3MT
2026 ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University 3MT Contest
Congratulations to our 2026 3MT winners!
First Place: Kimia Ghanaatpisheh, “A cosmic flip-flop.” Physics. Supervisor: Seyda Ipek.
Second Place: Harper Chaisson, “Perceptions of sexual assault victims.” Psychology. Supervisor: Kirk Luther.
Third Place: Josie Mallett, “Marsh troubles and methane bubbles: Methane emissions in restored wetlands.” Geography and Environmental Studies. Supervisor: Elyn Humphreys.
Honourable Mention: Flor Ali Salehie Barbosa, “Brewing a solution to plastic pollution.” Biology. Supervisor: Eugene Fletcher.
The 3MT finals took place on Wednesday, March 25 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in 482 MacOdrum Library. The judges for the finals were:
Jackie Choquette, Head of Government Affairs, 3M Canada, and member of Board of Governors, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
Andrea Lawrance, Director, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ Office for Research Initiatives and Services (CORIS), ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
Brett Tackaberry, Principal Architect for the Public Sector, Google Cloud, Google, and member of Board of Governors, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ the 3MT
The Three Minute Thesis is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. It is a celebration of graduate student research that challenges grad students to communicate the key concepts of their research in a compelling presentation of three minutes or less. The ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ 3MT began in 2013.
Thank you to all who took part in our 2025 3MT contest, and congratulations to our winners!
The 2025 ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ 3MT finals took place on Thursday, March 27, 2025, 5:00 to 6:30 pm, in Teraanga Commons, room 214. Semifinals were held earlier in the day.
Our host was Dr. Onita Basu, Associate Vice-Provost (Graduate Awards and Professional Development) and Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Our finals judges were:
- Nathalie Laporte, Executive Director, Canadian Association of University Business Officers, Board of Governors, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
- John Nelson, Director, Innovation Hub, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
- Virginia Taylor, Treasurer, Tanzania Education and Micro-Business Opportunity
Our judges determined our first, second, and third place winners, along with an honourable mention.
First place: $500
Geneviève Haché, Chemistry, “Out of the non-stick pan, into our waters: PFAS and their foothold in the Great Lakes’ aquatic life cycles”
Second place: $300
Raegan Davis, Biology, “Dam it, I’m stranded: quantifying fish stranding downstream of hydropeaking facilities”
Third place: $200
Tejas Kokatnur, Building Engineering, “Why pay for cooling when you can stay cool for free? Exploring passive strategies in low-income housing”
Honourable mention:
Dunja Palic, Management, “Making sense of qualified immigrants’ career transitions: The role of context, time, and resourcefulness”
Please check out the videos of our other finalists!
Our judges for semifinal 1 were:
- Joshua Steckley, Banting Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Political Science, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
- Aala Ridha, Manager of Student Mental Health and Wellbeing, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
- Adam Landry, Communications Officer, Faculty of Engineering and Design, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
Here is a photo of our semifinal 1 contestants:
Our judges for semifinal 2 were:
- Shaye Belanger, International Student Success Coordinator, International Student Services Office, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
- Pat Moore, Scholarly Communications & Research Engagement Librarian, MacOdrum Library, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
- Kyla Reid, Assistant Director, Research Development, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ Office of Research Initiatives & Services (CORIS), ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
Here is a photo of our semifinal 2 contestants:
Congratulations to our 2024 ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University 3MT winners!
First place: Ana Hernandez Martinez de la Riva, Biology, “Where is Jack? How to find rare plants”
Second place: Bryce Norman, Physics, “Establishing Evidence for the Higgs Boson Decaying to Two Muons at the ATLAS Detector”
Third place: Diksha Kale, Legal Studies, “Monsters of Law – Queer of Color Futurity”
People’s choice: Nadia Abzan, Biomedical Engineering/Biology, “Breath of Life”
The 2024 ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ 3MT contest was held on Thursday, March 28, 2024
Richcraft Hall, second floor conference rooms
Semifinals from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Finals from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Judges for the finals:
Clarissa Brocklehurst
Consultant, Water Supply and Sanitation
Former Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, UNICEF
Patrick Lyons
Director, Teaching and Learning
Teaching and Learning Services
ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University
Al Hamdani
Executive Vice-President and Chief Business Officer
Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV)
The 2023 ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University 3MT is on!
2023 Winners:
1. Georgia Loewen, Human-Computer Interaction, “Video Game Accessibility and Wearable Technology”
2. (and people’s choice) Panashe Kupakuwana, Biology, “A guide on how to live without oxygen”
3. Jennie Siushansian, Communication, “‘I Just Can’t Stand Seeing and Hearing It’: A Critical Examination of Non-Autistic Actors Portraying Autistic Characters On-Screen”
Semfinal 1 contestants:
Semifinal 2 contestants:
This year’s 3MT contest will be held on March 17, 2023 in Richcraft Hall, second floor conference rooms (2220, 2224 and 2228). Our host will be Dr. Onita Basu.
Judges for finals:
- John Nelson (Acting Director of the ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University Innovation Hub)
- Tim Tierney (City of Ottawa Councillor; Board Member and Ontario Caucus Chair, Canadian Federation of Municipalities)
- Jessie-Lee Wallace (Senior Manager, Communications, University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation, Board Member to HelpAge Canada and Daybreak Housing)
All are welcome to attend the 3MT semi-finals and finals. No registration is required to attend as an audience member.
2022 ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University 3MT – Top 3 Announced
The results of the 2022 ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University 3MT contest from April 6 are in. The top three presentations were:
First Place: Rebecca Pinto, Mechanical Engineering, “Can solar energy heat Canadian homes year-round?”
Second Place: Jacquie Ballantine, Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies, “Autistic University Students and the Double Empathy Problem”
Third Place: Natasha Kunchur, Biomedical Engineering, “Asthma: The Breath Taking Experience”
People’s Choice Award: Sanghy Ramani, Psychology, “Metformin—can it help people with multiple sclerosis?”
Videos coming soon!
Our 3MT Finals judges were:
- Nada Elnahla, ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´â€™s 2020 3MT Winner and Instructor at Sprott School of Business
- Joel Harden, NDP MPP for Ottawa Centre
- Adrian Harewood, Associate Professor and Host of CBC News Ottawa at 6
If you have any questions about the 3MT, please contact david.lafferty@carleton.ca.
3MT Competition Videos
2020 Competition:
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
More details
A panel of judges evaluates each of the presentations.
Participation in the 3MT can be tremendously enriching, both academically and personally. Former participants report that competing in the 3MT helped to build confidence and enhance their academic, presentation, and communication skills. Participants have also enjoyed great research exposure within ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´, to other departments, and even in media. 3MT participants have been featured in ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ news stories, departmental websites, YouTube, CBC Radio, and the Ottawa Citizen.
2019 Competition:
2018 Competition:
Note: The winner of the ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University 3MT, Daniella Briotto Faustino, went on to win 2nd place at the provincial championships held on April 19 at York University.