Congratulations to Euan Doidge who was awarded the Highly commended prize at the Universitas 21 3 Minute Thesis Competition with his presentation ‘WEEE are Golden: metal recovery by solvent extraction’. Euan is a 3rd year PhD student from the School of Chemistry and his presentation described his research on extracting gold from recycled waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), such as mobile phones, which contains 300 times more gold per tonne that naturally occurring rocks and ore. By designing molecules called ‘extractants’ which are specific to gold, Euan uses a solvent extraction technique to separate out gold from other metals in the WEEE, in a process that is far more efficient and environmentally friendly than mining for gold.
Euan described his experience in taking part in the competition: “The 3MT® competition has been amazing! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of the fantastic competitors throughout the various stages of the competition. It’s been a great opportunity to meet other PhD students and the people who support them, as well as learn little chunks of information on novel research across an amazingly diverse range of subjects. I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to present my research in a different and memorable way that can resonate with a wide audience and engage in the discussions that follow.
I am incredibly proud to have represented the university at the 3 Minute Thesis UK and U21 competitions, and delighted to bring the Highly Commended Award home to Edinburgh! Many thanks go to everyone from the School of Chemistry, the Institute for Academic Development, the University and beyond for all your support!”
Professor Jeremy Bradshaw, Assistant Principal Researcher Development, spoke of Euan’s achievement: “I am delighted that Euan has won this prestigious award, in what was a strong field of competitors. As an institution, we really value what benefits 3MT® brings to both the University and the individual.”
First developed by the University of Queensland in 2008, the Three Minute Thesis competition (3MT®) challenges research students to communicate the significance of their projects to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes.
Now in its fifth year, the U21 3MT® competition 2017 pitted the leading presenters from Universitas 21 (U21) member universities against one another. Each participating member held their own internal 3MT® competition to select a local winner who was then put forward for the U21 final.
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