UCC to host ‘Ma Thèse en 180 secondes’ Irish final on European Doctoral Day
University College Cork (UCC) will host the 2026 national finals of ‘Ma Thèse en 180 secondes’, a three-minute thesis competition for French speaking doctoral students.
The event takes place on the inaugural European Doctoral Day (Wednesday 13th May), an initiative launched in 2026 that aims to highlight the pivotal role of PhD holders and of doctoral education in driving scientific excellence, innovation, and societal progress - both within academia and beyond. Over 170 events are taking place across Europe to mark the inaugural European Doctoral Day.
Organised by The Embassy of France in Ireland, The Irish Universities Association, and the Association for Franco-Irish Studies, the MT180 competition is open to French doctoral students researching in Ireland. 10 finalists will present their research in 3 minutes, with the winner representing Ireland at the international ‘Ma Thèse en 180 secondes’ finals later this year.
The judging panel, chaired by H.E Jenny Piaget, Ambassador of Switzerland to Ireland, will announce their winner at 2pm on Wednesday May 13th. The full judging panel is:
- Jenny Piaget, Ambassador of Switzerland to Ireland
- Honore Kamegni, Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork
- Oliver Davis, Professor and Head of the French department, UCC
- Mélanie Depret, 3rd place of the jury in Bucharest for the international final of MT180 2025
UCC staff interested in attending the event from 11.45am on Wednesday May 13th can register on Eventbrite. The full list of finalists is as follows:
| Finalist | Institution | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|
| Imane Allaoui | University College Cork | Effets de ma voie de vaccination sur le répertoire des lymphocytes B chez le porc. |
| Guillaume Hug | Maynooth University | Mid 20th century Atlantic Circulation informed by modern observation and models. |
| Elea Thuikier | University of Galway | CnamhAR - réalité augmentée et jeux vidéo actifs pour une pratique spotive motivante et efficace contre l'Ostéoporose. |
| Ioan Suhov | Dublin City University | Comment les pressions journalistiques contribuent à la légitimation d'un régime autoritaire: les médias roumains et la guerre russe en Ukraine (2022). |
| Vicky Bouche | Trinity College Dublin | Le feedback assisté par l'IA générative dans les classes multilingues: une étude de recherche par conception en Irlande. |
| Aris Melloni | Dublin City University | Optimisation de la stabilité et de la qualité des médicaments biologiques à base de protéines grâce à la technologie de congélation-décongélation. |
| Rachel Lapeyre | University College Cork | Développement d'un vaccin à adénovirus contre le staphylocoque doré. |
| Aiden Vassilian | University of Galway | Reprogrammer les cellules T pour combattre le cancer colorectal et améliorer la qualité et l'espérance de vie des patients. |
| Astrid Dedieu | University College Cork | Des nouvelles approches pour activiter le système immunitaire dans le cancer colorectal métastatique. |
| Nial O'Reilly | University of Galway | Des nouvelles approches pour activiter le système immunitaire dans le cancer colorectal métastatique. |
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