• Charles Sturt PhD students present their work during Three Minute Thesis final in Wagga Wagga

How do you cram 80,000 words and nine hours’ worth of material into three minutes?

It is the task set out for the eight PhD students from Charles Sturt University who are in the Three Minute Thesis final in Wagga Wagga.

Eight students will present their research projects in person to a non-expert audience in just three minutes using just one PowerPoint slide.

Projects cover an array of topics from agriculture, marketing, and mental health, showing the breadth of impactful research being conducted by Charles Sturt students.

Doctoral students from all faculties and disciplines will share their projects, which are all designed to build stronger, healthier and more resilient communities for the future.

The winner of the Three Minute Thesis final will represent Charles Sturt at the Asia-Pacific final in October 2021.

Charles Sturt Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation Associate Professor Jason White said this competition provided participants with valuable skills.

“More and more, the ability for researchers to effectively communicate quite complex ideas is becoming critical,” he said.

“The Three Minute Thesis competition is all about effective scientific communication and building trust in scientists.

“The competition is a great opportunity for postgraduate researchers to develop their presentation skills and their ability to distil their research for a general audience.”

Charles Sturt 3MT finalists and their research projects include:

• Ms Claudia Macleay in Wagga Wagga – ‘Learning from the past to predict the future’
• Mr Borkwei Ed Nignpense, member of the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation – ‘Let’s get cereal about polyphenols’
• Ms Jessica Houston – ‘How do young people in regional and rural New South Wales, Australia, access mental health systems and what are the implications of this?’
• Ms Megan Porter in Wagga Wagga – ‘Parasites – the winners in a changing environment?’
• Mr Van Tran in Sydney – ‘Imagine losing your heart language’
• Mr Pieter-Willem Hendriks in Canberra and member of the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation – ‘Wheat that outcompetes its weeds’
• Mr John Edwards in Sydney – ‘Linking Sales Performance to Strategy-Making Process, Corporate Entrepreneurship Climate, and Entrepreneurial Sales Actions’
• Mr Mark Layson in Sydney – ‘It’s not about the trauma: A new perspective on First Responder wellbeing’

The Three Minute Thesis final will be held at the CSU Riverina Playhouse on Wednesday 23 June from 1pm to 3pm.

The event will also be livestreamed.