Kyushu University holds the Kyushu U 3MT Competition 2025 Award Ceremony

On Thursday, July 31, 2025, the award ceremony for the Kyushu U Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition 2025 was held at Shiiki Hall, Ito Campus. In addition to the three award winners, their supervisors, Professor Kenji Iwata (Executive Vice President), Professor Natalie Konomi (Vice President), and Mr. Kozo Matsukawa (Director of the International Affairs Department) attended the ceremony.
This was the fifth time Kyushu University held its 3MT competition, a local version of an international competition where doctoral students present their research in just three minutes using only one slide. The 3MT competition was originally launched in 2008 at Kyushu University’s partner institution, The University of Queensland in Australia, and has become a well-known and highly regarded competition.
This year, twelve students from nine graduate schools who made it through the first round of the competition advanced to the online final on Monday, July 28. In addition to two judges from Kyushu University, Professor Syo Matsumura (Reseach Professor) and Professor Aya Hagishima (Senior Vice President), Kyushu University invited three judges from outside the university:
Professor Lydia Kavanagh, The University of Queensland
Mr. Yasufumi Hirai, Director of the Board, President & COO, RevComm Inc. (Former Chief of Staff to the CEO, Rakuten Group, Inc.)
Dr. Ayako Miyazaki, Senior Communications Manager, Corporate Affairs, Springer Nature
After a rigorous screening process, three winners were selected. During the Q&A session, each judge gave many thought-provoking comments based on their own experience in response to the participants’ answers. The event was a success, with participating students commenting that it was an extremely valuable experience.

The first-place winner, Ms. Chi T. Q. Tran, will represent Kyushu University in the Virtual Asia-Pacific Competition, 2025 Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final Showcase hosted by the University of Queensland.

Winner: Ms. Chi T. Q. Tran (5th year, Integrated Doctoral Course, Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences)
Runner-up: Mr. Sam Bessai (1st year, Doctoral Course, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences)
People's Choice: Mr. Amir Salama (3rd year, Doctoral Course, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences)
All affiliations and academic years are those as of August 1, 2025.

• 2025 Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final
• Kyushu U 3MT Competition