3MT: Can AU win for a third year running?

In preparation for the 3MT competition, the participating PhD students receive training in how to write and deliver a good presentation. Here workshop facilitator Linda Greve demonstrates how a power pose can help participants boost their self-confidence before they take to the stage on 13 March in Stakladen. Photo: Jens Hartmann (AU Photo).

Emil Brinch Holm, PhD student at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has entered the competition to challenge himself. Photo: Jens Hartmann (AU Photo).

Josefine Tingdal Taube Danielsen (Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences) presents while Lina Münker (Department of Clinical Medicine) takes note of her body language, tone of voice and facial expressions. Photo: Jens Hartmann (AU Photo).

14 February 2024 by Ida Hammerich Nielson

In 2022, Omeed Neghabat, then a PhD student at Health, won the European final of the Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT). Last year, Ida Cecilie Jensen, a PhD student at Technical Sciences, followed suit and brought home the title for a second year running.

Who will represent Aarhus University in 2024? This will be decided in Stakladen on 13 March from 16:00 to 18:30, when twenty PhD students will have the chance to present their research to the general public in just three minutes.

You can attend the competition in person at Stakladen or online. If you attend in person, you can also help decide which PhD student will receive the audience award.

3MT will force me to consider the essence of my work

One of this year’s contestants is Emil Brinch Holm, a PhD student at the Department of Physics and Astronomy. His presentation is about how the different ways we interpret data can affect our understanding of the universe.

‘I signed up for the competition to challenge myself. I often find it difficult to explain my research to family and friends when they ask, “What is it you actually do, Emil?” I usually just panic and come up with something different to say every time. I would like to get better at presenting my research in a clear and accessible way. Taking part in 3MT will force me to consider the essence of my research – and will give me the opportunity to reflect on how my work relates to the bigger picture,’ says Emil Brinch Holm.

The winner will be selected by this year’s jury. The members of the jury are: Niels Mejlgaard (vice-dean and head of the graduate school at Aarhus BSS), Christian Ulrik Andersen (associate professor at the School of Communication and Culture, Arts), Sys Vestergaard (AU’s head of communication and media relations) and Thomas Tandrup Lamm (PhD student at Health and chair of AUPA, the AU PhD students’ association).

The Three Minute Thesis Competition
The winner of 3MT at AU will be given a spot in the European finals, in which more than 35 European universities will participate – as well as a travel grant of DKK 35,000. The competition is organised by the university alliance Coimbra Group, to which Aarhus University belongs.