The Three Minute Thesis (or 3MT) is an annual competition running regionally and nationally giving doctoral candidates the challenge of presenting their research and it’s impact in just 3 minutes.
We are very pleased to announce the winners of this year’s 3MT! Thank you to thank all those who submitted a presentation for this year’s virtual competition.
First prize has been awarded to Fiona Fairbairn, Division for the study of Law, Society and Social Justice, and her winning presentation was titled: ‘Raising the Wealthy: Philanthropy, Children and the Inter-Generational Transfer of Wealth’.
Fiona’s presentation has been entered into the national competition held by Vitae and we should hear the outcome of the semi-finals by August. We wish her the best of luck! Second place was awarded to Ines de la Vina, Division of Arts & Humanities whose presentation was titled: ‘Incidental learning of English collocations through different input modes: the effects of individual difference’.
We spoke to Fiona about her progress in her studies and about her experience in the 3MT this year below.
Tell us about yourself!
Having completed my undergraduate degree at UCL in the last century (!) and then working in and with the private, public and non-profit sectors, I returned to education and completed an MA in Philanthropic Studies at Kent. After such a positive experience with the Centre of Philanthropy, I applied for and was accepted onto the PhD programme and awarded a Vice Chancellor Scholarship.
My PhD research examines the way philanthropic knowledge and behaviours are transferred to young children from affluent households – the potential inheritors of the £5.5tn wealth transfer that is predicted to take place over the next thirty years. I am extremely fortunate to have such supportive and knowledgable supervisors – Dr Beth Breeze and Dr Ali Body.
How did you find the first round of the 3MT as an experience and what have you learned from it?
I entered the 3MT competition last year and whilst I was unsuccessful in getting through to the next round, the feedback that I received was both helpful and encouraging so I decided to enter again. Given that the competition was once again online, I developed and improved my slide to make it more relevant and engaging for a virtual audience. I feel absolutely honoured to be representing Kent at the National Competition and to have the opportunity to share my research with others.
