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3MT crowns its 2025 PhD national competition winner

28 October 2025 | Story Andile Mbowana | Photo Supplied

PhD candidates at the 2025 National 3MT Competition, hosted at the University of the Free State.

The University of the Free State Centre for Graduate Support (CGS) hosted the 2025 National Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition on 24 October in the Albert Wessels Auditorium, bringing together some of South Africa’s brightest PhD minds under one roof. The annual event, which has become a highlight on the national academic calendar, challenges doctoral candidates from universities across the country to present their complex research in just three minutes, using language accessible to a non-specialist audience.

This year’s competition drew impressive presentations from top scholars representing various disciplines – from health sciences and agriculture to humanities – all showcasing the depth and diversity of South Africa’s research landscape.

Delivering the keynote address, Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation at the UFS, reflected on The Essence of Postgraduate Studies and Success in South Africa. He emphasised that postgraduate research plays a critical role in shaping innovation and addressing the country’s most pressing challenges. “As postgraduates, you represent a powerful tool of transformation, equity, and innovation, and every thesis is a story of resilience and a long journey of research,” he said. Prof Reddy also talked about how “competitions like the 3MT not only celebrate research excellence but also teach scholars how to communicate their ideas to inspire real-world impact,” praising the competition for opening opportunities for postgraduate scholars.

The University of the Free State was represented by two candidates, Rentia du Plessis from the Faculty of The Humanities, who presented her 3MT title, Exploring Instructional Communication Strategic for Holistic Student Development, and Naquita Fernandes from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, with her 3MT title, Triggering Online Review Generation Behaviour.

Other universities, such as the Nelson Mandela University, Unisa, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of the Western Cape, the University of Johannesburg, and the University of Pretoria, were also present.

After a series of captivating presentations, Robinah Nakawunde from Stellenbosch University claimed the top prize. Representing the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, her presentation titled, Cured but Not Healed: Uncovering the Lung’s Struggles after TB, captured the attention of both the judges and the audience. Her research sheds light on how pulmonary tuberculosis continues to affect lung function even after successful treatment, highlighting the need for improved post-TB health-care interventions.

The first runner-up position went to Aaron Harvey from the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, whose research explores how avocado plants fight root rot disease using RNA interference mechanisms. His presentation, titled How Avocado Cells Fight Against the Root Rot Disease Caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi, Using RNAi Gatekeepers, impressed the judges with its clarity and scientific depth.

Morgan Lee from the University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Humanities took home the second runner-up prize. Her presentation, Locked In: The Hidden Barriers to Sustainable Agriculture, tackled the challenges facing South Africa’s commercial grain sector in transitioning towards more sustainable practices, offering insights that bridge environmental and social considerations.

The 2025 3MT National Competition once again demonstrated the power of concise, impactful communication in research. As the curtain closed, it was evident that South Africa’s future of research and innovation remains in capable hands, ones that can not only investigate deeply, but also explain passionately

News Archive

IRSJ Research fellow embarks on historic ‘voyage’

2017-12-11

Prof John T Grider, making the maritime past alive again in the minds
of a new generation.
Photo: Eugene Seegers

Prof John Grider, Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the USA and a Research Fellow in the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ) at the University of the Free State (UFS), has launched a book based on more than a decade of research into the Pacific maritime labour identity. His monograph, entitled A Foreign Voyage—Pacific Labour Identity, 1840-1890, delves into the history of the maritime industry, not only as a vehicle for expanding the processes of capitalism, colonialism, industrialisation, and globalisation, but is also exploring the impact of this industry on the shifts in gender, race, class, and technology.

As a student in Colorado, a homesick Grider tried to connect with his coastal roots via research. “Before I started to explore the maritime history, I thought of the ocean as a type of boundary that you sometimes need to cross. The truth is that globalisation happens on ships.” Prof Grider’s passion for Pacific maritime labour identity generates colourful discussions on the topic. Masculine sailors confronted by technological de-skilling that corroded away their identity, come to life as he talks and writes. “I try to show students that history is more than a story about the powerful few, and that everyday people, who may seem powerless, play a major role in shaping the past and the future.”

This monograph is based on first-hand, previously unpublished accounts of daily life at sea, often from ships’ logs and the diaries kept by the men who sailed them. The culmination of much painstaking research and supporting evidence, this book investigates the complex interplay between gender, class, and race sourced from the narratives of men who found themselves working in the transforming Pacific maritime industry during the mid-nineteenth century. A powerful lesson to be learnt from this fascinating segment of maritime labour history, is adaptability, “especially in today’s rapidly changing labour world”, Prof Grider says.

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