Research Week 2021: Winners of the Research Communication Competition

At Bishop’s University, one way to showcase research is through the annual Research Week. Traditionally, this week has allowed our students to present their accomplishments and brought our community together for a celebration. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we were forced to cancel our activities last year. In 2021, we decided to find an innovative way to virtually celebrate our Research Week, from March 22 to March 26. To highlight our talented student researchers, the Office of Research and Graduate Studies organized a Research Communication Competition instead of our traditional poster competition.

Inspired by “3-Minute Thesis”, a global competition founded by the University of Queensland, the Research Communication Competition was geared to cultivate academic, presentation and research communication skills, and was open to Bishop’s undergraduate and graduate students. Participants were invited to submit a three-minute video to present a research project for which they made an active and significant contribution. We are proud to announce that the virtual competition incited quite a bit of interest, bringing in more viewers than we usually have at our in-person poster competitions.

Three prizes were awarded by the jury, and one prize by the Bishop’s Community. Submissions were evaluated based on the participants’ presentation and scientific communication skills, as well as the structure and content of their presentation.

In the category Undergraduate Students – Natural Sciences, the winner was Gemma Camara of the Department of Psychology for the project Specific Olfactory Deficits Associated with Cognitive Decline in Seniors. Gemma also won the People’s Choice Award. Her project examined the relationship between cognitive scores and detection of specific odors in the elderly, under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Carriere of the Department of Psychology and Dr. Rona Graham (FMSS, Université de Sherbrooke).

In the category Undergraduate Students – Social Sciences, Education and Business, the winner was Evelyne Verrette of the Department of Economics for the project Buying Local Initiatives in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: An analysis of their effectiveness. Under the supervision of Dr. Marianne Vigneault of the Department of Economics, Evelyne analyzed the economic and social effectiveness of “buying local” initiatives by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the category Graduate Students, the winner was Darrin Wilson of the School of Education for the project The role of Cialdini’s principle of scarcity and the Zeigarnik effect in increasing and sustaining motivation in students. Supervised by Dr. Sunny Lau of the School of Education, Darrin explored how teachers might be able to structure lessons, lectures, and course content to improve the retention of information by students.

Research is a fundamental part of Bishop’s University’s mandate. Our student and faculty researchers contribute, and must continue to contribute to the generation of new knowledge, to mobilizing this knowledge to relevant community partners and research users and, in doing so, contribute to innovation and economic development of the region, province and country. Congratulations to our winners, and to all the participants. Thank you for showcasing the amazing research taking place at Bishop’s. If you have not had the chance to watch the submissions of our participants, they are still available on the BU website – Vote for the People’s Choice Award page.