“My thesis in 180 seconds”: France will host the international final

All audiences

On September 30, the international final of the competition “My thesis in 180 seconds” will be held for the second time in Paris. Registrations are open to attend to the event organised by the CNRS (Centre national de recherche scientifique, National Centre of Scientific Research) and the CPU (Conférence des Présidents d’Universités, Conference of University Presidents) at the Maison de la radio et de la musique. This international final, during which 24 female and male candidates from all over the world will face each other will also be broadcasted live on YouTube, Facebook and the website of the contest.

“My thesis in 180 seconds” is the French version of the Australian model “Three minute thesis”, created at the University of Queensland in which post-doctoral students “present their research topic, in French and in simple words to a diverse and uninitiated audience”. As the rules specify, “each student must make a clear, short, yet convincing presentation of her/his research project under three minutes”. And all this using only a single slide!

Thousands of candidates

According to the CNRS, “thousands of female and male post-doctoral students throughout the world” participated in the 2021 edition of the “My thesis in 180 seconds” competition. But after the successive steps (regional and national finals), only 24 candidates from all over the world remain, including: Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Central Europe Consortium (Poland, Austria, Hungary, Slovaquia), Egypt, France, Gabon, Haiti, Mauritius, Ireland, Lebannon, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Moldavia, Quebec, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Romania, Senegal, Switzerland and Tunisia.

The 24 finalists

The dedicated website presents a brief presentation of the 24 finalists and their thesis subject, and there is of course as many finalists as subjects! Subjects chosen by post-doctoral students range from “The transmission of family companies in Senegal” to “Production and export of wool in medieval Ireland”, and “Comparative effect of processed and traditional seasoning broth on male and female fertility”, “Language and executive functions interactions in bilingual speakers”, “Use of marine energy on Mauritius” or “Designing an injectable bioactive hydrogel to regenerate intervertebral disks”!

An Audience Prize open to all

For the finalists, the challenge will be to communicate on their research project in a handful of minutes, not only to charm the audience, but also to convince the jury! Regarding this matter, all spectators of the final will have their say: individuals physically present at the studio “Maison de la radio et de la musique”, but also Internet users will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite candidate and chose the post-doc student who will receive the Audience Prize.

The international final of “My thesis in 180 seconds” will be broadcasted live on: