Campus & Community

Arts and Sciences Doctoral Student Wins at This Year’s Three-Minute Thesis Competition

Tuesday, April 22, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin

Ten graduate students competed in this year’s (3MT) competition on April 4. The annual event, sponsored by the , provides participants with the opportunity to share highlights of their research and scholarship in pithy, engaging presentations lasting no longer than three minutes.

A man and a woman are shaking hands in what appears to be a classroom or lecture hall. The man is wearing glasses, a beige shirt, and a black vest. The woman is wearing a yellow sweater and red skirt. There is a projection screen in the background.

Glenn Wright congratulates Three Minute Thesis competition winner Jayda Felder.

, a doctoral student in social psychology at the , won the competition with her presentation, “.” She received 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 and a one-year membership in the , the professional organization of her choice.

“The cliché is that academic research is both impenetrable and pointless,” says Glenn Wright, executive director of professional and career development at the Graduate School. “The 3MT really challenges graduate students to tackle that perception head-on, explaining quickly and clearly what their research is and why it makes a difference. That’s a great skill when engaging the public, and highly useful in academia, too.”

The other 3MT contestants were:

  • Nimisha Krishnan (Ph.D., physics, ): “How Cells Move Cargo: Learning from Nature’s Tiny Transport System”
  • Bramsh Khan (Ph.D., social science, Maxwell School): “Politics of Gendered Infrastructure Violence in Balochistan, Pakistan”
  • Mary Theresa Pagan (Ph.D., sociology, Maxwell School): “Older Recent Widows and Physical Activity: A Qualitative Investigation of the Roles of Care Work and Social Support”
  • Sarah Nahar (Ph.D., religion, Arts and Sciences): “Closing the Poop Loop: An Everyday Way to Heal the Planet”
  • Ratnakshi Mandal (Ph.D., chemical engineering, ): “Decoding Alzheimer’s: Putting Together the Puzzle of Memory Loss”
  • Abigail Helen Long (Ph.D., composition and cultural rhetoric, Arts and Sciences) “‘Stuck’ Together: Identifying Writing Teachers’ Access Needs”
  • Nghia Le Ba Thai (Ph.D., bioengineering, Engineering and Computer Science): “PorousX: A Novel Artificial Matrix for Treating Chronic Wounds”
  • Paul Sagoe (Ph.D., biomedical engineering, Engineering and Computer Science): “Small but Mighty: Therapeutic Nanoparticles, the Tiny Heroes Fighting Arthritis”
  • Qingyang Liu (Ph.D., human development and family science, ): “When and Where to Invest: Early Material Hardship and Children’s Self-Regulation.”
A group of ten people standing in a row in front of a classroom or lecture hall. The individuals are dressed in various styles, including traditional and formal attire. The background features a large projection screen and whiteboard.

Three-Minute Thesis participants share details about their research and creative work in a compelling way—within a three-minute time limit.

Wright moderated the event. Judges were Matthew Carr, chief financial officer at Manlius Pebble Hill School; Davoud Mozhdehi, associate professor of chemistry at the College of Arts and Sciences; and Sylvia Sierra, associate professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the .

was first developed at the University of Queensland in Australia and is now held at colleges and universities around the world.