Three Minute Thesis showcases region’s top PhD research communicators

On 23 June, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) held the Third Wisdom Lake Postgraduate Research Development Conference and 2026 Wisdom Lake University Three Minute Thesis Competition, in collaboration with Suzhou Dushu Lake Science and Education Innovation District Administrative Committee.

Wei Zhou delivering the opening speech

The competition challenges PhD researchers to present their thesis in no more than three minutes using language that non-experts can understand. It is part of a global movement founded by the University of Queensland in Australia, now held in more than 900 universities across 85 countries.

Sixteen competitors from six institutions took part this year, representing Renmin University of China, the University of Science and Technology of China, Soochow University, Monash Suzhou Research Institute, National University of Singapore (Suzhou) Research Institute, and XJTLU. Their topics ranged from coral reefs to supply chain management.

“We believe doctoral education is about more than generating knowledge,” said Wei Zhou, XJTLU’s Operation Director for Research and Graduate Studies, in her opening remarks. “It is about developing future innovators, leaders and problem solvers who can make a meaningful impact on society.”

The judging panel included Professor Adam Cross from XJTLU, Professor Pan Deng from Soochow University, Dr Zhao Liu from the NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute, and Dr Yunyan Zhang from XJTLU.

This year’s first prize winner, who also took home the People’s Choice Award, was XJTLU’s Shuqi He. In her presentation, He shared her research on developing ways to give blind or partially sighted people access to data visualisation.

“I feel so grateful and completely humbled, especially once I realised my supervisor and lab mate were right there in the audience supporting me,” she said. “It is a huge encouragement for me to keep exploring my current project and to continue refining how I use storytelling to share my work.”

Shuqi He (right) receiving the first prize 

The three second-prize winners were Chenchang Li from NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute, Xinran Zheng from XJTLU, and Xuelin Kong from NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute.

Third prize went to Guangcan Gao of Soochow University, Hongzhe He of Monash Suzhou Research Institute, Xing Xu of the University of Science and Technology of China, Jie Feng of Renmin University of China, and Qian Yang of Soochow University.

The day also featured an industry networking hub, which brought together PhD researchers with leading enterprises in the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) area, aiming to strengthen the university-industry-research ecosystem and give students the opportunity to build connections.

The event also featured speeches from key representatives, including Rebecca Wang from UniX AI Group, and Yaping Zhang, from the Office of the Leading Group for Talent Development of the CPC SIP Working Committee , who shared more about their organisations, and how they can work with innovative and talented PhD graduates.

Rebecca Wang from UniX AI Group

In his concluding speech at the awards ceremony, Professor Zhoulin Ruan, XJTLU’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, spoke on the importance of events like these. In an era shaped by artificial intelligence, he said, the ability to communicate research to the public is as important as the research itself.

Students participating in the industry networking hub

 By Patricia Pieterse
Edited by Xinmin Han