Dental Student wins KCL 3 Minute Thesis competition

 The final of King’s College London’s 3 Minute Thesis competition was held on June 9. Heats had been held across the College during May and eight doctoral students were nominated to compete in the Grand Final. Following eight presentations of a very high standard, Lucy Blandford from Dental and Health Sciences Research in the Dental Institute was declared the winner by the panel of judges. Jane Chen from Psychological Medicine in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience was runner-up.

The competition was developed by the University of Queensland, Australia and is now run by over 350 universities worldwide. The format is simple – PhD students had 3 minutes to talk about their research. One slide was allowed but, other than that, no props. It had to be spoken word with no songs, mimes, poems or raps and they were to aim their talk at an audience of ‘intelligent non-specialists’. The participants were judged on comprehension & content and engagement & communication.

Lucy will now represent King’s in the UK semi-finals and, if successful there, in the national final which will take place at the Vitae conference in Manchester, in September.

Vaughan Robinson, Director of the Graduate School, said “the ability of our research students to communicate their ideas in an engaging and accessible way continues to impress. We wish Lucy all the best in the national competition.”

3 Minute Thesis will run again at King’s in 2017.