Friday Notes, April 18, 2025
Dear Friends —
In 2007, after five years of low rainfall, Queensland, Australia, was suffering from an intense drought. As part of the efforts to conserve water, the University of Queensland required that students take showers of no longer than three minutes; soon, egg timers started appearing in bathrooms.
The egg timers sparked an idea: the Dean of the Graduate School, Professor Alan Lawson, proposed the Three-minute Thesis (3MT), held for the first time in 2008. That year, one hundred and eighty young scholars honed a bite-sized talk, competing for the honor of being the best at explaining doctoral research in non-specialist language, using just a single PowerPoint slide. The idea took off, and now 3MT competitions are held in more than 900 universities in at least 85 countries around the globe, all using free resources and branding.
Along with 600 of the most enthusiastic supporters of scholarly research I’ve ever seen, I had the absolute delight of attending Stanford University’s inaugural 3MT competition on Thursday afternoon. It was a joy to behold ten brilliant young people earning a standing ovation for research spanning from epidemiology to English, computer science to cancer prevention. It was also a temporary and much needed respite from, well, everything else.
Some highlights: From a young scholar who had watched her mother suffer the side effects of cancer treatment, we learned about the prevalence and causes of lymphedema. With a student of English literature who grew up in a poor community in Texas we wrestled with competing representations of the American utopia — a home for “huddled masses” versus a nation purified by eugenics. From a plant scientist studying the size of pores on leaves, we learned that there may be a way to get plants to use more carbon dioxide and produce more oxygen. From a multi-lingual economist-in-training who spent years digging through archival public health data, we learned about the dramatic health improvements in Russia after women were let into the practice of medicine.
That’s not all.
From a global health scholar who traipsed through Bolivia we learned that building highways in the Amazon is spreading dengue at an alarming rate. From not just one but two young scientists we delved into the world of battling cancer with our own macrophages. From a curly-haired technologist who’s focused on the code behind computer animation we learned about an algorithmic breakthrough that will bring Afro-textured hair to the big screen. And from the electrical engineering student from Cameroon who ended up winning the grand prize (along with the “people’s choice” award), Favour Nerrise, we got a glimpse into how artificial intelligence can detect loss of neurological function before Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease can be diagnosed by other means.
It is hard to convey how uplifting it was to see representatives of the next generation of researchers — with both their passion for specific subjects and their all-encompassing love of learning shining through. Even more beautiful was being in an audience that clapped and cheered, hooted and hollered, in support of academic scholarship and the people who do it.
To get a sense of the power of a short, sharp story, browse through some of these 3MT videos from around the world. But to get the full experience, find the nearest university that’s holding a competition — probably not too far from you — and go!
You know I like to bake, right? Well, after seeing the video below, I now have a goal of baking something so delicious that it brings tears to the eyes. I’ll let you know if I ever succeed.
The best humor is always a little bit painful. Herewith:
Have a good weekend,
-Ruth