On 14 May the University held its first Three Minute Thesis final and is pleased to announced that PhD student, Adam Rush, from the College of Arts won the competition and the People’s Choice Award. Adam will now go on to represent the University in this national competition.
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition challenges doctoral students to present a compelling spoken presentation of their research topic and its significance in just three minutes with only one slide. The competition has taken the research world by storm and UK universities up and down the country are holding internal heats to find their 3MT champion in the hope that their student will be crowned the 2015 Three Minute Thesis Winner.
In The University of Lincoln‘s final, four of our research students took up the challenge and each delivered a fantastic three minute oration of their thesis. The event was supported by postgraduate students, University colleagues and members of the public. The ticking clock counting down from three minutes behind each contestant during their presentation heightened the tense atmosphere, with disqualification looming for anyone over time!
Thankfully all four presentations were within the three minutes and covered topics around dangerous dogs, musical theatre, internationalisation and neighbour behaviour. The audience were able to vote for their winner in the ‘People’s Choice Award’, with the judging panel having to decide who would represent the University of Lincoln in national semi-final. The judging panel consisted of Dr Lisa Mooney, (Dean of Research), Dr David Mullineaux (College of Social Science), Dr Claire Warden (College of Arts) and Nyasha Takawira (Students’ Union).
Adam Rush, from the College of Arts, presented his thesis on Theatrical Cannibalism and won both the audience and judging panel over with his excellent and engaging delivery, taking both the People’s Choice Award and the judges’ vote to become The University of Lincoln‘s Three Minute Thesis Champion. The Graduate School presented Adam with Amazon vouchers as his prizes for winning each award. Adam will now film his presentation with the help of Electric Egg for submission to the UK national online Semi-Final hosted by VITAE.
The three other contestants, Rachel Orritt (Life Sciences), Zamira Noh (Psychology), and Zezhong Tian (Education), all delivered fantastically engaging and informative presentations. Every participant’s enthusiasm for their research really came across in each speech and undoubtedly contributed to the event’s success.
The Graduate School would like to offer thanks to the contestants, the judging panel, Dr Lisa Mooney for hosting the competition and Caroline Hughes for organising the event.
Article written by Jessica Banning