Doctoral students Francis Gracy Arockiaraj and Baiba Brumele ranked in top five in the English competition of “Science in 3 minutes”

On 18 October, the finals of the first-ever English edition of the “Science in 3 minutes” contest for international doctoral students of Estonian universities were held at the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Two participants from the University of Tartu, Junior Research Fellow in Physics Francis Gracy Arockiaraj and Junior Research Fellow in Technology Baiba Brumele, made it to the top five. 

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Francis Gracy Arockiaraj’s field of research is computational imaging. She is exploring ways to see through scattering layers using special optical beams. At the finals, she gave the lecture “Seeing through Fog, Mist and Skin Tissues”.

Baiba Brumele wants to contribute to the development of cancer treatment with her research. More specifically, she investigates the nature and action mechanisms of TRMT112, a protein found in the bodies of all of us. Her presentation at the contest was titled “TRMT112 – the mysterious link between different diseases”.

The five winners of the contest will have the opportunity to participate in the conference of the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) network in Aberdeen, Scotland, from 27 to 29 May 2025. 

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Recordings of lectures and the final contest are available on the Academy of Sciences’ YouTube channel.

The jury of the “Science in three minutes” contest comprised Tarmo Soomere, the President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences; George P. Kent, the US Ambassador to Estonia; Kristjan Järve, management board member of Inclusive Financial Technology Foundation (InFTF); Kerli Gutman-Normak, Secretary-General of Estonian Commission for UNESCO; Kaidi Ruusalepp, entrepreneur and member of the Digital Council of the President of the Republic of Estonia; Annika Uudelepp, consultant and trainer, Chairman of the board of Tuleva Commercial Association, and Joosep Värk, journalist of the Estonian Public Broadcasting.

All in all, nineteen international doctoral students studying at Estonian universities participated in the finals. Besides Francis Gracy Arockiaraj and Baiba Brumele, the University of Tartu was represented by Junior Research Fellow in Economics Elchin Aghazada, Junior Research Fellow in Ecotechnology Isaac Okitiand Junior Research Fellow in Genomics Kateryna Pantiukh. The finalists had to summarise their years of research in three minutes in a way that is interesting and understandable to all listeners, regardless of background or prior knowledge. 

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Before the finals, preliminary contests were held at the universities, and the Estonian Academy of Sciences organised a presentation and writing skills training for the participants. Each finalist wrote a popular science article on their research, which has already been published or will soon be published on the Research in Estonia website.

Read further on the Estonian Academy of Sciences website and see photos from the event.

The contest “Science in 3 minutes” was organised by the Estonian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Estonian Young Academy of Sciences and supported by the InFTF foundation and the Estonian Research Council through the Research in Estonia action.