses

Visualise Your Thesis is a competition where graduate students create 60-second presentations of their thesis using a variety of creative methods from stop-motion films to animations. The objective is to encourage students to consider how they would communicate their research in a succinct and effective way, particularly when time is limited and the audience is the general public.

Usage metrics

• Library and information studies not elsewhere classified

Visualise your Thesis (VYT) Information Session

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The RED Alert

Search this blog, communicating research: our vyt experience - part 1 (stephanie lynch and nicole pavich).

People say that research isn’t finished until it's communicated, so how can we best communicate our research? 

While the idea of sharing your research may seem just as challenging as tackling the research itself, sharing your work can be enjoyable! Not to mention communicating your research has the potential to be hugely beneficial to you, your discipline, and the wider community. After all, what is the point of researching if no one is going to be privy to your findings and ideas? 

A plethora of different avenues can be used to share your research both in and beyond academia so it can be difficult to know where to start to get your work out there. 

In Part 1 of this 2-part blog series, we give you some ideas to consider that may help you to share your research in a clear, engaging and accessible manner. While the tips below were written specifically for the Visualise Your Thesis (VYT) competition, they are applicable to many other instances of research communication. 

Effectively communicating your research 

You have probably all heard of an elevator pitch for your research. the notion of a short, yet informative spiel to spark interest to the intended audience about your research project. as the visualise your thesis (vyt) competition requires only a 1-minute video - it is essential to distil your research to the point .

• Introduce your research question/problem. Then unpack how your project is addressing this question/problem (methods) and the outcomes that arise from your work (either results or future directions).
• Identify the MAIN point you want the audience to take away from your video and find a way to emphasise this in your video. Your main point could be a new treatment you are developing or a historical book you are transcribing. Whatever it may be, make this the centre of your talk, then evolve the story around it, including background information and methods!
• Put your research into context! Finish up your research script by making a clear statement as to how your research fits into the field, the bigger picture or the intended impact of your work. For example, your new treatment may cure skin infections in dogs, or the transcribed book may deepen our understanding of ancient history.
• Lastly, head along to the RED team's sessions about communicating your research (e.g. the "Sharing your story: the how and why of communicating about your research" workshop)!  
• Narrative Conventions – Narrative conventions could be used to guide the viewer through your VYT entry and engage them in your research. Some examples of classical narrative conventions include: a disruption, protagonist, exposition, enigma, climax, conclusion, etc. 
• Narrative Structure – Adopting a narrative structure may help you to organise your research material into a story. For example, your VYT entry could feature a three-act linear narrative with a beginning, middle and end – or even a circular narrative that sees your entry finish where it started.
• Visual perception: 
• Font - Arial font at a font size 14 or above would work well for your VYT, as Arial is said to be the most accessible font! However, font to background colour is equally important, head to http://colorsafe.co/ for colour guides and palettes.
• Images - Large, clear and labelled images will be most accessible - take a few steps away from your screen to check image visibility. Also think whether the image adds to the words you are saying or distracts the audience.
• Captions – Visual captions should be used to assist the message you are communicating through audio. Captions are essential for those that rely on other senses and will enhance the accessibility of your message. Check out La Trobe’s guide on creating captions here.
• Removing the jargon: Deliver your message in ‘lay’ terms by removing jargon - try https://splasho.com/upgoer5/ to explain your research only using the top 1000 most used English words. In doing this, you will be distilling your research and also allowing it to be accessible to the general public. 

Exploring Extracellular Vesicles From Plant Fungal Pathogens​

Finalist – Visualise Your Thesis 2019 International Competition

Winner – La Trobe University Visualise Your Thesis 2019 local competition

Institution

Student type.

• PhD second year
• Second place winner (VYT International)
• https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4718-4233

Usage metrics

• Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified

Researcher@Library

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:

• 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.

• Researching
• Visualise Your Thesis 2020

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La Trobe University theses

The Library holds print copies of higher degree theses and a small number of honours theses completed at La Trobe University up to 2010. 

The Library does not hold coursework masters theses and no longer collects honours theses.

La Trobe theses can be located through Library search. 

Search tips: use the advanced search option and enter La Trobe as a keyword and select Dissertations from the Material type drop down menu. To find honours theses, use the basic search option and enter La Trobe honours theses in the search box.

• La Trobe University Library search La Trobe University Library holds over eleven thousand theses.

From 2010 onwards theses are made available through the Library in electronic format.  They can be located through OPAL, La Trobe University’s institutional repository.

• OPAL (Open at La Trobe) Search or browse La Trobe University's institutional repository to view theses.

Search tips: for general browsing of theses in OPAL, on the home page select 'GROUPS', then the 'Open Theses' group. For more specific browsing/searching: once in the Open Theses group, select any desired subject category, select 'Apply Filters' to see the results of the search. An alternative to initially going to 'GROUPS', is to select 'SEARCH' instead, scroll down options on the left and select 'Open Theses' - then select category and apply filters. To search for one particular thesis, enter its title in double quotation marks in the 'Search OPAL' box at the top of the home page.

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