Humanities researcher takes part in University-wide Three Minute Thesis contest
Postgraduate researcher in English Sumei Karen Anne Tan has taken part in the University of Southampton final of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) contest.
Eight students representing all Faculties competed to present a compelling description of their PhD thesis and its significance in just three minutes before a lecture theatre packed with students and academic staff, mostly new to the subject. Judges decided on the quality of communication, comprehension and engagement with the audience. More than 150 students took part in closely-fought heats around the University to decide on the finalists.
In the contest, Sumei spoke about the attraction of Gothic novel from Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa written in the 18th century to modern examples of the genre such as Twilight, Harry Potter and Young Dracula. Physics postgraduate Paul Gow won first prize and will represent Southampton in the national final later in the year.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Don Nutbeam opened the event and listened with interest to all the finalists. 3MT began in 2008 at the University of Queensland in Australia as a research communication competition and quickly spread around the world. Events are now held at more than 170 universities in 17 countries.