Three Minute Thesis Competition

The 3MT-UAlg competition aims to stimulate participants' science communication skills and develop their ability to present their research clearly and effectively in a language appropriate for a non-specialist audience; to promote scientific culture and interdisciplinarity by giving doctoral students the opportunity to meet, get to know each other and openly discuss their research; to establish external relations, thus promoting the opportunity for recognition in academic circles and beyond; and to foster dialogue between science and society.
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Criteria

  • All students enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Algarve are eligible for this competition
  • The deadline for individual application to the competition is defined and announced on the University of Algarve website in each annual edition and disseminated through institutional email
  • Candidates cannot apply to more than one scientific area in the same edition of the competition Winners of each edition cannot reapply in another edition of the competition
  • Only applications that fully and cumulatively meet the eligibility conditions set for each edition and in this regulation will be accepted

Competition applications are submitted in the following areas:

  • Social Sciences
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Medical and Health Sciences
  • Engineering and Technologies
  • Natural Sciences

Prize Operation 

Participation in the competition involves an oral presentation lasting a maximum of three minutes, focusing on the importance and impact of the student's research, using a single slide.

The competition consists of two phases:

  • Phase 1 (selection): Students submit two files: a video of their three-minute presentation and a PDF of a single slide. The jury selects the five finalists from each area based on the criteria defined in Article 8.
  • Phase 2 (final): Students qualified in the previous phase participate in the final phase, delivering an oral presentation to the jury and the public, during which the winner and second-place student are selected.

Award

Monetary prizes, the amount of which is defined in each edition, will be awarded to the students placed 1st and 2nd, and possibly sponsored by external partners to UAlg.

If the panel considers awarding prizes ex aequo, no more than two prizes will be awarded in each classification.

Finalists and awardees will also receive merit recognition diplomas.

Participation certificates will be awarded to all candidates.

Application

It runs from 1 to 27 February 2026.

The applications are made exclusively through the online form.

Contest Jury (2026 edition)

António Lacerda, Coordinating Professor at ESEC

Dora Agapito, Assistant Professor with Habilitation at FE

Henrique Dias Freire, Journalist at Postal do Algarve

Isabel Duarte, Researcher at RISE-HEALTH

Joana Santos, Associate Professor at FCHS

Leonor Cancela, Retired Full Professor

Oral Presentation of the Finalists

The public presentation of the candidates selected in the first phase will take place on 9 May. 

 

Prize Awarding

The prize will be awarded at a public ceremony on a date to be decided.

Awarded

Awarded Bruna Isabel dos Santos Oliveira

Bruna Isabel dos Santos Oliveira is a PhD student in Biomedical Sciences and presented a talk entitled “Breast cancer is not one disease. It is many! Why treat them all the same way?”.


Sari Ponnet (2nd place - runner-up)

Sari Ponnet is a PhD student in Marine, Earth and Environmental Sciences and presented a talk entitled “Scalable seagrass restoration through the integration of spatial mapping, aquaculture-based cultivation, and public engagement.”

Vivien Iacob (Menção Honrosa)

Viktor Gala (Menção Honrosa)

Kwo Fung Shek (Menção Honrosa)

 





Vivien Iacob is a PhD student in Psychology and presented a talk entitled “Beyond the Destination: Mindfulness and Well-Being in Tourism.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viktor Gala is a PhD student in Biomedical Sciences and presented a talk entitled “Natural Compounds as Therapies for Cockayne Syndrome.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kwo Fung Shek is a PhD student in Tourism and presented a talk entitled “Telling Stories with ‘Senses’: Exploring Tourism Experience Design through Sensory Storytelling.”

Awarded María Esther Leyva Ollivier

María Esther Leyva Ollivier, a PhD student in Marine, Earth and Environmental Sciences, presented a talk entitled “Toward Coastal Lagoon Sustainability: Connecting Science and Society.”


Fábio Gonçalves (2nd place - runner-up)

Fábio Gonçalves is a PhD student in Psychology and won 2nd place with the talk “I Wonder Why We Wander: How Mind-Wandering Affects Reading in Children.”

Awarded Ana Carolina Simão

Ana Carolina Simão is a PhD student in Psychology and presented a paper entitled ‘Determinants of Psychological Adjustment in Institutionalised Adolescents: the influence of individual, social and environmental factors’.


Joana Belmiro (second place)

Joana Belmiro is a PhD student in Archaeology and won 2nd place with the paper ‘Rocks in Motion’.

Documentos

Regulamento do Concurso Três Minutos de Tese (3MT-UAlg)
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Contacto

Email: 3mt@ualg.pt