This contest, organized by the Graduate School of Universidad Católica, seeks that P. hD students from UC can explain their thesis projects in simple words in a short time in English. This year, UC PhD candidate and MAS researcher Ernesto Camacho was classified among the ten finalists with his presentation about black holes of medium mass.
Its original name is Three Minute Thesis 3MT® and born in 2008 at the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. This initiative’s success was replicated in several international universities and since 2013 at Universidad Católica de Chile.
It challenges PhD students in every area of knowledge to communicate their research clearly and convincingly to a non-expert audience in only three minutes. Such challenges the P. hD candidate in Astronomy, Ernesto Camacho, a member of the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics MAS, faced this year. This is not easy at all since it aims to explain what black holes are and how they are classified according to their masses.
“I wanted to tell a thrilling, simple story because I have been interested in explaining my work to people outside of the science field, particularly astronomy. The key is to find the needed motivation that moves research. Concepts surrounding research are generally very complicated, and it is crucial to communicate them with simplicity and passion. I think that these moments are important since it is extremely relevant for us scientists to communicate the work we do efficiently; to transfer that passion we feel when we work on these fascinating topics, and, at the same time, to raise awareness about its importance, bonding with the audience, motivate other people to be involved, and explain the relevance on investing and supporting science,” states Camacho.”
Preparation
However, summing up years of research in only a few seconds is not easy. So, Ernesto had a major preparation, which dragged him to be one of the ten finalists. “I build a draft text, always thinking about using understandable concepts and concepts. I put the final touches on this text; until I took around three minutes to read it. Later, I asked for help from my friends, that provided corrections and suggestions. Last, I practiced multiple times until I was confident, rehearsing the emphasis and gestures I wanted to add. It was a beautiful process.”
Respecto al contenido del relato y cómo fue elaborado, Camacho explica: “en primer lugar, partí por explicar qué es un agujero negro. Utilicé una analogía del espacio-tiempo en 3D (mediante una sábana estirada por sus bordes), y cómo la presencia de masa la deforma. Luego, introduje contexto sobre el conocimiento actual que tenemos de su demografía en relación con su masa. Es decir, que conocemos sobre la existencia de agujeros negros «pequeños» de masa estelar y «grandes» o supermasivos. De esta manera, I could build the motivation for my thesis: Are there black holes of medium mass? And if there are, which are their properties? Why haven’t we found them yet? Then, I talked about how we try to find them; from the light that the mass orbiting around them emits. Finally, I emphasized the importance of studying them and the contribution that they may mean to humankind.
Watch the top ten final presentations, including Ernesto’s presentation. Click the following link to the Graduate School UC YouTube channel
Pictures: César Cortés UC Vice Chancellor of Communications
