A PhD candidate whose research aims to address the challenges faced by families of children with temporary feeding tubes has won The University of Queensland's 2024 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final.
Claire Reilly, from UQ's School of Health and Rehabililtation Sciences, won first prize for her compelling presentation The Silent Struggle: Temporary tube feeding management in children.
Ms. Reilly was one of 8 finalists who had just 3 minutes to present their research and its significance to a general audience, supported by a single PowerPoint slide.
I've been a dietitian for almost 20 years and have prescribed thousands of feeding tubes for children, but many families struggle with the management of these devices, and this is something that is often unknown.
My research aims to help families with children who require temporary feeding tubes to better manage this at home, while bridging the gap between families, clinicians and health services."
Claire Reilly, UQ's School of Health and Rehabililtation Sciences
Ms. Reilly said participating in the 3MT competition enabled her to refine how she communicates her research to a general audience.
"Public speaking was a challenge for me, but it has been rewarding to improve this skill through the competition," she said.
"I've learned the importance of crafting a narrative that clearly conveys the problem, aim and outcomes of my research."
Ms Reilly will now compete against PhD candidates from universities across Australia, New Zealand and Asia in the virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT final on Wednesday 30 October.
UQ Graduate School Dean, Professor Virginia Slaughter, said she was impressed with the breadth of research explored in this year's competition.
"The 3MT competition is an annual highlight in the Graduate School and a great opportunity to learn about the amazing research of our HDR candidates from across the university," Professor Slaughter said.
"Congratulations to Claire on her winning presentation, and to the other finalists who were also outstanding presenters.
"Thank you also to our sponsors, and particularly our platinum sponsor UniSuper, for their gracious support."
Arthur De Alwis, from UQ's Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, took home both the Runner-Up and People's Choice prizes for his presentation, A song of Rocks on Fire.
The first 3MT competition was held at UQ in 2007, with the competition's origins credited to Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson.
Seventeen years on, the 3MT has fostered some impressive UQ alumni and is now held in more than 900 universities across the world.
2023 winner Emily Cooper was on this year's judging panel and is in the final stages of her PhD, researching cheaper and more environmentally sustainable batteries, while working part time as a Data Analyst at UQ.
"The 3MT inspired me to develop batteries for the real world," Ms Cooper said.
"Communicating your findings and sticking points to a general audience really puts your work into perspective, and the competition encouraged me to develop my research with a real-world application in mind."
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