The first 3MT competition in BiH: The best PhD students awarded with 20,000 KM

The first 3MT competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which brought together 70 BiH athletes, ended with the announcement of the winners and the awarding of valuable cash prizes at an online ceremony. doctoral students from eminent universities from 21 countries around the world. As announced, the competition lasted four months and was organized by the Foundation of the Future in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian-American Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the Bosana Foundation. The contestants had the task of, as they stated, preparing a three-minute video presentation. The best was decided by an expert jury consisting of 22 BH. experts, professors from world universities, and research scientists. Nudžeim Selimović from the University of Zurich won first place and a cash prize of 3,000 euros. Second place and 2,000 euros went to Almir Aljović from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and third place and 1,000 euros was won by Emina Šunje, who is doing her doctoral studies in parallel at universities in Antwerp and Sarajevo.  Consolation prizes were also distributed, so the contestants from sixth to tenth place won 200 euros each, and from 11th to 18th, 100 euros each. The total amount of money distributed to students is 20,000 KM. Last month, the contestants' presentations were also available on the YouTube channel of the Future Foundation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the audience could vote and choose their winner by clicking on the like button. Zerina Kurtović from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden won the most likes.  At the solemn ceremony, Ivica Puljak, a professor from the University of Split, a famous scientist, and a member of the team that discovered the Higgs boson, addressed the gathered crowd as a guest lecturer. "This project is world-class, and reason, science, and humanism are the foundations of the world. Today we live in an era of acceleration, and the only way to survive is to move as fast as a river. Science broadens our horizons and makes us citizens of the world," said Puljak who called on all young people to be scientists, share knowledge, and constantly research. The 3MT competition provided students, as they pointed out, with research opportunities to develop their academic, presentation, research, and communication skills by explaining their research to an audience outside of their field of activity. "We are extremely proud to have gathered such a large number of young BiH researchers and introduced the public to their work. We hope that this competition will serve as an inspiration to everyone and an indication that science and effort always pay off and that Bosnia and Herzegovina has enormous research potential, which, unfortunately, we are not familiar enough with," said the organizers of the competition. As they emphasized, the competition was organized for the first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina and created the foundations for the next steps towards the promotion of science and the importance of scientific research. The organizers have announced that in 2021, a competition will be held for undergraduate and master's students, and 2022 will again be reserved for doctoral students. You can watch the entire ceremony on this link. (https://www.klix.ba/)