香港科技大学（广州）首届3MT®演讲比赛圆满结束，冠亚季军出炉
6月2日，香港科技大学（广州）（以下简称“港科大（广州）”）创校首届3MT®（Three Minute Thesis）演讲比赛决赛在演讲厅A精彩开赛并圆满结束。本次比赛由语言教育学部（DLE）组织，参赛者需在三分钟内用通俗易懂的语言，向观众讲解自己的研究内容。当日下午， 在初赛中脱颖而出的9名选手再次挑战自我，他们生动活泼的语言和富有感染力的表演技巧赢得了在场评委和观众的赞许和掌声。
港科大（广州）校长倪明选教授为比赛致开幕词。倪明选教授表示很高兴看到3MT®在港科大（广州）举行。他强调，这是一个锻炼港科大（广州）学生沟通表达能力的重要机会，希望未来有更多学生积极参加比赛。最后，校长祝福决赛选手们比赛顺利。
倪明选教授致开幕词
本次决赛评委团由6名专家评委组成，包括信息枢纽院长陈雷教授、功能枢纽先进材料学域主任高平教授、社会枢纽城市治理与设计学域江斌教授、系统枢纽智能制造学域王蕴达副教授、红鸟硕士班资深工程师、实践助理教授陈力博士和语言教育学部主任Dr Clive Lee。专家评委们对选手们的演讲内容、沟通与演讲技巧等进行评分，最终得出比赛结果。
专家评委团成员与吴景深教授
经过激烈角逐，红鸟硕士班学生Renz Gabriel GARDUQUE摘得冠军桂冠并获5000元人民币研究基金奖励。他的演讲题目是“ From Trash to Cash: Upcycling Waste Polyethylene into High-Performance Carbon Fibers”，其研究主要涉及日常生活中常见废塑料的回收。
点击观看Renz演讲现场
夺得亚军和季军的选手分别是社会枢纽城市治理与设计学域的博士生林帆和红鸟硕士班学生唐婉心，两位选手分别获得3000元和1000元研究基金奖励。林帆同时获得观众投票产生的“人民选择奖”和1000元研究基金奖励。
三位获奖选手与吴景深教授
“本次比赛让我觉得学到了很多。科学传播越简单易懂，其影响力就越大，但用通俗易懂的语言描述专业性较强的研究并不是一件容易的事情。”在被问到获奖感言时，Renz这样说道。DLE在比赛全过程中给予了选手们充分的支持，包括但不限于赛前的指导与培训，Renz对此也表示了感激。
冠军Renz Gabriel GARDUQUE与颁奖嘉宾吴景深教授
参加本次决赛的选手还包括来自红鸟硕士班肖诗诗和蔡嘉雯、系统枢纽的陆影玲、廖庆良和叶宇飞，以及功能枢纽的黄睿然同学。
副校长 （教学）吴景深教授参加活动并致闭幕词，他对选手们在比赛展现出的自信和英语能力感到欣慰。同时，他强调了英语对于推动我校的教育向更高层次发展和国际化有着极为重要的作用。最后，吴景深教授对赛事组织方——语言教育学部以及各枢纽和部门的支持表示感谢。语言教育学部主任Dr. Clive Lee在致辞中赞扬参赛选手的表现，认为他们的演讲体现了港科广学子的风采和水平，也感谢评委、领导和同事对赛事的支持。
吴景深教授致闭幕词
3MT®决赛集体合影
HKUST (GZ) Inaugural 3MT® Competition Concludes Successfully with Announcement of Winners
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (HKUST(GZ)) successfully concluded its inaugural Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition in Lecture Hall A on 2 June 2023. Organized by the Division of Language Education (DLE), the competition challenges postgraduate students to explain within three minutes their PhD or MPhil thesis in a language comprehensible to non-specialists. On the afternoon, nine doctoral and MPhil students emerged from the preliminary rounds challenged themselves again, introducing their research through vivid words and effective delivery to impress judges and audiences attending in person and online, earning rounds of applause.
President Lionel NI delivered the opening remarks at the event. He said he was very pleased to witness the successful organisation of the event on campus. Stressing that the 3MT® is an important event to cultivate students' English communication and interpersonal competencies, Prof. Ni hopes that more students will participate in the competition in the future. The president concluded his remarks by wishing the finalists good luck in the competition.
The judging panel for the final round consisted of six expert judges, including Prof Chen Lei, Dean of the Information Hub, Professor Gao Ping from the AMAT Thrust of the Function Hub, Professor Jiang Bin from the UGOD Thrust of the Social Hub, Associate Professor Wang Yunda from the SMMG Thrust of the Systems Hub, Dr Chen Li, Lead Engineer from the Red Bird MPhil Programme, as well as Dr Clive Lee, Head of DLE. The expert judges scored the presentations based on their content, comprehension, communication, and engagement.
The following three finalists won the competition. Renz Gabriel GARDUQUE, a Red Bird MPhil (RBM) student, won the Champion title and a 5,000 yuan research fund. His presentation is titled "From Trash to Cash: Upcycling Waste Polyethylene into High-Performance Carbon Fibers." Renz's research involves recycling plastic waste common in daily life, upgrading its main component, polyethylene, into carbon fibers—a high-performance material used in airplanes, racing cars, and bicycles, thereby turning waste into treasure while solving the problem of plastic pollution.
Fan LIN, a doctoral student at the Urban Governance and Design Thrust of the Society Hub, took home the 1st Runner-up title and a 3,000 yuan research fund. He also won the “People's Choice” award and another 1,000 yuan research fund based on audience voting. The 2nd Runner-up and a 1,000 yuan research fund award went to Wanxin TANG of RBM.
“Joining the 3MT Competition taught me useful lessons that are much more valuable than the award. Through 3MT, I came to appreciate the fact that we don't need to sound smart to deliver our point across. Science communication becomes more impactful when it is simple and accessible,” said Renz Gabriel GARDUQUE after the competition. He expressed his appreciation to his supervisor, project mentor, friends, as well as DLE for the mentorship and training he received.
The finalists also included Shishi XIAO and Ka Man CHOI from RBM, Yingling LU, Qingliang LIAO, and Yufei YE from the Systems Hub, and Ruiran HUANG from the Function Hub.
Professor Jingshen WU, Vice President (Teaching & Learning), attended the event and delivered closing remarks. He emphasized the important role English plays in promoting the University’s internationalization and upscaling education. He expressed his great pleasure in seeing the successful conclusion of the first 3MT® competition at the university. He acknowledged DLE for organising the event and the support of the Hubs and Divisions. In his closing remarks, Dr. Clive Lee, Head of DLE, praised the performance of the participants, whom he believes credited the university with their excellent presentations and communication skills. Dr. Lee also expressed his gratitude to the judges, leaders, and colleagues for their support of the event.
关于3MT®
3MT® （“三分钟论文”）是一项享有盛名的国际性学术交流赛事，2008年由澳大利亚昆士兰大学创立。比赛要求研究生在三分钟内使用一张幻灯片，对其论文及其重要性进行生动讲述。该赛事目前在全球85个以上国家、900多所院校开展。自2014起香港科技大学开始在清水湾校园举办赛事。2023年香港科技大学（广州）首届3MT® 演讲比赛由语言教育学部发起组织，旨在培养学生学术交流能力、促进跨学科交流与合作，展示港科大（广州）学子研究成果和交流风采。本届比赛两场初赛于2023年5月初举行，共吸引枢纽博士研究生和红鸟硕士班共30余名学生参加。
Background Information
3MT® (Three Minute Thesis) is a prestigious international academic communication competition event developed by the University of Queensland, Australia, in 2008. The competition challenges postgraduate students to concisely describe their theses and their importance to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes using one slide. The event is currently held in more than 900 institutions across over 85 countries worldwide. Since 2014, HKUST has been holding the competition at its Clear Water Bay campus.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (HKUST (GZ)) is a Mainland-Hong Kong cooperatively run university that implements academic education and has an independent legal status. HKUST(GZ) was formally established in 2022. To align with the holistic and integrative approach, HKUST(GZ) adopts the unique Hub structure which facilitates Cross-disciplinary Education, Research and Knowledge Transfer. Combining hard, natural and soft sciences, each of the four Hubs comprises a few thrust areas.
The 2023 HKUST(GZ) Inaugural 3MT® Competition was initiated and hosted by the Division of Language Education (DLE). The competition aims to enhance students' academic communication skills, promote interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration, and showcase the research profiles and communicative capabilities of HKUST(GZ) students. Two preliminary rounds of the competition were successfully held in early May 2023, attracting more than 30 doctoral and masters students from the four Hubs (Function, Information, Systems, Society) and RBM.