Meet the GRADflix finalist who makes complex simple

Each year the University of Waterloo GRADflix competition sees Master’s and PhD students from every discipline participate, creating 60-second videos describing their research and showcasing the amazing ideas and ambitions of our community of graduate researchers. This year, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs is following up with our 2023 participants. In a series of video interviews, we asked them about their GRADflix experience, what they learned, and what they hope to share with others.

Our next GRADflix experience belongs to Marina Ansanelli, a PhD candidate in Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science. Her research is centered around understanding more about the deepest underpinnings of nature, by means of investigating the foundations of Quantum Mechanics. 

Marina’s GRADflix submission that made her a finalist is titled Understanding Causality. In her interview, she describes the thought processes that went into condensing a complex abstract topic into a 60 second video, where to start, and how the GRADflix experience changed how she explains her research to friends, family, and others outside of her field.

If you are working on research with exciting applications or implications, consider sharing it with us. Thinking about advice for future competitors on knowing what to focus on, Marina said “try to think why your work is interesting for you”.

There is so much amazing research being done here at Waterloo, and GRADflix is the perfect opportunity to showcase it to the wider community. Check out the GRADflix competition web page for more information about how you can participate and create your own GRADflix experience!