Kyushu University Celebrates Excellence in Communication: 3MT Competition 2023 Award Ceremony
On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the award ceremony for the Kyushu U Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition 2023 was held at Shiiki Hall, Ito Campus. In addition to the three award winners, each of their supervisors, Professor Iwata (Executive Vice President), Professor Konomi (Vice President) and Mr. Minami (Director of the International Affairs Department) attended the ceremony.
This was the third time Kyushu University held its 3MT competition, a local version of an international competition where doctoral students present their research focus in just three minutes with only one slide. The 3MT competition was originally launched in 2008 at our partner institution, The University of Queensland in Australia, and has become a well-known and highly regarded competition.
This year, 12 students from nine graduate schools who made it through the first round of the competition advanced to the online final on Tuesday, August 1.
In addition to one judge from Kyushu University, Professor Hagishima (Vice President), Kyushu University invited five judges from outside the university: Mr. Trevor Holloway, Consul General, Australian Consulate-General Osaka; Professor Lydia Kavanagh, The University of Queensland; Dr. Syo Matsumura, President, National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Kurume College; Mr. Yasufumi Hirai, Group EVP, CIO & CISO, Rakuten Group, Inc.; and Dr. Ayako Miyazaki, Senior Communications Manager, Corporate Affairs, Springer Nature. After a rigorous screening process, three winners were selected.
During the Q&A session, each judge gave many thought-provoking comments based on his or her own experience in response to the participants’ answers. The event was a success with participating students commenting that it was an extremely valuable experience.
The first-place winner, Ms. Heloísa Seratiuk Flores, represented Kyushu University in the Virtual Asia-Pacific Competition, 2023 Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final Showcase hosted by The University of Queensland.
The 3MT competition award winners: Mr. Jorge Carlos Pineda Garcia (left), Ms. Heloísa Seratiuk Flores (middle), Ms. Ainul Maghfirah (right)
Winner: Ms. Heloísa Seratiuk Flores (2nd year, Doctoral Course, Graduate School of Design)
Runner-up: Ms. Ainul Maghfirah (3rd year, Doctoral Course, Graduate School of Engineering)
People’s Choice: Mr. Jorge Carlos Pineda Garcia (3rd year, Doctoral Course, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
All affiliations and grades are those as of October 1, 2023.
Group photo with finalists and judges after the final