2022 Final
University of Otago grand final 2022
The 2022 annual 3MT® grand final was held on Thursday 4 August, at the Burns 1 lecture theatre full of enthusiastic supporters.
Congratulations to all our finalists for their outstanding presentations.
Congratulations to our 2022 Grand Final Award Winners
Yasmin Nouri – Best Doctoral Presentation
Congratulations to Yasmin, a PhD candidate from the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington. Yasmin's talk was titled “The nature of the beast.”
Yasmin won the Best Doctoral 3MT® award comprising a prize of $750, provided by the Graduate Research School and the opportunity to compete in the Asia-Pacific 3MT® Competition and Matariki Network of Universities 3MT® Competition, both to be held virtually in September and October in 2022.
Update: We are excited to announce that Yasmin was the winner of the 2022 Matariki 3MT® competition, taking home a £750 cash prize. Well done Yasmin!
View Yasmin's video presentation
Rajesh Nautiyal – Doctoral Runner-up Presentation and People's Choice Award winner
Congratulations to PhD candidate Rajesh Nautiyal from the Department of Tourism for winning the Runner-up Doctoral award for his talk titled “Why (and should) I pay for ancient practice.”
Rajesh also took home two awards on the night, the Runner-up Doctoral and the People's Choice Award, both prizes of $250 courtesy of the Graduate Research School.
Rajesh will be representing the University of Otago at the Matariki Network of Universities 3MT® Competition to be held in October in 2022.
View Rajesh's video presentation
Katie Fenton – Best Masters Presentation
Congratulations to Master's candidate Katie Fenton from the Department of Marine Science who won the Best Master's 3MT® award for her talk titled “He whakarauora tuaki: Understanding adult sheltering of juvenile cockles and how this can impact conservation efforts.” Katie took home a prize of $500 courtesy of the Graduate Research School and she had the opportunity to represent the University of Otago at the 3MT® Inter-University Master's Final competition.
An Update: We are proud to announce that Katie won first place the at the 3MT® Inter-University Master's Final event. Katie took home a $1000 pressie card. Well done Katie!
View Katie's video presentation
PhD Finalists
- Peyton Bond
- Lamia Ismail
- Ethan Marshall
- Sarah McQueen
- Rajesh Nautiyal
- Yasmin Nouri
- China Payne
- Iki Mafi Uele
Masters' Finalists
- Katie Fenton
- Yi Zhen Tan
2021 Final
Grand Final
After a hiatus in 2020 due to COVID-19 the annual 3MT® competition was back for 2021. The Grand Final was held on 5 August 2021, with the Burns Lecture Theatre nearing full capacity.
This year the competition saw 12 finalists go head-to-head to capture the audience's attention and convey their research in three minutes.
Congratulations to all our 2021 finalists for their amazing presentations.
Pradeesh
Congratulations to Pradeesh, a PhD candidate from the Department of Computer Science. Pradeesh's talk was titled “Detecting the target of sarcasm is hard: Really?”.
Pradesh won two awards on the night. Firstly, taking the Best Doctoral 3MT® award comprising a prize of $750, provided by the Graduate Research School and the opportunity to compete in the Asia-Pacific 3MT® Competition and Matariki Network of Universities 3MT® Competition, both to be held virtually in 2021.
Pradeesh also took home the People's Choice Award and a prize of $250 courtesy of the Graduate Research School.
Giverny Forbes
Congratulations to Master's candidate Giverny Forbes from the Department of Zoology who took home the Best Master's 3MT® award for her talk titled 'Living with leopard seals'.
Giverny took home a prize of $500 courtesy of the Graduate Research School and will be representing the University of Otago at the New Zealand Universities 3MT® Master's Competition to be held virtually later this year.
Patrick Boudreau
Congratulations to PhD candidate Patrick Boudreau from the Department of Tourism for winning the Runner-up Doctoral award for his talk titled 'The optimal state for adventure sports'.
Patrick took home a $250 prize courtesy of the Graduate Research School and will be representing the University of Otago at the Matariki Network of Universities 3MT® Competition to be held later this year.
2021 Finalists
PhD Finalists
- Patrick Boudreau
- Phoebe Heenan
- Cassandra Joseph
- Pradeesh
- Fathimath Shiraani
- Hayley Stent
- Lucy Thomsen
- Kavindra Wijenayake
Master's Finalists
- Gray Baldwin
- Giverny Forbes
- Yi Zhen Tan
- Hannah Van Der Woude
2019 Final
Grand Final
Congratulations to our winners, and to all 11 finalists who competed to a very high standard in the Grand Final. And a big thank you to everyone who helped with the event, and came along and supported on the night.
Best Doctoral presentation
Cassie Stylianou | Health Sciences | Topic: Unravelling the genetic variants underlying inherited endometrial cancer risk
Cassie went on to win the People's Choice Award in the Matariki Network of Universities 3MT® Competition 2019.
Best Master's presentation
Jonah Belk | Sciences | Topic: Modelling the passive dynamics of spider locomotion through robotic design
Jonah went on to win the People's Choice Award in the NZ Inter-University 3MT® Master's Final 2019.
People's Choice Award
Jeff Doherty | Sciences | Topic: The “suicidal” cricket and the hairworm
Doctoral category finalists
Cassie Stylianou | Health Sciences | Topic: Unravelling the genetic variants underlying inherited endometrial cancer risk
Cherie McConville | Commerce | Topic: No one left behind: Adventure for Everyone
Jason Chua | Health Sciences | Topic: Aligning recommended knee osteoarthritis inventions with what people want
Jeff Doherty | Sciences | Topic: The “suicidal” cricket and the hairworm
Karun Rawat | Commerce | Topic: Emotions experienced by high-altitude mountain guides who guide above death zone
Laura Schilperoort | Humanities | Topic: Practising gender equality: Church-going couples' experiences of egalitarianism and tools for counter-cultural living
Victoria Purdy | Sciences | Topic: Fingerprinting New Zealand hops: Can we expand the NZ hop industry?
With this updated version of her 2019 presentation, Victoria Purdy went on to win the People's Choice Award in the Matariki Network of Universities 3MT® Competition 2020.
Masters' category finalists
Jonah Belk | Sciences | Topic: Modelling the passive dynamics of spider locomotion through robotic design
Madeline McIntyre Wilson |Health Sciences | Topic: Investigating combination gene and drug therapies as potential treatments for CLN6 batten's disease in children
Megha Sethi |Sciences | Topic: Invertebrate response to water abstraction
Rebecca Kennedy-Perkins | Humanities | Topic: Greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, should we give a cow?
Prizes
Doctoral winner
- NZ$750 grant to contribute towards your research
- Return flights to 2019 Three Minute Thesis Asia-Pacific Final in Brisbane. Proudly sponsored by Helloworld
- Accommodation and transfer costs Dunedin-Brisbane return
Master's
- NZ$500 grant to contribute towards your research
- NZ$250 travel voucher (towards travel booking with Dunedin store). Proudly sponsored by Helloworld
People's Choice
- NZ$250 grant to contribute towards your research
- Travel suitcase – Proudly sponsored by Helloworld
Finalists
- All finalists receive a goodie bag and NZ$50 travel voucher (towards travel booking with Dunedin store). Proudly sponsored by Helloworld.
Thank you to our sponsor: Helloworld
2018 Final
The 2018 Three Minute Thesis Competition final was held on Friday 3 August on the Dunedin campus - we are excited to share the winning participants' presentations below.
Tess Soulié
Congratulations to Tess Soulié, a PhD candidate from the Dean's Department, University of Otago Wellington, whose talk entitled The therapeutic crafting of love: journey to the core of the clinical encounter with patients at risk for suicide based on her PhD Clinical suicidologists: Exploration of representations and implications for therapeutic stance. Tess received a NZ$750 research grant courtesy of the University of Otago and will represent Otago at the Asia-Pacific Three Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Queensland on 27 September 2018. Her travel to this event has been generously covered by helloworld Dunedin, official sponsor for the University of Otago 3MT® event.
Yasmin Nouri
The Master's winner title, and a NZ$750 University of Otago research grant, went to Yasmin Nouri, a Master's student from Genetics, Health Sciences with her presentation entitled Using 3D organoids to model hereditary stomach cancer. The University also sponsored Yasmin to represent Otago at the Master's 3MT® National Inter-University Challenge at the University of Canterbury on 23 August 2018 and we are delighted to announce that she was judged overall winner - congratulations Yasmin!
Emer Lyons
The PhD Peopleʻs Choice Award went to Emer Lyons, from English and Linguistics, Humanities for her presentation entitled Shaming the personal in queer lyric poetry based on her PhD A critical/creative comparison of queer poetics between Ireland and New Zealand. Emer received a NZ$200 research grant from the University of Otago, to add to the NZ$300 she received from the Division of Humanities for winning her Divisional Heat in July.
Christopher Kaldor
The Master's People's Choice Award went to Christopher Kaldor, from Pathology, Health Sciences University of Otago Christchurch, for his presentation entitled NET-formation in the context of pneumonia. Chris received a NZ$200 research grant from the University of Otago, to add to the NZ$300 he received from the Dean's Office, University of Otago Christchurch, for winning his Divisional Heat in July.
Thanks again to all the 2018 competitors, event helpers and supporters – hope to see you next year!
Our other finalists:
PhD Finalists
Alistair Richardson – Chemistry, Sciences
Emer Lyons – English and Linguistics, Humanities
Jessica Young – DSM - General Practice and Rural Health, Health Sciences, Dunedin
Mark Millin – Economics, Commerce
Marshall Lewis – Anthropology and Archaeology, Humanities
Tess Soulie – Dean's Department, Health Sciences, UOW
Zoe Ward – Medicine, Health Sciences, UOC
Masters' FinalistsAn Nguyen – Marketing, Commerce
Angel McNamara – History and Art History, Humanities
Christopher Kaldor – Pathology, Health Sciences, UOC
Kanon Jatuworapruk – Medicine, Health Sciences, UOW
Rossana Boni – Bioengineering, Sciences
Yasmin Nouri – Genetics, Health Sciences, Dunedin
2017 Final
The 2017 Three Minute Thesis Competition final was held on Friday 4 August in the Castle 2 lecture theatre on the Dunedin campus, and was also streamed live online.
Congratulations (again!) to Nicola Beatson, a PhD candidate from the Otago Business School, Accounting and Finance department, whose talk entitled 'Confidence Matters' based on her PhD 'The role of self-efficacy beliefs in accounting education'. Nicola received a $750 research grant and airfares and accommodation to represent Otago at the Asia-Pacific Three Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Queensland on 29 September 2017, both courtesy of the University of Otago.
In 2015 Nicola won the 3MT® Masters final at Otago and travelled to compete in the Inaugural Masters' 3MT® National University Challenge in Auckland.
The master's winner title and a $750 University of Otago research grant went to Deanna Beckett, a master's student from Preventive and Social Medicine, Health Sciences with her presentation entitled 'Incorporating economic evaluation into oral health related quality of life measure for children'. The University also sponsored Deanna to represent Otago at the Inaugural Masters 3MT® National Inter-University Challenge at Victoria, University of Wellington on 24 August 2017.
Deanna was chosen to receive a People's Choice Award at the Wellington event.
Other finalists were:
PhD finalists
Adam Denny – Physiology, Health Sciences
Adeel Akmal – Management, Commerce
Andrew Mills – Psychology, Sciences
Chidimma Aham-Chiabuotu – Population Health, Otago University, Christchurch
Ellie-May Jarvis – Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Otago University, Wellington
Rafaela Costa Camoes Rabello – College of Education, Humanities
Sabarinath Prasad – Oral Sciences, Health Sciences
Masters finalistsAlex Wilson – Music, Theatre & Performing Arts, Humanities
Josie Cairns – Geography, Sciences
Thanks again to all the 2017 competitors and event helpers. Hope to see you next year!
2015 Final
The 2015 Three Minute Thesis Competition final was held on Wednesday 26 August in the Archway 4 lecture theatre on the Dunedin campus, and was also streamed live online.
Congratulations to Jenny McDowell, a PhD candidate from the Sir John Walsh Research Institute, whose talk entitled 'Time related taphonomic alteration to juvenile skeletal remains in a marine environment: The effect of seawater on bone preservation over time' earned her the Supreme Award. Jenny received a $1,000 research grant and airfares and accommodation to represent Otago at the Trans-Tasman Three Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Queensland on 2nd October 2015, both courtesy of the University of Otago.
Special mention must be made to Jenny who went on to win her heat at the Trans-Tasman competition at the University of Queensland, locking in her spot in the final, which also meant making the top ten of a total of 50 competitors – a tremendous achievement! Congratulations, Jenny!
The master's winner title and a $1,000 University of Otago research grant went to Nicola Beatson, a master's student from the Department of Accounting and Finance, whose presentation was titled 'Motivation and Satisfaction at Work: Is it the Money or the Job? A study of IT professionals.' The University also sponsored Nicola to represent Otago at the Inaugural Masters 3MT® National Inter-University Challenge in Auckland on 10 September 2015.
Gilles Marciniak, a PhD student from the Centre of Sustainability won the Crowd Favourite crown and a $500 research grant for his talk entitled 'Making the Intangible Tangible: Eliciting Landscape Values at a Community Level'.
Other finalists were:
Hana Cadzow – Geography
Emma Wade – Women and Children's Health
Leon Mabire – School of Physiotherapy
Emanuel Kofler – Management
John Gray – Peace and Conflict Studies
Chris Larsen – Chemistry
Mayouri Sukhapure – Psychological Medicine (UOC)
More great stories and information about the 2015 3MT® can be found on the Graduate Research School BLOG!
Thanks again to all the 2015 competitors and event helpers. Hope to see you next year!
2013 Final
The 2013 Three Minute Thesis Competition final was held on Friday 30 August in the Castle 1 lecture theatre on the Dunedin campus, and was also streamed live online.
Congratulations to Daniel Wee, a PhD candidate from the Department of Philosophy, whose talk entitled 'Talking to oneself: Is it still a language if only one person understands it?' earned him the Supreme Award. Daniel received an Apple iPad, and airfares and accommodation to represent Otago at the Australasian Three Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Western Sydney on 18 October 2013, both courtesy of the University of Otago.
Second place and a Samsung Galaxy tablet sponsored by OfficeMax went to Helen Alderson, a master's student from the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, whose presentation was called 'Geochemically sourcing the architectural basalt of Nan Madol.'
David Barton, a master's student from the Department of Psychology won the Schools' Favourite prize of a $250 book voucher courtesy of the University Book Shop, for his talk entitled 'What's in a Name?' This was voted by Dunedin high school students who were invited to attend the final.
Our other finalists were:
Shobhit Eusebius – Marketing
Jessica Leov – Psychological Medicine, DSM
Oliver Watkins – Chemistry
Rebecca Gray – Public Health, UOW
Andrew Das – Pathology, UOC
Sophia Cameron-Christie – Women's and Children's Health, DSM
Footage of the 2013 final can be viewed elsewhere on our website.
2012 Final
The 2012 Three Minute Thesis Competition final was held on Friday 31 August in the Dunedin College of Education Auditorium, and was also streamed live online.
Congratulations to Andrew Filmer from the Department of Music, whose talk entitled 'String Retunings: Modern Approaches to a Lost Art' earned him the Supreme Award. Andrew received a $1,500 study grant, and airfares and accommodation to represent Otago at the Australasian Three Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, which will be held on 11 October 2012.
Second place and a $750 study grant went to Allamanda Faatoese from the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago's Christchurch campus, whose topic was "Why are Maori dying earlier of heart disease?"
Hemakumar Devan from the School of Physiotherapy was awarded third place and a $500 study grant for his presentation 'Amputation, Asymmetry and Low Back Pain.' Hemakumar also won the $250 prize for best presenter as voted by Dunedin high school students who were invited to attend the final.
Our other finalists were:
Tim Crawford – Biochemistry, OSMS and Botany
Rebecca Cooke – Human Nutrition and Medicine, DSM
Rebecca Van Amber – Applied Sciences
Neil Vallelly – English and Linguistics
Wiebke Finkler – Tourism
View the Footage of the 2012 final.
2011 Final
The 2011 Three Minute Thesis Competition final was held on Wednesday 31 August in the Dunedin College of Education Auditorium, and was also streamed live online.
Congratulations to Jack Rivers from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, whose talk on medical marijuana earned him the Supreme Award. Jack received a $2,000 study grant, and airfares and accommodation to represent Otago at the Australasian Three Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Western Australia in Perth, which was held on 29 September 2011. Jack also gave an impressive performance at this event, taking out the People's Choice Award, and his winning presentation can be viewed here.
Second place and a $1,000 study grant went to Kirsten Walsh from the Department of Philosophy, whose topic was 'Experiment and Mathematic in Newton's Natural Philosophy.'
Jordana Norrish from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics was awarded third place and a $500 study grant for her presentation 'The Language of Mathematics: Lost in Translation?'
Our other finalists were:
Jonathan Foo – Pathology and Molecular Medicine, UOW
Azrina Md Ralib – Medicine, UOC
Yanwei Tan – English
Travis Monk – Zoology
Hongjun Shi – Pathology and Molecular Medicine, UOW
Carla Jellum – Tourism
2010 Final
In 2010 we had ten finalists who presented their PhD research to a large and enthusiastic audience – as well as a television crew from Invercargill-based station Cue TV – in the Dunedin College of Education Auditorium on 19 August.
Our Supreme Award Winner was Carol Wyvill from the Department of English, with her presentation 'Mirror of a Medieval Monk.'
The Audience Favourite Award was shared between Evan Tan from the Department of Women's and Children's Health at the Dunedin School of Medicine, and Daniel Hutchinson from the Department of Chemistry. Evan's presentation was on 'Sleep – A new tool against childhood obesity?' and Daniel's was called 'Chemistry in Action.'
Our other finalists were:
Trudy Sullivan – Economics
Jordana Norrish – Mathematics and Statistics
Tracy Melzer – Medicine, UOC
Moira Smith – Public Health, UOW
Jacqueline Kao – Chemistry
Patty Towl – Education
Kristen Steslow – Bioethics, DSM
Our supreme award winner received a $2,000 conference/travel grant, as well as a trip to Brisbane to compete in the Australasian final at the University of Queensland in September, with each finalist each receiving a $250 study grant. In addition to this, the presenter voted the audience favourite, won a $1,000 conference/travel grant.