The results of the SDS 3MT competition were announced at the SDS Annual Networking Event on 24th March 2023 at the University of Strathclyde. Both SDS students and non-SDS funded students were invited to enter the competition. Four prizes were awarded:
- SDS PhD student
- SDS Masters student
- Non-SDS funded student
- People’s prize
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. 3MT® challenges PhD students to explain the complexity and relevance of their research to a non-specialist audience in a concise and engaging way. Presenters have a maximum of three minutes to pitch their research and can only use one slide.
SDS would like to thank all students who entered the 3MT competition this year – it’s always a great way for us to hear about all the fantastic research going on in the social sciences that is relevant to the work of SDS.
Our judges have had a difficult job deciding on the winners from our PhD students, Masters students and non-SDS students. We also had a People’s Choice award voted for by PhD students, academics and SDS colleagues and stakeholders.
3MT Judge, Professor Jamie Pearce, Director, SGSSS
“The submissions to the 3MT thesis demonstrated the breadth of important research taking place though the SDS/SGSSS partnership and contributing to enhancing skills policy and delivery in Scotland. The participants in the 3MT also showed their talents for working alongside colleagues beyond the academic sector, and expertly communicating their research in a pithy, accessible and engaging way. It was a great pleasure to be involved in judging these excellent submissions.”
Now it’s time to meet the winners of the 2023 SDS 3MT Competition…
Winner of the PhD Award: Roisin Dooley-Nealis, University of Glasgow
When creating your 3MT presentation, what was the biggest challenge and what did you enjoy the most?
I found the biggest challenge in creating my 3MT presentation was trying to condense my research down into a 3-minute clear and concise message that would be compelling and engage a broad audience. I can certainly relate to the words of Mark Twain who famously said, ‘If you want me to give a two-hour presentation I am ready. If you want only a five-minute speech it will take me two weeks to prepare’. It was interesting trying to decide what information to include and what to leave out and I felt a responsibility also to reflect the hard work I had done so far on my research with the great support of my supervisors as part of our partnership with SDS. Ultimately, I was able to craft a story that highlighted the most important aspects of my work. It was also a great chance to practice being in front of a camera and hone my public speaking skills, it really helped me work on my presentation delivery.
What have you learned from taking part in the 3MT?
I feel participating in the 3MT competition gave me valuable experience in public speaking and the opportunity to develop how to present my work in a clear and engaging way. Overall, the experience of preparing my video and watching my colleagues and fellow presenters’ videos helped me become more aware of my presentation style and the most effective ways to communicate my ideas, which will undoubtedly benefit me in the future.
What’s next in your PhD research?
At this stage, I have completed all of my data collection so I am in the stages of analysis and then moving on to write-up. I am grateful to be attending Aalto University Helsinki for an Overseas Institutional Visit as a visiting researcher from April to May, which will give me an opportunity to gain knowledge about intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship in this dynamic and exciting country and to develop connections with the wider academic community. During the coming months, I aim to move forward with the findings, write-up and impact activities. With my final submission deadline on the horizon I will need to think further about my next steps after the PhD.
What will you spend your vouchers on?
I thought receiving the recognition from the judges was award enough, but I am thrilled to have won the £300 voucher! Honestly, the first thing I thought to buy was an air fryer as they definitely seem to be worth the hype and it would be nice to treat myself and keep body and mind well fuelled especially in this final push with the PhD. Other than that I will need to think about what else to use the voucher for, I think it would be nice to get some things for the important people in my life too. I have also realised that participating in 3MT has given me an ownership and confidence in myself and my subject of Intrapreneurship. Thank you to everyone at Skills Development Scotland for that, as well as the lovely voucher.
Winner of the Masters Award: Maria Cecil, Edinburgh Napier University
When creating your 3MT presentation, what was the biggest challenge and what did you enjoy the most?
The most challenging aspect of creating my 3MT entry was condensing my research topic into the three-minute time limitation. I initially choose a few key points that I wanted to include but found my first recording was well over 6 minutes so had to then edit it further to reduce this whilst still trying to capture the essence of the topic. Another challenge was deciding which format to record in, I tried a few different methods of recording such as MS Teams and the video recorder on my laptop but found these quite clunky to use. Eventually I decided to keep it simple and just record in PowerPoint, as this was by far the easiest and most intuitive method for me. The thing I most enjoyed about creating the presentation was the opportunity to communicate my research with an audience of career professionals. It was enjoyable to consider what aspects of my research they might be interested in, what kind of language and style would be appropriate for them and how I might effectively engage them with my topic.
What have you learned from taking part in the 3MT?
I’ve learned that its best to take a simple, straightforward approach to dissemination of my research, and how to make decisions around what to include or exclude. I feel that my presentation provided a good overview of my research and gave enough detail without giving too much information in the short time available. I’ve also learned that my technical skills when it comes to recording videos need a little bit of work, and that cats and husbands tend to interrupt at the most inopportune moments!
What’s next in your PhD research?
I’m now at the stage where I am starting to narrow down the scope of my research topic and discover the key areas that I want to focus on. This means I can take a more targeted approach to my literature search, which will hopefully bear some fruitful results. I am also starting to think about my data collection, including ethics and data management planning.
What will you spend your vouchers on?
I think I might have to treat my family with some of my vouchers as they have been incredibly supportive of me undertaking the PhD and very proud of my achievements so far.
Winner of the Non-SDS Student Prize: Erin Bartley, University of Glasgow
When creating your 3MT presentation, what was the biggest challenge and what did you enjoy the most?
When creating the 3MT presentation by far the most difficult thing was trying to condense everything into just three minutes. I love my research and love talking so curbing it was definitely very tricky. It really helped my thinking processes however and will definitely help during my many, many editing processes!
What I enjoyed was being able to share what I have been working on and taking it from a different angle to promote my ideas to a wider audience was fun and created lots of new ideas for me. I really enjoyed being creative with my thoughts and planning my slide to reflect that.
What have you learned from taking part in the 3MT?
I think the best thing about the 3MT was meeting lots of contacts through the process. It was great to chat to other researchers about their work and where we could potentially work together, already planning joint papers with other researchers. The whole process has definitely helped my confidence and my skills in being more concise.
What’s next in your PhD research?
I am just at the beginning of my PhD so I will be knee deep in literature reviews for the next few years. Although that is definitely my happy place. The 3MT has definitely given me more confidence to aim for conferences in the future as it has really shown me the benefits of sharing my research with others which is a great lesson to learn so early in the process.
What will you spend your vouchers on?
I’m currently a self-funded student so hopefully I’ll be able to spend it on travel or textbooks, it could be a very interesting stop at Waterstones!!
Winner of the People’s Choice Award: Elysha Ramage, University of Glasgow
When creating your 3MT presentation, what was the biggest challenge and what did you enjoy the most?
The biggest challenge for me was getting my message across in the allocated time. I am a talker, so I really had to reel in my desire to elaborate and explain further! However, I really enjoyed the challenge of having to slim down my presentation and only focus on the key points that I wanted to get across.
What have you learned from taking part in the 3MT?
It gave me a fresh and new perspective on my research. After putting together my presentation I felt I had a clearer focus on what I have achieved with my PhD and how far I have come in terms of the whole research process since I started back in 2018. It really made me think about the impact of my research and where I could go next with it. I think this is really important as I think it is so easy to get lost in the detail when you are doing your project and this really helped me zoom out and think about the project as a whole.
What’s next in your PhD research?
So for me the next stage is write up! I have started the write up process and beginning to pull together some draft chapters. I am also looking for opportunities to attend conferences and potentially even write a paper for publication.
What will you spend your vouchers on?
My sons want me to spend them on Lego and a skateboard however I think I am going to put the voucher towards getting a pergola/arbour for the garden or maybe to buy some plants for the garden. Something garden related. And I think a wee treat for my two boys too!
Any questions, or comments please contact PhD@sds.co.uk
