Persia Anderton wins 2025 Visualise Your Thesis competition for thought-provoking submission on sexual double standards

Persia Anderton wins 2025 Visualise Your Thesis competition for thought-provoking submission on sexual double standards

Writing a thesis is hard. Distilling tens of thousands of words into an engaging one-minute presentation? Some might say that’s even harder.

Yet 17 HDR students from RMIT were up to the challenge this year, submitting their theses to develop into the Visualise Your Thesis (VYT) format.

Throughout the competition, students developed digital skills, communication techniques for presenting to non-academic audiences, and knowledge of open research practices, copyright and attributions.

The judging team consisting of staff from the Library and Colleges selected Persia Anderton from the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences as the winner from for her exceptional thought-provoking submission titled: Unveiling Hidden Norms: Towards a New Scale for Measuring Social Endorsement of Sexual Double Standards.

Persia is in the second year of her PhD and reflected on why she entered the VYT competition. “I thought it would be a great way to get creative and reignite my drive to engage with my research," she said.

Persia’s research stood out among a competitive field of entries – challenging societal norms and introducing a framework to assess sexual double standards with broad relevance to public health, education and policy. 

At the centre of my research is people like you and me, and how sexual double standards can affect everyone in society.

As the winner for the RMIT VYT competition, Persia received a cash prize of $1200 and will go on to represent RMIT at the International competition where the winner receives $5000, with the winner announced in late October.

Persia Anderton holding certificate smiling Persia Anderton from the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences is the winner of the VYT competition 2025.

RMIT University Library’s Learning, Teaching and Research team delivered workshops on communication and copyright, as well as a session from Sophia Gray Young (Adobe Coach) on using Adobe Express for creating their entries, and provided additional support through the VYT guide.

The project culminated in a showcase event at the Kaleide Theatre on 2 July, featuring screenings of all 17 entries, an inspiring talk by Professor Kate Fox on effectively communicating research to a general audience, and the announcement of the prize winners.

Kate Fox standing on stage addressing audience Professor Kate Fox presents at the VYT showcase

Runners-up and people’s choice awards

Three people standing on stage holding certificates Persia Anderton, Luis Carlos Florez and Nipunika Hansani Karunapala hold up their certificates

The VYT competition entries are added to the RMIT Research Repository, allowing everyone to explore the innovative ideas presented by our talented students.

Silver text against navy blue background

Want to learn more about Visualise Your Thesis?

The Visualise Your Thesis (VYT) competition is an exciting opportunity for HDR students to creatively showcase their research in a visual format. This international competition challenges graduate research students to present their research in a 60-second, eye-catching digital display.

Learn more
21 July 2025

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