Best speakers in three-minute thesis competition focused on expressing uncertainty and waste gas-eating bacteria
The three-minute thesis competition for doctoral researchers, held at the University of Tartu Library on 22 October, featured 13 popular-science short lectures in Estonian and 14 in English. Most speakers (21) were from the University of Tartu Faculty of Science and Technology, five from the Faculty of Medicine, and one from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
Top three in the Estonian competition
The winner of the Estonian-language competition and the audience favourite was Nele Karolin Teiva, a doctoral researcher at the Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics. She captivated the audience with her persuasive and insightful talk “Võibolla vist räägiks ebakindlusest” (“Maybe we should talk about uncertainty”), highlighting how we express uncertainty in language and how it is perceived. Her research focuses on texts written in Estonian, their writers and readers, and how meanings emerge through writer-reader interaction. She is part of the research team studying the process of creating academic texts and developing learning materials for upper secondary school and university students.
Second place went to Kerli Ilves, whose presentation explored using personality traits and genetic information for guiding health behaviours to prevent chronic diseases. Kerli is a Junior Research Fellow in Health Behaviour Genetics with a background in psychology. In her research, she aims to uncover causal links between individual differences and health behaviour in order to help design and implement more effective and personalised health interventions.
Third place was granted to Junior Research Fellow in Mobility Studies, Elise Jalonen, who discussed in her presentation whether we all have the same freedom of movement, and how to ensure that the green transition of cities would be fair for all residents.
Top three in the English competition
The winner of the English competition, Ugochi Jennifer Nwaokorie from the Institute of Bioengineering, spoke in her lecture about the role of acetogenic bacteria in converting waste gases into valuable chemicals and fuels, and the mechanisms that can boost the appetite of these bacteria. Ugochi’s presentation “From toxic past to greener future: unravelling ancient microbial powers for climate change solutions” was also voted the favourite by the audience.
Second place went to doctoral researcher Johannes Schavikin from the Institute of Pharmacy, who spoke about repairing bone tissue using bioprintable nanofibres.
Third place was awarded to Junior Research Fellow Ritu Gosh from the Institute of Technology, who presented a method for producing proteins with the help of bacteria without using antibiotics.
The best presenters received financial travel support for professional development. The video recording of the best English presentation will be sent to the 3-Minute Thesis competition of the international university network Coimbra Group.
The competition jury comprised Airika Harrik from the ERR Novaator science portal; Monika Tasa, Head of the Doctoral Studies Unit at the University of Tartu; Erik Abner, Research Fellow of Functional Genomics at the Institute of Genomics and Vice President of the Estonian Young Academy of Sciences; Kristo Raun, Lecturer of Data Engineering at the Institute of Computer Science, and Piret Ehrenpreis, Research Communication Adviser at the University of Tartu.
The competition is organised by the University of Tartu Office of Academic Affairs, Marketing and Communication Office and International Cooperation and Protocol Office.
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