Ana Sofia do Carmo and Íris Coimbra Damião, PhD students at Instituto Superior Técnico, took second and third place, respectively, in the final of the 2025 edition of the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, organised by Universidade de Lisboa. The session took place on 22 May at the Pavilhão de Portugal and featured 12 finalists, five of whom were from Técnico.
Ana Sofia do Carmo, a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Técnico/Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), presented the project “Superar os Desafios da Previsão das Crises: Dados, Padrões e Progresso” (‘Overcoming the Challenges of Seizure Prediction: Data, Patterns and Progress’). Her work focuses on developing an autonomous system for collecting data to train artificial intelligence algorithms that can predict epileptic seizures. ‘I imagine a future where people with epilepsy can consult the forecast of their seizures to make more informed decisions’, she said.
Íris Coimbra Damião, a PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering and a researcher at the Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP), won third place with her presentation “Serão os Motores de Busca Politicamente Neutros?” (‘Are Search Engines Politically Neutral?’). Her research analyses the neutrality of the algorithms that organise search engine results, aiming to identify potential political biases. ‘In the future, I hope that my conclusions can contribute to creating neutral and impartial algorithms’, she said.
The ‘3 Minute Thesis’ competition challenges PhD students at Universidade de Lisboa to explain the impact of their research to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes using a single slide. The aim is to enhance scientific communication skills and foster dialogue between science and society.
In addition to the award-winning students, the final also featured Técnico PhD students Hemaxi Narotamo, Rafael Miranda, and Vicente Garção, who were selected from a pool of candidates during the preliminary phase of the competition.
In the 1st edition of the event, the winner was Catarina Botelho, a Técnico student who presented her project ‘Fala’, a marker for detecting disease. Third place was also taken by a Técnico student, Matteu Pisano, who presented a project to better understand the beginnings of the Universe. In last year’s edition, Técnico was also represented by Renata Castelo Branco in the finals.
