Eleven schools in NTU participated in the 2020 Three Minute Thesis NTU Finale, which was held in mid-August largely as a virtual competition due to COVID-19. The Three Minute Thesis challenges research students to effectively explain the significance of their projects to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes.
From the College of Science, Tan Fang Yi of the Asian School of the Environment (ASE) and Shivam Mahajan of the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) placed in the top three of the competition, securing second and third place respectively.
Tan Fang Yi, 1st runner-up in the NTU 3MT finale.
In her video, Fang Yi spoke on the topic of rising sea levels, and the lessons that can be learned from the past.
On her experience, she remarked,
“Participating in the 3MT2020 has been a humbling experience. It challenged me to communicate the essence of my research with clarity and simplicity — something that took a lot more thinking than I expected! Having the opportunity to present and obtain feedback from individuals from different fields helped me realise how certain ideas can be made simpler to reach a larger audience.”
Shivam Mahajan, 2nd runner-up.
For Shivam, the journey to the finale was a journey four months in the making, as he had participated in several rounds of the 3MT Heats held within SPMS. For the competition, he spoke about the mechanical properties of granular systems.
On his experiences, he had this to say,
“All the participants worked hard, and I believe it must have been very difficult for the jury to choose the top three. But, as Alex Morgan has rightly said “Winning and losing isn’t everything. Sometimes, the journey is just as important as the outcome.” So, it does not matter who managed to secure a spot in the top three and who didn’t; but what really matters is the journey. With each passing day, we became very much engrossed in it with an unquenched thirst to better ourselves.”
We would like to congratulate Fang Yi and Shivam for their placements in the Finale, and wish them the best of luck as they advance to the national level of the Three Minute Thesis, which will be held on 31 August, 4pm via Zoom.
Meeting URL: https://ntu-sg.zoom.us/j/96381870092
Meeting ID: 963 8187 0092; Password: 775748