The PhD students who competed in the 3MT Competition at the Sunway campus.

For science student Asiri Perera, the pressure is on.

In the 3MT Competition last year, her predecessor Tanuja Rajah, also from the School of Science, emerged Monash University champion and went on to compete at the transnational finals between Australian and New Zealand universities.

This year, hopes are once again high.

For Asiri, 27, who entered into the Sunway campus level of the competition at the last minute, the second time was the charm. She had lost to Tanuja in 2011.

This year, however, she impressed the judges and clinched the award as competition champion after beating five other finalists with her presentation, “Geranin as an Agent for Insulin Sensitization in Adipose Tissue.”

“I only signed up for this year’s competition on the last day because I was not exactly planning to take part,” the bubbly PhD student said.

The 3MT Competition challenges PhD students to deliver their thesis in everyday language and in three minutes or under.

“I find it very interesting that you can simplify your work. You always end up using technical jargon, so what I tried to do was to make it sound like a story,” she said.

Winner Asiri Perera in action.

The judges found Asiri “very confident”, with a strong use of vocabulary and body language.

The 3MT Competition is to challenge PhD candidates to learn how to communicate complex research to non-technical public.

Asiri will now represent the Sunway campus at the Monash University level on Sept 4. The winner will meet fellow champions from other Australian and New Zealand universities at the transnational competition on Oct 11.