Northumbria hosts the Three Minute Thesis Regional Final 2024

The Regional Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Final brought together eleven PGR students from five northeast universities to compete and share their research. Northumbria hosted students from Newcastle, Durham, Sunderland, and Teesside, who were accompanied by a judge from each institution. Three doctoral students from Northumbria were also included in the lineup.

The event demonstrated the rich diversity of research taking place in the region. Some of the three-minute presentations included research into black holes, liver disease, and technological interventions for managing misinformation. There was also dedicated time for the students and staff to network, share knowledge, and get to know more about their work.

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) was created by the University of Queensland, Australia, and each year there is a National Competition in the UK to which each university submits their overall winner. The northeast regional competition was intended to be a means for doctoral students, independent of the National Competition, to compete and share their research, and to strengthen the links between institutional PGR communities.

The three Northumbria students taking part in the event, Connie Dalton (Health and Life Sciences), Lauren Scott (Engineering and Environment), and Mary Moreland (Health and Life Sciences), were the winners of the university’s 3MT® final held at the inaugural PGR Conference on Thursday 6 June 2024. The video of the overall winner of the university final, Patrick Tait (Health and Life Sciences), will go forward to the National Competition.

The winners of the Regional Final were:

• Winner – Jo Baker (Newcastle University), ‘Elsa, the tiger and the Speech Sound Disorder’
• Second Place – Carolina Gómez (Durham University), ‘Do bumblebees have preferred floral smells?’
• Third Place – Connie Dalton (Northumbria University), ‘Free School Meals Across the United Kingdom: what’s going on?

The winners were determined by a panel of judges comprised of:

• Dr David McGrogan (Northumbria) – PGR Director, Faculty of Business and Law
• Dr Richy Hetherington (Newcastle) – Faculty of Medical Sciences PGR Development Programme Coordinator
• Paul Stafford (Durham) – Enterprise Manager, PGR Enterprise & Enterprise Skills
• Dr Andrew Rawnsley (Teesside) – Head of Research Governance & PGR Research
• Dr Mark Proctor (Sunderland) – Academic Development Officer (Research)

The top three competitors each received a trophy and shopping vouchers for high-street retailers. Congratulations to all of the PGR students who contributed towards making the event such a success.

The Regional Final was organised and facilitated by staff from The Graduate School (Research and Innovation Services) led by James Clay, in conjunction with staff from each of the universities.

Next year, the Regional Final will be hosted by another of the five institutions, and the university is looking forward to seeing which of its doctoral students will be going forward to compete.