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FAU Announces Winners of 2023 ‘Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition’

Contestants and judges from the 2023 Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition

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)


By jonathan fraysure | 3/21/2023

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 ֱ 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 ֱ 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 , Ph.D., interim dean of the Graduate College. “The graduate ֱ at Florida Atlantic perform impactful research, and the Graduate College is honored to support this annual competition and provide a platform for ֱ to gain experience presenting their research to the public while having the opportunity to earn scholarships.”

A total of 51 graduate ֱ 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 ֱ 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 .

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