ONE size does not fit our hearts: PhD candidate Vicente Artola Arita finishes third in the 3 Minute Thesis Competition

Translate your research, which you have been working on for years, into a three minute presentation. During the final of the 3 Minute Thesis Competition, three PhD candidates presented their research last Thursday, including Vicente Artola Arita, PhD candidate at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). He finished in third place.

The 3 Minute Thesis Competition comes from the University of Queensland and was created due to a shortage of water. The university asked its residents to shower in three minutes to use water as efficiently as possible. And if you can shower in three minutes, you can do more in that short period of time. “If you understand your research well, you can explain it in simple terms,” says Artola. The idea behind it is that you can make your research understandable for the general public. “Your ultimate goal as a researcher is to help society, but not everyone in society is a researcher. If you then start spouting difficult jargon, not everyone will understand you.”

Artola conducts research for the Cardiology department of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). His research focuses on personalized medicine and specifically on biological and echocardiographic markers of atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia. "These biomarkers are substances in the blood that can indicate the conditions of the body, allowing us to detect health problems and their cause at an early stage."

The research shows that atrial fibrillation is not a problem with specific characteristics, but that patients are very different and therefore difficult to treat with just one type of treatment. That brought him to the title of his research: ONE size does not fit our hearts. “We must remember that we are not treating atrial fibrillations, but patients. These patients have different problems, different education, different jobs and different goals in life. I cannot tell a patient to exercise more if this is impossible in combination with his sedentary profession."

From conference to online presentation

Normally, the finalists present their research at the Coimbra Group's annual conference, in front of a jury, rectors, academic and administrative staff and students. The current pandemic conditions caused it to be held online. But giving your presentation from home can be quite a challenge. Just try to find suitable light and a good camera and microphone. The University of Groningen helped Artola out. "Thanks to the University of Groningen, I was able to present in a room they reserved with good technical support." He was also allowed to invite some friends and family who could support him (in accordance with the guidelines, of course). That gave him a lot of energy. Presenting itself turned out to be more challenging. “It was difficult because I am very expressive and I like to accompany my words with movement. That was also one of the strategies for my presentation.” But he also sees the advantages of this: “It is representative of the future situation and also effective, because after following the presentation online everyone can continue with what he or he is doing. That increases productivity. "

Learning experience

Is he disappointed with his third place? “I'm not going to lie. Of course I would have liked to win, but the other presentations were also very interesting and completely different,” he says as he lost to two female participants. “I am glad to see women leading this competition and that is a gain already.” He came to the conclusion that his presentation was substantively suitable for the jury in Groningen, but that presenting required a different approach for the final jury. “What I learned is that you cannot always use the same message for different target groups. You have to adapt your story as well as possible to the target group for which you are presenting, in order to convey your research as well as possible.” In any case, it was another good learning experience. “I always say: sometimes you win, sometimes you learn”, he adds.