The Southampton Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is one of many such competitions held world-wide and 2019 was our sixth year of Three Minute Thesis at Southampton. The competition runs annually as part of our Festival of Doctoral Research.
3MT Grand Final 2019
The 3MT Grand Final was held on Wednesday 15 May during the Festival of Doctoral Research. Six finalists, one from each Faculty (two from the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences) took to the stage in front of a packed lecture theatre to compete for the University title, and the opportunity to move further in the National Competition run by Vitae.
While the judges deliberated, and the People's Choice counted, the audience were treated to a mind-blowing talk from special guest, Dr Ben Littlefield, Head of Curiosity, Winchester Science Centre.
Congratulations to all our finalists!
The Winners
The competition was very tight, so close that the audience were tied for the People's Choice.
University 3MT Champion
Gabriela Sitinova - Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Runner up
Alvaro Castilla Beltran - Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences
People's Choice
Gabriela Sitinova - Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Jennifer Walker - Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Judging Panel
Chair: David Steynor – Impact Framework Manager (RIS)
Ann Bingham – Senior Teaching Fellow in Academic Practice
Anna O’Neill – Director of Library Services & Arts Strategy
Allison Stratford – Head of Corporate Communications
Thank you to everyone that sat on the judging panel this year.
Take a look at the photos of 3MT on our .
Finalists
Faculty |
Faculty Winner |
|---|---|
| Arts and Humanities |
Shawnee Harkness Modern Languages |
| Engineering & Physical Sciences (ECS, Physics, ORC and Chemistry) |
Gabriela Sitinova Chemistry |
| Engineering & Physical Sciences (Engineering) |
Jenny Walker Engineering |
| Environmental and Life Sciences |
Alvaro Castilla-Beltran Geography |
| Medicine |
Robin Poole Medicine |
| Social Sciences |
Kaveri Mayra Social Statistics & Demography |
Congratulations to all our finalists!
3MT® was first developed by the University of Queensland, and is now a global initiative including many UK universities.  Participation in the competition helps our doctoral researchers to build their confidence and hone their presentation and communication skills.  Its also a great way to find out about the exciting and varied research going on across the University at doctoral level.
Previous Southampton winners have gone on to national 3MT success. In 2016 Nazira Albargothy (Medicine) went on to win the UK competition in September 2016; in 2017 Lauren Jevons (also Medicine) got through to the final twelve in the UK semi-final; and in 2018 Rachel Owen (Environmental and Life Sciences) went through to be one of the six UK finalists.
