Libby Kimber
18 August 2017: University of Canberra staff and students have showcased their work at the Canberra Health Annual Research Meeting (CHARM) held earlier this month.
The annual conference held at The Canberra Hospital brings together the best health and medical research from the ACT and surrounding regions.
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University of Canberra PhD student Caroline Gouws presented her ‘Three Minute Thesis’ at the CHARM conference. Photo: Supplied.
University of Canberra Assistant Professor in Sports Psychology Richard Keegan attended the conference and said the University was well represented with both staff and students.
“We have a huge health faculty and we have some really interesting things going on,” Dr Keegan said.
“At the University of Canberra, we pride ourselves on undertaking important practical and applied research. It’s about doing something in practice, that’s the real strength of what we do”.
A new feature of the event this year was the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, where researchers from various universities present their current research projects in just three minutes.
The conference heard presentations from the University of Canberra, the Australian National University, the Australian Catholic University and the University of New South Wales.
3MT presentations from the University of Canberra covered topics such as food science and nutrition, mental health, and physiotherapy.
PhD student Caroline Gouws was awarded third place after sharing her research on the Australian prickly pear.
“This ‘waste product’ actually has fantastic nutritional properties and a multitude of beneficial health compounds,” Ms Gouws said.
Ms Gouws said the 3MT competition was a great way for students to share their work with a wider audience.
“The 3MT competition adds an additional community aspect to the CHARM conference,” she said.
“It allows the general public to see what exciting research is happening in the health scope, particularly in allied health.”
Ms Gouws is now preparing for the University’s 3MT finals, which will be held on 30 August.
Dr Keegan, who also participated in a debate at a conference dinner, said the event was a fantastic way for researchers to communicate directly with the people who would be applying their findings.
“By delivering [the research] straight to practitioners, it increases the impact,” he said. “Rather than speculating, we actually know who we’re talking to and what they need, which changes the conversation.”
