25 September 2025
Locum optometrist and PhD researcher, Caitlín Campbell, has reached the UK final of a competition where academics distill their research into a three-minute presentation.
Campbell’s presentation will be one of six broadcast online at midday on 1 October for the 2025 Vitae Three Minute Thesis competition.
Following the broadcast, voting will go live for the People’s Choice winner, with the winners of the competition announced on Friday 3 October.
Campbell’s PhD research, which focuses on improving methods for detecting vision changes in glaucoma, particularly in myopic patients, has involved recruiting 140 patients so far.
“Throughout my PhD, I have spent a lot of time talking with people,” she said.
“In research and academia, the work can be complicated and detailed, and I was becoming increasingly aware of the importance of being able to explain it in a way that's meaningful for people, particularly for patients,” Campbell highlighted.
Campbell told OT that she decided to put herself forward for the competition, although she was initially nervous about the prospect of public speaking.
“I think it will always feel daunting, but if something is out of your comfort zone, that is where you have the most to gain,” she said.
Campbell presented her research alongside other academics at the Ulster University final to a packed auditorium. After succeeding in this stage of the competition, Campbell went on to represent Ulster University at the quarter-finals and semi-finals before reaching the final six out of 1000 initial applicants.
She said that the most nerve-wracking aspect of the process so far was at the Ulster University final, when she looked out at the crowd and saw the familiar faces of her research supervisors and other academic colleagues.
“I wanted to do them proud. Three minutes is a very short time – if you go over the time limit you are disqualified. You are very aware of getting your words out and not having any big blunders or stumbles,” Campbell said.
She said the experience of condensing her research into a three-minute presentation had prompted her to look at her work in a new way.
A typical thesis is around 90,000 words and would take around nine hours to present.
“The competition gives you the chance to take a bird’s eye view of your research and really create a narrative of the key take-home messages,” Campbell observed.
If something is out of your comfort zone, that is where you have the most to gain
Campbell told OT that she was shocked when she heard that she had made it to the final six in the competition.
“I felt very grateful to be able to represent Ulster University on the national stage, and lucky to be able to share what we're doing here and my research with a much wider audience,” she said.
As well as completing her PhD, Campbell works as a locum optometrist in community practice and as an honorary research fellow at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
The final six presentations were pre-recorded ahead of the live broadcast, which will take place on 1 October, with a watch party organised at Ulster University.
Campbell shared that one of the benefits of taking part of the competition is learning about research across a diverse range of disciplines.
At the Ulster University final, topics varied from fire architecture to iron intake during pregnancy. Cellular physiology, artificial intelligence and Mills & Boon authors will be among subjects explored in the final six presentations.
“I think that one of the key benefits of taking part is you get to learn more about the work that your colleagues are doing within your institution and across the UK,” she said.
“It makes you really excited for the future when you get to meet all of these researchers who are so passionate about the work that they do,” Campbell emphasised.
Those interested in watching the presentations and voting in the People’s Choice award can do so online.
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