University of Newcastle postgraduate student Gabrielle Briggs will this week compete in the final of the Trans-Tasman Three Minute Thesis competition.

In just 180 seconds, the biochemistry PhD student will explain her research into the cause of Parkinson's Disease. She is part of a competition that encourages postgraduate students to explain their complex ideas in lay terms.

After winning the regional competition held at the University of Newcastle in August, Ms Briggs will now compete against postgraduate students from across Australia and New Zealand at the final, to be held today (21 September) at the University of Queensland.

"There can be a fine line between simplifying your work and dumbing it down so I removed the scientific jargon and kept well-known words such as gene and enzyme," Ms Briggs said of her presentation.

"I will concentrate on keeping a flow of logic so that I don't lose the audience's attention."

If she wins Ms Briggs, will receive $5,000 to support her research. For more information on the competition visit the Three Minute Thesis page.