Competition puts PhD students under pressure to present thesis in three minutes
Phd student Lianne Shanely was named the Three Minute competion winner for her assessment of the immune response to novel biomaterials. Picture: Jason Clarke.
As opposed to the norm of presenting an 80,000 word thesis in up to nine hours, eight PhD students from across Ireland went head to head on Wednesday, presenting their research in just three minutes.
The Three Minute Thesis competition was not for the faint-hearted, and saw participants present their extensive research in minutes using just one slide, while ensuring the presentation was easily understood by a general audience.
A large timer in bold red numbers was threatening the finalists as they presented, with anyone going over 3 minutes facing disqualification.
“It was a big challenge,” said University of Limerick PhD researcher Patrick Dolan.
“In a very formal setting in presentations or conferences, I get quite nervous,” he said.
However, you could not tell that Mr Dolan was nervous as he presented his thesis on a programme to reduce injuries and improve performance among amateur rugby players in Ireland.
Mr Dolan said there is a wide range of resources available to professional players which reduce the likelihood of injury before asking: “What about the rest of us?”
He said community rugby in Ireland reports higher injury rates compared to similar cohorts abroad and set out to find out the types of injuries occurring by monitoring 25 clubs across the country.
Mr Dolan then designed an inexpensive 15-minute programme which involves several phases including exercises targeted towards injury-prone areas. An eight-month trial of the programme found “incredible results”.
Those using the programme saw 32% fewer severe injuries, 42% fewer non-contact injuries and a 60% reduction in the “all too common” knee and shoulder ligament strains compared to those who did not use it.
Each finalist had already won the contest at their own universities with University College Cork’s (UCC) Astrid Dedieu presenting on the impact of offshore wind farms on Irish sea birds in the context of the target to generate 30% renewable energy by 2030.
“The nerves were quite challenging and trying to make technical terms seem interesting. There’s a lot of maths, modelling and coding involved in what I do which I tried to brush over as much as I could because I would lose people otherwise,” she said.
In the end, it was Trinity College Dublin’s Lianne Shanley who took home the award after presenting on teaching the immune system “to grow a new you”.
During her three minutes, and against the backdrop of a large image of an axolotl, Ms Shanley explained that, unlike certain animals, humans cannot regenerate organs due to the complex nature of our immune system.
She explained how biomaterials, which she described as anything intended to be used within the body, can be used to communicate with the immune system and create a pro-regenerative environment.
Ms Shanley, who is nearing the end of her PhD, said she is “terrified” of public speaking with the competition allowing her to become more comfortable while also allowing her to think of her research in a new and creative way.
“It was definitely challenging but in an exciting and fun way,” she said.
She is the first-ever winner of the Irish competition, with the Irish Universities Association (IUA) confirming the Three Minute Thesis will become an annual occurrence.
