Competition 2015

Past Competitions:

I have never considered myself an articulate speaker, a talkative one at most, but more and more occasions enabled me to see the need of being one. Having a thousand ideas running in your head yet unable to convey the message clearly is agony. I was sitting among the audience in the past three years watching the 3MT Competition, and I could clearly recall a few 'wow' moments when the contestants just amazed me with the exciting findings and the way they presented the stories. I am glad that I am part of it this year. Compared to what I gained from the whole preparation process and what I learnt from other contestants, what I gave is minimal. Next year, the stage is yours.

Champion

Ms Tianyin LIU

PhD, Social Sciences

As a postgraduate student in Hong Kong history, I hope that my work will eventually raise public interest in the history of our city. I always wonder how I can tell my friends and relatives about my research without boring them with too much jargon. The 3MT provided a great opportunity to think about how to explain my thesis in the most concise and interesting way to a wider, non-specialist audience. I enjoyed presenting at the 3MT, because it enabled me to share my enthusiasm with the audience. It was a very rewarding experience to see how people unfamiliar with my field were moved by my research. Apart from my friends and classmates who provided me their valuable advice, I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. John Carroll, for his encouragement, guidance and support. My deepest gratitude goes to the many evacuees whose personal stories contributed to my thesis, especially Josephine, who generously gave me the picture I used in the presentation when I visited Australia.

1st Runner-up and People's Choice Award Winner

Ms Wai Yan KONG

MPhil, Arts

Participating in 3MT is undoubtedly an unforgettable moment in my university life, it offers me a chance to review and summarize my work into a concise talk for general public. In this competition, concentrating a 4-year work into a 3-minute speech is always a challenging task, yet this experience is definitely a valuable asset for any technical researchers, like me and others especially from Science and Engineering faculties, which helps us effectively communicate and transform our ideas into clear, yet appealing concepts. I would like to express my sincerest thanks to my supervisors here, Dr Kevin K. Tsia and Dr Kenneth K. Y. Wong, for their consistent support and guidance throughout my PhD study and in the 3MT competition. Special thanks are also given to all my friends and colleagues for their time and encouragement to lighten and enrich my speech in this competition.

2nd Runner-up

Mr Andy Kam Seng LAU

PhD, Engineering

3MT is a platform to propagate our research findings to the general public, more people are now aware of the use of nanoparticles in sunblock. 3MT provides a valuable opportunity to train my public speaking skill. I feel more confidence to communicate the key research findings with the lay audience now. I also learned from fellow participants who can present their research in a simple and interesting way. My deepest gratitude goes to Prof. Kenneth Leung for encouraging me to participate in the competition and thanks for his continuous guidance on my research journey. My heartfelt thanks to my lab-mates and friends in the School of Biological Sciences and SWIMS for their comments and support. Thanks to those who like my talk and voted for me. Special thanks to my sisters and husband for their support and advice throughout the competition. Thanks be to God.

Online People's Choice Award Winner

Ms Mana Man Na YUNG

PhD, Science

Overview

Date of Competition: Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Schedule of Presentations:

Videos of Candidates and Awardees

Members of the public, colleagues and students are cordially invited to vote for the most engaging presenter for the Online People’s Choice Award via YouTube until 1700hrs, March 18, 2015. You can vote for any one of the finalists below. The finalist with the most ‘LIKE’ votes on YouTube will be awarded a book voucher of HK$800.

News in Brief

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT^®) Competition 2015 of HKU was successfully held on March 10, 2015. This year 41 research postgraduate (RPg) students participated in the competition, and 10 finalists were shortlisted to compete for 3 prizes decided by the adjudicating panel and the People’s Choice Award decided by audience ballot. The Online People’s Choice Award was awarded to the finalist who received the most ‘LIKE’ votes on YouTube after the competition.

The 3MT was developed by The University of Queensland, Australia in 2008. It is an academic competition that challenges RPg students to explain their research within 3 minutes to a general audience. 3MT celebrates the discoveries made by RPg students and encourages them to develop the skills to communicate the importance of their research to the broader community.

Professor Peter Mathieson, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKU, officiated at the final competition. Mr Oscar Chow, Executive Director of Chevalier International Holdings Limited and HKU Court member, and Ms Wendy Gan, Executive Director of Pacific Century Premium Developments and HKU Court member, served on the adjudicating panel as external members. Internal members of the adjudicating panel included Professor John Bacon-Shone, Associate Director of the Knowledge Exchange Office (KEO), who served as the Chairman of the panel, Professor Ying Chan, Director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC), Professor Hongzhe Sun of the Department of Chemistry, Professor Paul Yip of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, and Professor Ben Young, Associate Dean of the Graduate School.

Congratulations to all the winners of the HKU 3MT Competition 2015. They are:

Champion
Name: Ms Tianyin LIU
PhD candidate in the Faculty of Social Sciences
Presentation Title: A Tale of Two Chinese Languages
Primary Supervisor: Dr Janet Hui Wen HSIAO

1^st Runner-up and People’s Choice Award Winner
Name: Ms Wai Yan KONG
MPhil candidate in the Faculty of Arts
Presentation Title: Britons Only: The 1940 Hong Kong Evacuation
Primary Supervisor: Professor John CARROLL

2^nd Runner-up
Name: Mr Andy Kam Seng LAU
PhD candidate in the Faculty of Engineering
Presentation Title: World’s Fastest Microscope – Creating Big-Data for Deciphering Big Unknowns in Biomedicine
Primary Supervisor: Dr Kevin Kin Man TSIA

Online People’s Choice Award Winner
Name: Ms Mana Man Na YUNG
PhD candidate in the Faculty of Science
Presentation Title: Ecotoxicity of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles in the Aquatic Environment
Primary Supervisor: Professor Kenneth Mei Yee LEUNG

“We want our next-generation researchers to not only excel in cutting-edge research, but also influence the world with their research discoveries and innovations,” Professor Peter Mathieson says.

The HKU 3MT Competition was jointly organized by the Graduate School and KEO. The event production was supported by the JMSC.

Awardees, finalists and supervisors at the 3MT Competition with President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Mathieson and members of the adjudicating panel

(From left, back row) Professor Hongzhe Sun, Professor Ben Young, Professor Mee Len Chye (Associate Dean of the Graduate School), Professor Nirmala Rao (Dean of the Graduate School), Mr Oscar Chow, Ms Wendy Gan, Professor Peter Mathieson, Professor John Bacon-Shone, Professor Ying Chan, Professor Paul Cheung (Associate Vice-President), Professor John Carroll, Professor Paul Yip, Dr Kevin Tsia

(From left, front row) Ms Liping Wang (finalist), Ms Luqian Wang (finalist), Ms Wai Yan Kong (1^st Runner-up and winner of the People’s Choice Award), Ms Tianyin Liu (Champion), Mr Andy Kam Seng Lau (2^ndRunner-up), Ms Man Na Mana Yung (Winner of the Online People’s Choice Award), Dr Chun Yiu Law (finalist), Mr Xiaohu Wang (finalist), Ms Kara Fleming (finalist), Ms Liguan Li (finalist)

2015 Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition

The 2015 Trans-Tasman 3MT Competition was held on Friday, October 2, 2015 at The University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane. Doctoral students representing more than 50 universities in Australia, New Zealand and Asia competed in this competition.

The HKU 3MT 2015 Champion, Ms Tianyin Liu, PhD candidate in the Faculty of Social Sciences, represented HKU in the 2015 Trans-Tasman 3MT Competition.

Please click here for more details.

See the pictures shared by our HKU representative: