USM PENANG, 24 June 2025 – First introduced by the University of Queensland in 2008, the Malaysia Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition was initiated by the Council of Malaysian Postgraduate Deans in response to the growing interest and enthusiasm among Malaysian universities and postgraduate students.

The inaugural Malaysia 3MT competition was held in 2015, with the objective of cultivating effective research presentation and communication skills among postgraduate students.

The first competition was co-organised by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), featuring participants from over 20 public and private universities across the country.

This year, the tradition continued with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) as the main organiser and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) as the co-organiser.

The national-level competition took place on 19 June 2025 at UPM, involving 68 contestants from various universities in Malaysia, competing in two categories: Science, Engineering, and Technology; and Social Sciences.

USM was represented by four Ph.D. students:

1. Byron MC Michael Kadum (School of Educational Studies), topic - From Memorising to Reasoning: Treating the ‘Cancer’ in Chemistry Education.
2. Praveena A/P Munianday (School of Housing, Building and Planning), topic - Construction 4.0 Skills to Fix Malaysia’s Construction Crisis.
3. Aunsia Khan (School of Computer Sciences), topic - Early Prediction of Alzheimer’s Disease Using Machine Learning, and
4. Vishanth Rathakrishnan (Advanced Medical and Dental Institute), topic - One Tiny Patch, A Big Step in Muscle Recovery – And Beyond.

These students were selected from the USM 3MT competition held at the USM Main Campus and underwent a rigorous coaching and mentoring process conducted by the Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS).

At the national competition, Byron MC Michael Kadum from the School of Educational Studies (PPIP) USM emerged as the First Place Winner with his compelling presentation.

Byron will represent Malaysia in the upcoming Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition.

When interviewed regarding his preparation and success, Byron, who hails from Sabah and was attached to Labuan Matriculation College said, “Preparations took close to two months, via 6 well-structured online coaching sessions, and guidance from four very experienced USM lecturers/trainers.

"Everyone on the team were very supportive and the daily practices were truly helpful as well.”

He added, “Winning the national competition was a big personal milestone. At the same time, it was a surreal and humbling experience. Sharing the success and the pride with my current and former colleagues and superiors helped to make the success even more meaningful. And to be chosen to represent Malaysia in the 3MT Finals in October has truly reignited my passion for academia. I am surely excited and eager to step into the academic world!”

Congratulations to Byron MC Michael Kadum!

Text & Photos: Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS) USM/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin