UCLA Three-Minute Theses: August 8th Will Be the Grand Finale

Ten finalists studying for their doctorates at the Catholic University, in fields as diverse as mathematics, education, psychology and engineering, will be the grand finalists of a competition organized by the Graduate School of the Office of the Vice-Rector for Research. On August 8, they will face the challenge of explaining their research in just three minutes, in familiar language and in English, to a non-specialist audience.

University of California Opening.- The Graduate School of the University of California Office of the Vice President for Research received 23 applications, equivalent to 15 doctoral programs, for the new edition of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT® UC) competition.

The 12th edition, which has involved more than 290 doctoral students between 2013 and 2024, will take place on August 8. The venue? The main auditorium of the UC Anacleto Angelini Innovation Center, at the entrance to the San Joaquin campus.

The committee had the difficult task of selecting the ten pre-selected, coming from PhDs from all fields of knowledge: José Joaquín Carvajal (Mathematics); Benjamin Diethelm (Biological Sciences, mention Molecular Genetics and Microbiology); Cristian Espinosa (Biological Sciences, mention Physiological Sciences); Francisco Quilodran (Education); Cindy Tabello (Biological and Medical Engineering); Nibaldo Avilés (Engineering Sciences, area of ​​Civil Engineering); Linda Pavez (Chemistry); Camila Román (Psychology); Felipe Ormeno (Plant Biotechnology); Rocío Barón (Biological and Medical Engineering).

The 2024 jury will be chaired by Ignacio Sánchez, Rector of the Catholic University; Diego Cosmeli, Director of the School of Graduate Studies; Macarena Droguet, winner of the competition in 2023; Ricardo Rosas, Director of the Center for Development of Integration Technologies, CEDETi UC; and Julie McPherson, Entrepreneur at Endeavor and member of various boards of directors.

To select a winner, they must consider criteria such as communication style, i.e. whether the topic and meaning of the thesis were communicated in language appropriate to a prepared, but non-specialist, audience; compression, i.e. whether the presentation helped the audience understand the research; and engagement, i.e. whether the speech made the audience interested in learning more about the topic.

“With 3MT we aim to enhance the research communication and academic presentation skills of our PhD students. Also, to support the development of the ability to explain your research effectively, in the appropriate language and for a non-specialist audience. And finally, to disseminate innovations that will positively impact the development of research in different fields of knowledge.Diego Cosmeli, Director of the Graduate School, explains.