How to sum up a PhD in three minutes with AIBN researchers

From paper aeroplanes to angry polymers and antimicrobial coatings, AIBN research rose to the top during UQ's Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition in 2024.

Summing up a PhD thesis in three minutes is no easy feat - especially in front of a crowd - but AIBN scholars Raluca Ghesobu, Thomas Jarrett, and Divya Rajah showed that can be both possible, and extremely entertaining.

As AIBN champion, Raluca then went on to win the UQ All-Institutes 3MT competition against colleagues from QBI, IMB, SMI and QAAFI.

AIBN runner-up Thomas swept the popular vote at the institutes competition to earn a spot in the UQ wildcard round.

Divya narrowly missed a spot in the All-Institutes final but received tremendous support from the AIBN crowd to win the AIBN people's choice prize. 

All three students showcased their unique research highlighting the range of amazing research that goes on at AIBN.

You can watch their 3MT pitches below.

Intercepting the messengers in cancer - Raluca Ghebosu

Remember the kid at school who would throw paper aeroplanes from the back of the class?

The one who would get a lecture from the teacher, only to find new and creative methods to disrupt the other students around them?

PhD scholar Raluca Ghebosu says cancer cells operate in a similar way: finding sneaky methods of spraying disruptive and harmful messages that fly under the radar of our immune system. “These messages – paper aeroplanes if you will – are what help cancer cells grow and spread to other parts of the body,” Raluca says.

“And while our body’s immune system is the ever-watchful teacher - seeking to put a stop to this behaviour - the cancer cells still seem to find a way to spread the message and grow.”

Working in the lab of Associate Professor Joy Wolfram, Raluca is focused on catching these messages mid-flight to investigate how they are getting through our body’s defence and causing so much havoc.

Not only did Raluca win the AIBN 3MT heats, but she also won the UQ Institutes 3MT competition and competed in the UQ Finals.

Making polymers angry to treat cancer - Thomas Jarrett

Thomas Jarrett likes to make polymers angry.

But getting the timing right is key.

“As people, if we’re angry at the wrong things at the wrong time, we can harm things that we love,” he says.

“But if we’re angry at the right thing at the right time, we can use that to enact change on the world around us.”

A PhD student with Professor Kristofer Thurecht, the focus of Thomas’ work is tricking polymers into certain moods so that they can become the ideal tools to fight cancer.

“You could say I have an array of polymers that have different temperaments for different reasons,” he says.

“Some are very zen. Others are very irritable and angry. Others are patient, and turn from zen to angry.

“My PhD is about exploring where on the spectrum of temperament I want my polymers to be in order to deliver radiotherapies to cancer as effectively as possible.”

Not only did Thomas place second in the AIBN 3MT heats, but he also swept the votes to win people’s choice at the UQ Institutes 3MT competition.

Nature-Powered Protective Masks - Divya Rajah

During COVID-19 we all got used to wearing face masks to prevent viral transmission.

But surgical face masks have limitations – they are inefficient for filtering small particles like viruses, and the accumulation of microbes on the face mask over time increases the chance of being infected.

Could the solution come from something sweet?

AIBN PhD Student Divya Rajah, under the supervision of Dr Nasim Amiralian is working on developing an innovative anti-microbial coating that reduces the viability of microbes on face masks.

This coating uses copper nanoparticles, which are well known for their anti microbial efficiency and combines them with thin nano fibres from sugar cane waste. These nanofibers keep the copper nanoparticles in place and preventing them from clumping – a common problem with copper nanoparticles that can increase the risk of exposure for mask wearers.

Divya has demonstrated the coating's efficacy against a wide range of bacteria and viruses, including the flu virus, in just 30 minutes without any toxicity to mask wearers.