Tag: publicengagement

Master’s 3.60 – An Opportunity for Public Engagement

by Rosie Dutt, MRes student in the Department of Chemistry

Within academia, each individual is working diligently towards their research aims. It is fair to say there have been many nights where some may be working tirelessly to fix a programming code, whilst others ponder over why their reaction series has not worked. Eventually, we reach the end of our research once our scientific questions have been fully explored, with the aim of a publication into a prestigious scientific journal. However, this results in our work being read by our peers within the field, and on some occasions, by individuals with allied interests into the research area – but seldom by the general public.

My Three Minute Thesis

By Hannah Maude, 2nd Year PhD Student, Department of Medicine. hannah.maude12@imperial.ac.uk

I was absolutely thrilled to recently be awarded third place in the Graduate School Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition. Not only because it was completely unexpected, but because the standard of the competition was insanely high (classic Imperial?!). Every single contestant gave an excellent talk.

If you aren’t familiar with the concept of a three-minute thesis, I can tell you it means exactly that: describe your three-year PhD in three minutes. Sounds a challenge, right? I confess that my favourite bad habit is signing up to anything outside my comfort zone; bad because it means experiencing all the nerves and potential failure, but good because overcoming the challenge means learning new skills, feeling proud of my achievements, and ultimately having a great time.

180 Seconds

by Paulina Rowinska, PhD student in the Department of Mathematics.

Years of research squeezed into three minutes? That was the task I and eighteen other participants of Imperial College Three Minute Thesis competition had to face on Tuesday 24th April 2018.

The rules are very simple. Contestants get exactly three minutes to describe their research to a general audience, using only one static slide. Sounds easy, but trust me, it’s extremely difficult. How do you introduce your narrow topic, explain what your research involves and persuade the audience that they should care in the first place?

All nineteen of us managed to do that.