Turku University student wins Int´l 3MT Competition

Doctoral Candidate Khalil Shahramian from the Institute of Dentistry of the University of Turku won the Three Minute Thesis competition for European universities, said a press release issued by the university.

Shahramian and three other doctoral candidates competed to win the 3MT Competition at the Annual Conference of Coimbra Group in Salamanca on 1 June.

Three Minute Thesis is an academic competition created by the Australian University of Queensland. In the competition, the doctoral candidate summarises the essence of their research in three minutes with the help of a single PowerPoint slide.

Khalil Shahramian presented an improved method of attaching a new tooth to replace a missing one, which is being developed in the University of Turku. In his presentation, titled Bioactive Coatings to Improve Implant-Gum Relationships & Soft Tissue Attachment Issues, he talks about his research which aims at building better tooth implants.

“It has been a great honour to represent the University of Turku in this competition. We’ve had a great team putting this presentation together: the University of Turku, Institute of Dentistry, Dean, professors, all the supporters. And, especially, my best friend Tarek Omran, who won the Three Minute Thesis competition of the University of Turku last year. He gave me a lot of tips and instructions and he was also at Salamanca cheering me on,” Shahramian said.

The winners of the national competitions competed with their video presentations for making it to the Coimbra Group finals. The representatives of each participating university voted for their favourites from among the 21 national winners to compete in the final.

Shahramian competed alongside Jason Mario Dydynski from the University of Tartu, Nicola Seitz from the University of Würzburg, and Konstantina Theofanoupoulou from the University of Barcelona. The final was held at the Annual Conference of Coimbra Group in Salamanca, Spain, on 1 June 2018.