Three Minute Thesis competition goes virtual

Thursday, 20 August 2020

From estimating soil moisture using a remote sensor to management of childhood stuttering in Sri Lanka, this year's virtual Three Minute Thesis competition showcased intriguing and excellent PhD research.

Vice Chancellor with 3MT winner and DVC, Janet Nelson
(L-R) Professor Alex Zelinsky, Philippa Ditton-Phare, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Professor Janet Nelson

Held annually, the Three Minute Thesis competition sees three selected finalists from each Faculty compete to represent the University at the Asia-Pacific finals. The competitors are tasked with presenting an eighty thousand-word thesis to an audience in just three minutes to explain what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and why.

Congratulations to this year’s winner, Philippa Ditton-Phare, who is a PhD candidate with the School of Medicine. Philippa impressed the judges with her talk on improving doctor-patient communication in psychiatry.

In a presentation today, Vice-Chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky, awarded Philippa her prize of $5,000 for research-related expenses thanks to major sponsor, UniBank. Philippa will represent the University of Newcastle at the 2020 Asia-Pacific finals, held by the University of Queensland on Thursday 1 October.

Click here to watch each of the 15 finalist videos produced for this year’s online event.

1st Place

Philippa Ditton-Phare, Faculty of Health and Medicine

Improving Doctor-Patient Communication in Psychiatry: An Evaluation of a Communication Skills Training Program

$5,000 research expenses

2nd Place

Jessica Madden, Faculty of Health and Medicine

A Genetic Approach to Understanding Chronic Pain

$2,000 research expenses

3rd Place

Jarrod Sansom, Faculty of Education and Arts

Facebook Wars: You’re either with us… or against us

$1,000 research expenses

People’s Choice

Sabiha Matin, Faculty of Business and Law

Opitimising the benefits of hosting business events

$250 research expenses


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