The Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) takes place every year at UCL, as part of a wider national event. Each competitor speaks for three minutes about their PhD research, conveying the background, impact and significance of their work to an audience of non-specialists, using just a single PowerPoint slide.
This year’s winner was Agatha Alves Anet, a Wellcome-UCL Mental Health Sciences PhD student from the Faculty of Brain Sciences. The focus of her 3MT was ‘Disentangling the Cognitive Mechanisms of Anxiety Disorders’.
You can watch her speech in full below:
Following her win, we spoke to Agatha to find out more about the competition and what inspired her most during her studies.
What first got you interested in cognitive neuroscience?
I've always been curious about human biology, ever since a school lesson where we had the opportunity to see a plasticised human brain for the first time. From that moment, I immediately knew I wanted to dedicate my life to understanding how such a small organ can do so much! I was fascinated by how our thoughts and feelings are generated, and having grown up suffering with anxiety, I was extra curious about why and how anxiety occurs in the brain.
What attracted you to the Wellcome-UCL Mental Health Sciences PhD at UCL?
I had a great experience during my Masters of Research in Brain Sciences at UCL so I knew I wanted to continue my studies there. I really like that it is so international and really appreciate the positive and collaborative culture at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. The Wellcome-UCL programme offered exactly what I was looking for, interdisciplinary opportunity in mental health research. I was particularly attracted to this programme because the structure offered a lot of freedom to pursue the research topic I was interested in and there was extensive student support provided throughout the PhD journey.
Could you tell us about your current research?
I focused my PhD on investigating how different anxiety disorders, namely generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social anxiety disorder, affect cognitive functions (thinking processes like attention, memory, and decision-making). To do that I used experimental models of anxiety, which involve temporarily inducing anxiety in people who don’t have it chronically (so we can switch their anxiety ‘on’ and ‘off’) and test if these cognitive functions work differently in each state. We were particularly interested in how the threat of mild electric shocks, which elicited anticipation similar to generalised disorder, 7.5% CO2 inhalation, which causes symptoms similar to panic disorder, and preparing to give a speech, which causes feelings similar to social stress test, would affect cognition. I’m in the process of analysing and writing up the results, but can give the spoiler that these anxiety inductions don’t affect cognition in the same way, which is interesting because it could potentially inform how to tailor treatments for each disorder, improving future treatment outcome.
You won the UCL 3 Minute Thesis competition 2025 speaking about your research – how do you feel?
When they announced it, I was genuinely in shock! Every single finalist’s presentation was so clear and informative. I’m very honoured to have won first place. I have never been great at public speaking but always knew that it would be important for my career as an academic, so I’ve spent the last few years pushing myself to give presentations, even when it felt uncomfortable. I remember hearing about the 3MT competition when I was still in my bachelor's in Brazil and thinking it would be a great experience to participate one day, but that I would have no chance of winning. I’m glad I pushed through the anxiety and actually presented.
What did you learn from taking part in the 3MT competition?
The competition was really fun! Everyone was welcoming and genuinely interested in learning about my PhD thesis. Being a PhD student is lonely at times, and it is very easy to forget the wider purpose of your project. The preparation process gave me chance to reflect upon my project, and putting everything together in an accessible manner reminded me of why I chose to dedicate 4 years of my life to this. I also learned a lot about how to deliver an accessible and engaging talk by watching the other finalists, who were able to break down extremely complex subjects in a bite-size 3-minute presentation.
What do you hope to do when you finish your studies?
I want to pursue a career in academia, so the plan is to take up a post-doctorate role and pursue further research into the cognitive mechanisms of anxiety disorders, as there is still much work to be done in this field!