Articulating postdoctoral legal research – in three minutes

With a research paper in the works for publication in the latest issue of The Manitoba Law Journal, Dr. Illia Roskoshnyi, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Law, took a chance on entering the University of Manitoba’s second annual Three Minute Postdoctoral (3MP) Competition this past September. The competition taught him a lot about explaining his work as concisely as possible to an audience with no legal background.

Roskoshnyi completed his PhD in Law at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine in 2021, on Constitutional and Legal Principles of Human State Interaction in the Information Society. He arrived at Robson Hall in the summer of 2022 through the University of Manitoba’s Scholars at Risk program as a Visiting Academic, and then served as a Research Associate before securing a postdoctoral fellowship.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies hosted the 3MP competition on September 20, 2024 during  National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week to showcase the cutting-edge research being conducted by postdoctoral fellows at UM. Participants had three minutes each to present their work using one static slide. Clarity, engagement and the ability to share complex ideas in an easy-to-understand format for a non-specialized audience were the main skills being judged. Eight postdocs rose to the challenge this year, coming from fields including food science, medical microbiology and infectious disease, engineering, occupational therapy, physiology and pathology, and law. The winners were announced in September and came from several science disciplines.

Dr. Illiya Roskoshnyi, Post-Doctoral Fellow at the UM Faculty of Law, competed in the second annual Three Minute Postdoctoral Speaking Competition (3MP) on September 20, 2024.

After a busy fall term, Roskoshnyi reflected on the 3MP experience once his research was published in The Manitoba Law Journal Volume 47 Issue 3: Underneath the Golden Boy (now available to read in pre-print). Titled, “Legal-Technological Unemployment in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” his paper investigates the title topic through the economic lens of the data-driven economy. Roskoshnyi examines the legal profession’s dilemma of whether to pursue economic prosperity by adopting new artificial intelligence (AI) tools or reject such technology to preserve legal conservatism. He proposes a regulatory solution and educational response to AI automation to mitigate adverse economic ramifications that may arise if such technology is not adopted.

“The competition was both engaging and exciting,” Roskoshnyi recalled. “The organizers primarily focused on evaluating the participants’ oratory skills and presentation slides, with a secondary emphasis on fostering networking opportunities. In my opinion, the competition successfully achieved these objectives.”

At the same time, however, he thought that in future, an evaluation of the participants’ actual research should also be included as part of the process. “After all, the purpose of university education is not only to assess oratory skills and presentation slides but also to evaluate the quality, novelty and content of the research papers,” he reflected.

The concept of having to explain one’s research in the span of three minutes was very challenging, he found. “In my case, I focused on just one part of my paper to fit within the time limit, which turned out to be the best strategy. I don’t think the competition time should be extended, but I advise future participants to focus on the three-minute time limit rather than trying to present their entire research.”

For the purposes of the competition, Roskoshnyi chose to focus on the section of his paper where he investigated the notion of artificial intelligence and its impact on legal monopolies.

3MP participants were allowed one static slide to help with their presentations. Roskoshnyi’s focused on the notion of artificial intelligence and its impact on legal monopolies.

After taking part in the 3MP competition, Roskoshnyi concluded that it was a highly valuable experience for both university students and postdoctoral fellows.  “I encourage future lawyers to participate, as oratory skills are an essential asset for them,” he said.

“Additionally, I would recommend that the organizers involve legal professionals in the evaluation process,” he added, sharing the sentiment that there is a need for more representation from legal scholars in such competitions.

Everyone is welcome to take more than three minutes to read Roskoshnyi’s paper in full, now published in The Manitoba Law Journal Volume 47, Issue 3 (Underneath the Golden Boy) (permalink).

Master of Laws (LLM) and Master of Human Rights (MHR) students will soon have their chance to climb in the three-minute pressure cooker with their research when the Faculty of Graduate Studies presents the Three Minute Thesis (3MT©) and the French language version, Ma thèse en 180 secondes (MT180©) competitions in March, 2025.

Applications are now open. The deadline to apply for the 3MT© is January 22 at 4:00 p.m. CT. The deadline to apply for the MT180© is January 13 at 4:00 p.m. CT.

Story submitted by Faculty of Law.