AN 80,000 WORD THESIS WOULD TAKE 9 HOURS TO PRESENT. THEIR TIME LIMIT… 3 MINUTES!
The Three Minute Thesis ®(3MT) competition challenged PhD students to present a compelling spoken presentation of their research topic and its significance in just three minutes.
From 61 applicants, 46 presenters and 12 finalists emerged 1 winner, Fiona Henderson.
Fiona, a PhD student in the school of Pharmacy impressed the judges with her talk entitled ‘A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – Shedding Light on Cancer’ to take home the £500 first prize.
The event was judged by Prof Amanda Bamford the Associate Dean for Social Responsibility in the faculty of Life Sciences, Prof Tim O’Brien the Associate Dean Social Responsibility in the faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Dr Paul Redmond, Director of Student Life and it is fair to say that they were blown away by both the research and talent on show with Paul declaring that ‘what we saw was how effectively people can utilise the spoken word within 3 minutes…it was absolutely spellbinding.’
Fiona wasn’t the only winner on the night. Laura Newsome from the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences took home the Runner Up prize of £100 with her talk ‘Microbial Magic and Radioactive Remedies.’ Whilst Farideh Jalali from the school of Chemistry impressed the public audience to take home the People’s Choice prize and another £100.
Janine Watson, Chair of the University of Manchester Alumni Association, really summed up the event when she said, ‘the range of speakers was great, their content was fascinating and the things they do are incredible. I think Three Minute Thesis is a marvellous event, it really encourages students to learn and in such a supportive environment.’
Fiona will now be entered into the Vitae hosted UK online Semi Final with a chance of a place in the UK final in September. Good luck Fiona!
You can see the finalist’s performances here: http://www.engagement.manchester.ac.uk/highlights/3_minute_thesis/index.html
With thanks to Manchester Doctoral College, Faculty Researcher Development Teams, Business Engagement Support Team and the University of Manchester Alumni Association for their kind sponsorship.
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