Scholar vs Scholar, McDonnell Academy PhD-in-3D Competition Results

McDonnell Scholars on stage at competition
McDonnell Scholar PhD candidates at competition

The McDonnell Academy hosted its PhD-in-3D Competition on Thursday, April 6 in Whitaker Auditorium.  There were 11 Scholars participating in the competition, all in their fourth or fifth year of their PhD degree program.  The presentations were varied, and ranged in topics including Turkish men’s moral worth, nitrogen fixing genes, cookstove imperialism,  building trust in international development settings and mechanical medicine and disease.  With only three minutes to present their research in elevator-pitch style to a captive audience of peers, faculty and friends, the Scholars successfully condensed their research to be palatable to any general audience.

Three winners were selected for first, second and third place prizes:

First Place: Praveen Kumar | PhD, Social Work, Brown School

Second Place: Yunzi (Melody) Li | PhD, Comparative Literature | Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Third Place:  Kuan-Yu (Mike) Shen | PhD, Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering & Applied Science

The McDonnell Academy PhD-in-3D Competition has been modeled on the 3MT® Competition established by the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia.  They are also one of the McDonnell Academy’s Partner Universities.