Research Spotlight: Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Winners Announced
Louie Alexander, M.S. in Bioinformatics student, was selected as the first-place winner in the 2022 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition on Nov. 18 for the presentation titled “Identifying Sorghum Plant Genes to Improve Biofuel Production”.
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia that challenges graduate students to succinctly summarize their research for a non-specialist audience in three minutes or less.
Also taking honors in the 3MT finals were:
- Brittany Glover, Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision – Second Place for “Changing the System: The Lived Experiences of African American Doctoral Students in Counselor Education Programs”
- Jade Takakuwa, M.S. in Bioinformatics – Third Place for “Annotation and Characterization of the Newly Assembled Pitcher Plant Mosquito Genome”
This year’s People’s Choice Award went to Jannatual Ferdous, Ph.D. in Bioinformatics student, for “Journey from Eww to Wow”.
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Brittany Glover, Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision
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Jade Takakuwa, M.S. in Bioinformatics
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Jannatual Ferdous, Ph.D. in Bioinformatics
The goal of the competition is for students to leverage all of their communication skills to engagingly convey their research to a general audience without the use of jargon. 3MT is a key element in preparing graduate students to communicate for success in their chosen career pursuits.
Graduate students who take on 3MT also have an opportunity to participate in personal coaching and instruction on public presentations through the Center for Graduate Life and Learning.
10 finalists from among 50 entrants participated in the competition’s final round. Other finalists included:
- Woheeb Muhammad Saeed, Optical Science and Engineering
- Micheal Uduebor, Civil Engineering
- Drashti Mehta, Bioinformatics
- Lolo Aboufoul, Computer Science
- Alfred Hubbard, Bioinformatics
- Joshua Mikombo, Bioinformatics
- William Willis, Bioinformatics
- Kamal Chandra Paul, Electrical Engineering
This year’s competition was judged by community partners across several industries:
- Susan Clifford, HR Leadership Partner, Equitable
- Tobe Holmes, Planning and Development Director, University City Partners
- John Searby, Executive Director, Catawba Riverkeeper
- Kim Henderson, System Chief of Staff to CEO and Enterprise Patient Experience Officer, Novant Health
A recording of the 2022 event is available on the Center for Graduate Life and Learning’s YouTube channel.