The Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, founded by the University of Queensland, challenges researchers to present their work in three minutes or less to a general audience.

Huyen Le, PhD student in the Department of Materials Engineering, comments:

The 3MT competition has helped me improve my ability to convey complex scientific concepts in simple terms (visually and verbally) that can easily be understood by both technical and non-technical audiences.

My research focuses on combating antimicrobial resistance using soft matter science concepts. By developing new materials that can combat antimicrobial resistance, we can help protect public health and reduce facilities in our under-resourced NHS.

Not only does the competition allows our researchers to present their work to a wider community, but it also gives them a chance to network and build on their public speaking.

Piyushaa, visiting student in the Department of Chemical Engineering states:

I wanted to take part in the 3MT because I liked the challenge this competition would give – being able to summarise all my technical work and presenting it in a way that everyone can understand.

My research stems from the global water scarcity problem, focusing on filtering seawater to obtain freshwater which is a process called desalination. For this, I am producing a green desalination membrane made from a state-of-the-art material called nanocellulose from banana fibres.

This research will help small and medium enterprises, especially in developing economies, as they can use the membranes to desalinate seawater at their own end to produce freshwater.

We would like to congratulate all our researchers who participated in the 3MT competition.