Five finalists will compete for first place in the 2025 Sheffield Hallam University Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition final taking place as part of the Research in a Flash event. Please register your attendance via MS Forms.

Meet the Finalists

Melika Rostamkhani, Health Research Institute 

Co-designing a power-assisted exercise intervention for people with moderate-to-severe Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

This research centres on co-designing a power-assisted exercise intervention for people with moderate-to-severe Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Rather than designing solutions for them, the project brings together people with MS, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to co-create an adaptable, empowering exercise program. Through co-design sessions, participants collaborate as equal partners, sharing experiences and shaping ideas. A pivotal moment came when one participant, Sarah, asked for exercises she could do on her “bad days” — leading to a complete redesign that included bed-based movements and customizable energy-level options. The result is an inclusive intervention that reflects the real needs and voices of its users. By shifting ownership to those with lived experience, this project highlights how co-design fosters dignity, motivation, and meaningful impact. “Building with you, for you” becomes not just a motto, but a powerful new model for patient-centred care and innovation. 

Jack Cornwall, Industry and Innovation Research Institute 

On the thermal and kinetic methods of nepheline precipitation within Hanford high-level nuclear waste canisters 

Many nations plan to vitrify their nuclear waste in a borosilicate glass matrix for deep geological disposal. Efforts to increase waste loading are crucial as cost savings due to the reduction of raw glass-forming chemicals and melt energy requirements, as well as for the reduction in geological repository volume that would need to be dug out to store the waste materials for their radioactive lifetimes. 

Sodium and aluminium are two of the most plentiful elements present in wastes at Hanford, a nuclear waste site in southeastern Washington state, USA, due to their use in cladding and associated chemicals being used as part of the reprocessing effort. When it comes to high-level waste (HLW), the limiting factor to waste loading is often that high alumina and high sodium oxide glass compositions are likely to precipitate nepheline during the slow canister centreline cooling (CCC). Nepheline is a sodium aluminosilicate phase which tends to strip more network formers than modifiers from the adjacent glass, which can result in said glass being more prone to water leaching if the steel containment canister fails. 

Models to predict nepheline precipitation, such as the nepheline discriminator, optical basicity, the submixture model, and the difference based on correlation models, have gone some way to allowing higher waste loading of HLW glasses, however, they are often found to be overly conservative. This research looks at the thermal and kinetic evolution of crystals during CCC cooling along the compositional knife edge predicted by these models and attempts to explain why the models are conservative and how to address this.

Tess Gilligan, Health Research Institute 

Investigating effectiveness, accuracy and reproducibility in upright radiotherapy  

Upright radiotherapy has the potential to make radiotherapy more accessible, improve patient experience and reduce cost implications. There is growing research into implementing upright radiotherapy into the cancer treatment pathway. However, radiotherapy is complex. Human factors alone can impact upon radiotherapy delivery. Whether radiation is delivered to a person lying down or standing up, they need to stay still and be in the same position each time. My research is focused on just this, the effectiveness, accuracy and reproducibility of upright radiotherapy, and comparing this to conventional radiotherapy to help make judgements on the viability of this treatment design. Several studies are planned to investigate this element of upright radiotherapy positioning. A literature review will initially be conducted, followed by a study focusing on selecting the best tool to measure upright setups and finally studies measuring and comparing upright and supine setups will be undertaken.  

Lillian Maguire, Social and Economic Research Institute 

And. Or. Other. 

My PhD extends my quantitative exploration of the interplay between politics, religion, nationalism, and identity in Ireland. By investigating the construction of mixed-race identity in white-majority societies (Ireland, UK) through quantitative and mixed-methods research. Despite the significant global growth of the mixed-race population (US: 652% between 2005 and 2021, UK: 80% between 2000 and 2010), this demographic remains understudied and poorly understood. 
 
Employing critical realism, this study first uses qualitative research to conceptualise mixed-race identity beyond racialised frameworks and binaries, examining the historical and modern impact of racism and racialisation. Next, quantitative research investigates the influence of diverse sociodemographic factors and their intersections on identity construction and positioning. Qualitative analysis then contextualises findings to explore the lived experiences of mixed-race individuals navigating a racially stratified society. Integrating quantitative and qualitative data, this research aims to move beyond simplistic understandings of identity and generate nuanced conceptual insights, addressing common gaps in the literature.