Eight PhD students are set to battle it out for cash prizes at this year’s 3 Minute Thesis (‘3MT’) competition finals.
They were among more than 60 entries in this year’s 3MT competition, which seeks to best showcase a PhD topic in just three minutes.
The eight faculty finalists go head-to-head in the university decider at Flinders, with the winners and runner-ups each so far receiving $500 and $250 respectively, along with a place in the final and a professional development package.
The overall winner of Flinders University’s 3-Minute Thesis (‘3MT’) competition, to be decided on 28 August, will compete in the Trans-Tasman final competition at the University of Queensland in October. Up to $8,000 in prizes is up for grabs in the Australia-NZ finals.
“It’s been a great competition this year, with more than 60 entries across our four faculties,” says 3MT organiser Emily Davis.
Professor Jeri Kroll, the Dean of Graduate Research, says the competition is a “terrific way for our doctoral candidates to think about why their projects can make a difference”.
“It’s also a wonderful professional development exercise by giving them practice in communicating to a non-specialist audience,” Professor Kroll says.
Results from the 2015 Flinders 3MT heats were:
Winner – Stephanie Jong (School of Education), Topic – #fitspo: The impact of online fitness information.
Runner-up – Jana Rogasch (School of Humanities and Creative Arts) Topic – Building society in central Turkey, 6500-5500 BC.
Social and Behavioural Sciences
Winner- Glory Gatwiri (School of Social and Policy Studies) Topic –Through their eyes of shame: The stories of Kenyan women living with vaginal fistulas.
Runner Up – Jeremy Stevenson (School of Psychology) Topic – Self Compassion: Mechanisms of change in social anxiety.
Winner – Laurence Stewart (School of Chemical and Physical Sciences) Topic – The Molecular Song.
Runner-Up – Jakob Andersson (School of Chemical and Physical Sciences) – Topic – Mimicking Microbial Membranes.
Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Winner – Katherine Morel (School of Medicine) Topic – Parthenolide: To live and let die.
Runner-up – Ted Evans (School of Health Sciences) Topic –People with disabilities want to make a transformation for their lives.
All students are invited to the final showdown at 3pm at the Health Sciences Lecture Theatre Complex 1.01 on Friday, 28 August.
A $2,000 prize for the winner, $500 for the runner-up and $1,000 People’s Choice prize will be decided on the day. Entrants will also receive a range of prizes from the New Venture Institute.
More than $8,000 in prizes is up for grabs in the Trans-Tasman final to be held in Queensland on 2 October.