7 winners of the individual university competitions were invited to compete in the IUA national final. An 80,000 word thesis would take 9 hours to present. Their time limit was 3 minutes!
EmmaJude Lyons from University of Limerick was named the winner of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition.
Áine Gorman from University College Cork was awarded the Audience Choice Award, with Almudena Moreno Borrallo from Trinity College Dublin named as the runner-up.
This year marked the third year the IUA hosts the competition in Ireland to celebrate the achievements and talent of Irish university PhD researchers
Speaking after the event, Chair of the Judging panel and new Director General of IUA, Paul Johnston said:
“This globally renowned competition provides a great opportunity to showcase the talent of our young university researchers in Ireland. The fact that they have to present their thesis in three minutes, which is no mean feat, also tests their communications capabilities. I’d like to congratulate all the competitors participating in the national final. I hope the experience gives each of them a sense of accomplishment and the empowerment to continue communicating the relevance and impact of their research. It is also encouraging to note that the Government announced greater research funding as part of the recent NDP review and in particular a Research Infrastructure and Talent Fund which could help support the young researchers here today.”