Could you share an 80,000-word thesis in three minutes? The Three Minute Thesis competition was established in 2008 by the University of Queensland, and celebrates research conducted by Doctor of Philosophy students. 3MT aims to cultivate students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills, asking PhD students to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
3MT: Sydney, it’s not easy being green
Megan Taylor from the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building (DAB) recently reached the semi-finals of the Asia-Pacific 3MT competition with her presentation, ‘Sydney, it’s not easy being green‘. In just 180 seconds, Megan walks us through her insights into our use of green spaces in Sydney during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to de-stress and improve public health.
Spoiler alert: Megan’s research with urban planners shows that we’re heading towards a future where there won’t be enough parks in cities, and that’s going to have consequences. The solutions? Get inventive with the parks and spaces we do have, fund and prioritise these spaces like the social benefit they are, and shift policy to favour green parks over car parks!
Reflecting on the process, Megan noted that this apparently simple format is complex to wrangle with, but ultimately great fun:
Three minutes seems like forever when you’re listening to other people, but it goes in a snap when you’re the one presenting. It is the most fun I’ve had in ages. I’ve always loved speaking in front of a live audience, and this was for me the perfect platform to introduce my research in a public forum. It was also such a good way to shake the cobwebs off after three years of pandemic-ing.
Watch Megan’s engaging presentation below, then head to the 3MT website to vote for Megan’s presentation as part of the People’s Choice component in the Semi-Final round of the Asia-Pacific competition. Voting closes at 11:59pm (AEST) on Thursday 6 October.
What happens next?
The eight finalists selected by the judging panels and one wildcard entrant (People’s Choice winner) progress to the 2022 Asia-Pacific 3MT Final. This will be announced on Monday October 10 and will appear on the Asia-Pacific 3MT Final page.
If you’re thinking about taking part yourself, take inspiration from Megan’s experience:
The most valuable and unexpected treasure I got out of this process was the new friendship circle with the other UTS finalists. Everyone is lovely, welcoming, has interesting research, and we just gelled. I couldn’t have asked for a better cohort. They are what made the shared experience such a delight.
The Virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT Final is livestreamed on Wednesday 19 October, where the 9 finalist videos will be played and there will be a short Q&A with each competitor. There will also be an opportunity to vote for People’s Choice during the livestream and the 2022 winners will be announced. To see it all in action, go to the 3MT audience registration.
To read more about Megan’s PhD journey and work, you can follow her on Twitter @MeganKateTaylor.