NHLI's Ryan Robinson triumphs at Imperial's 3-Minute Thesis Competition

The judges awarded first place to Ryan Robinson for his 3-minute explanation of his research on proteins as environmental sensors.

Following on from the qualifying rounds held by each department, Imperial College held the final for the 3-Minute Thesis competition 2015. Ryan Robinson, from NHLI’s Respiratory Pharmacology Group, was one of the 18 finalists given just three minutes to explain three years of research to a lay audience. 

Ryan explained his research on proteins that act as environmental sensors, he has found that chemicals in diesel pollution can activate these proteins, and cause symptoms of respiratory disease.  He was awarded first place by the panel of judges to become the overall winner of all competitors from Imperial College in 2015. Ryan commented "I had a great time overall, it was really interesting to hear about other research that is being carried out across Imperial, especially in easy to digest segments! I definitely would recommend all PhD students to at least give it a go".

The competition aims to help develop a researcher’s ability to convey their research succinctly and to a wider audience.  Reflecting on what he had learnt from the experience Ryan said “The 3MT competition made me look at the entire scope of my research of the past few years and concisely pick out not only the key findings but to also frame them in the appropriate context. After all, without the narrative, the audience will have no idea whether my research is important or not! I think those lessons are useful not only for a 3MT competition, but for wider communication as well”.

Finally in reaction to taking home first place Ryan stated “It feels good to know that not only is my subject matter of general interest, but that I can get across the message in an interesting way”.