August 18, 2022, by Lisa Chin
Winners announced in UNM 2022 3MT®
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. – Albert Einstein
The ability to communicate effectively is perhaps one of the most important life skills. Also important, especially in research and academia, is the ability to simplify – to take the complicated and explain it simply and in an interesting way. These skills are some of the most fundamental but yet may perhaps be some of the hardest to master.
As Harvard Professor Stephen Pinker, an experimental cognitive psychologist and author of several must-read books on language, psychology and human nature, puts it, “The main cause of incomprehensible prose is the difficulty of imagining what it’s like for someone else not to know something that you know”. Researchers, like all experts, are used to presenting to a specific audience that understands technical language and has similar background knowledge and experience. Some may find it hard to share complex ideas and knowledge in a way that is interesting and understandable to non-experts. It is even harder to do it well. This is where the Three Minute Thesis competition (3MT®) comes in. It serves as an ultimate challenge of research communication.
The average doctoral thesis would take 9 hours to present. They only have 3 minutes!
The idea for the 3MT® came about at a time when the state of Queensland in Australia was suffering severe drought. To conserve water, residents were encouraged to time their showers, and many people had a three-minute egg timer fixed to the wall in their bathroom. The then Dean of the University of Queensland’s Graduate School, Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson, put two and two together and the idea for the 3MT® competition was born. Now 3MT® is held in over 900 universities across more than 85 countries worldwide.
Our 3MT®
After two years of virtual competition impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, our 3MT® this year was held in-person on Tuesday 16 August 2022 in the Great Hall. 19 of our postgraduate researchers from a range of disciplines presented their research to a live audience.
“As you were preparing, I saw some of you walking around talking to yourselves and people might be thinking what’s happening to our students. The 3MT® allows us to provide you with the exposure and experience of presenting your research, in line with our effort to enriching your postgraduate research experience and building an inclusive, supportive postgraduate research community at UNM,” said Associate Dean of Graduate School, Dr Maniam Kaliannan during the opening of the live competition.
A panel of judges, drawn from academic and professional services comprised of: Dr Matthew Ashfold, Associate Professor and Head of School at the Faculty of Science and Engineering; Dr Dorcas Lam, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; and Mr Mohd Abdul Kadir, Head of Governance, decided the winner and runner ups.
“A very big well done to all the participants! I think one of the hardest things is to be able to explain really specific, detailed research to a wider audience,” said Dr Ashfold in his capacity as the head judge. He commended the clear and smooth delivery of presentations, good structure of contents with some good usage of analogies, and excellent usage of slide in supporting the presentation points.
Winner
From left: Mr Patrick Joseph, Registrar; and Chen Hui Ling.
We are pleased to announce that Chen Hui Ling from the School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences is the 2022 Winner of UNM 3MT®. Hui Ling won with a presentation of her PhD thesis Microplastics – The invisible hazard which aims at minimising the ecological and human health risks of microplastics – tiny plastic pieces that are abundantly present in the environment. She described her research in investigating the sources and levels of microplastics in our rivers as well as the harmful effects of microplastics. Hui Ling envisioned her research will offer significant solutions to minimising the impact of microplastics on the environment.
Hui Ling will now progress to the video round to compete against the other Nottingham campuses. The overall winner will represent the entire University of Nottingham at the Universitas 21 (U21) Final, also via video, which will be judged by an international panel of industry and academic professionals.
1st Runner Up
From left: Mr Patrick Joseph, Registrar; and Koh Ying Xian.
The 1st Runner Up is Koh Ying Xian from the School of Education with her presentation Creating and evaluating a cognate list between English and Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil to support teaching through the medium of English. Ying Xian described her research examining the use of cognates – words that share similar forms and meanings across languages, to support language learning. She envisioned her research will provide educators and researchers with an evidence-based resource that can inform a more effective pedagogical practice that taps into Malaysian learners’ first language.
2nd Runner Up
From left: Mr Patrick Joseph, Registrar; and Advina Lizah binti Julkifle.
The 2nd Runner Up is Advina Lizah binti Julkifle from the School of Biosciences with her presentation Creating value for the underutilised crops. Advina described her research delving into the nutritional profiles and functional properties of our local underutilised crops, and further exploring the potentials and opportunities of these crops as our food products. She envisioned her research will open a new frontier of creating diversified opportunities for underutilised crops in supporting food and nutritional security.
Empowering postgraduate research ambition
“Our research ethos should not only be about publications or accolades as it is built on the premise that research transform lives and societies as we strive to deliver world-changing research. Having been part of the University for many years, I am constantly reminded and proud of the high quality and world-leading research being produced at UNM. Therefore, events like 3MT® serve the very purpose of translating high level research to a wider audience and lead to a wider dissemination,” said Mr Patrick Joseph, the Registrar at UNM in his closing address.
We at the Graduate School would like to take this opportunity to once again give commendation to the efforts of all participants and further congratulate the success of the winners. This competition gave an exciting glimpse of transformative research undertaken at the University which will go on to have a powerful impact on the 21st century. It was a privilege for us to showcase such impactful research of our postgraduate researchers.
A group photograph of all UNM 2022 3MT® participants with judges and members of the Graduate School.
Contact us
For any enquiries or more information, please contact graduateschool@nottingham.edu.my.
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