Florida Atlantic University has announced the winners of the seventh annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition hosted by the Graduate College. (Photo by Alex Dolce)

Florida Atlantic University has announced the winners of the seventh annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition hosted by the Graduate College.

The goal of the 3MT® competition is for FAU graduate students from all colleges and departments to cultivate the ability to explain their research, including both breadth and significance, in a language appropriate to an audience containing both specialists and non-specialists in three minutes or less. The 3MT® competition provides FAU graduate students with the opportunity to sharpen their professional development skills, reignite their passion for discovery, promote preeminent research, and foster community.

“Conducting research is a critical component of graduate education, and being able to effectively communicate the significance of that research to a broad audience is a valuable skill,” says William D. Kalies, Ph.D., interim dean of the Graduate College. “The graduate students at Florida Atlantic perform impactful research, and the Graduate College is honored to support this annual competition and provide a platform for students to gain experience presenting their research to the public while having the opportunity to earn scholarships.”

A total of 51 graduate students pitched their research projects to a live audience, with 19 of them awarded scholarship prizes in the championship round. A panel of distinguished FAU community members determined the 2023 first-place, runner-up, and second runner-up championship winners. More than 200 online votes submitted by public viewers named the People’s Choice Award winner.

The championship winners of the 2023 3MT® competition are:

FAU championship winner and recipient of the Dr. Eric H. Shaw 3MT® Championship Endowment Award* (tie)

Title: “From Poop to Parent: Examining Paternity in Dynamic Atlantic Spotted Dolphin Populations in the Bahamas”

Presented by: Hayley Knapp, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Faculty Advisor: John Baldwin, Ph.D.

Title: “Corrosion is in the Air”

Presented by: Ingrid Santillan Barragan, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Faculty Advisor: Francisco Presuel-Moreno, Ph.D.

FAU 3MT® runner-up and People's Choice Award

Title: “So, You Wanna Build a Protein?”

Presented by: Amish Mishra, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Faculty Advisor: Francis Motta, Ph.D.

FAU 3MT® second runner-up

Title: “‘What Does A Surgeon Look Like?’: How Stereotypes May Negatively Impact Recruitment Into the Least Diverse Specialty in Medicine”

Presented by: Emmanuel McNeely, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Caceres, Ph.D.

The two championship winners and recipients of the $2,500 Dr. Eric H. Shaw 3MT® Championship Award also will represent FAU at the Conference of Florida Graduate Schools at the University of Miami from April 17 to 19 and present their 3MT® research.

FAU 3MT® is a venue for graduate students from various disciplines to interact with one another and discuss their research and its implications. The competition provides an opportunity for undergraduates, alumni, industry partners, various on-campus departments, institutions and the community to gain exposure to high-level, cutting-edge research at FAU.

For more information on FAU’s 3MT® competition, click here.

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