{"id":243857,"date":"2026-04-14T07:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=243857"},"modified":"2026-04-13T16:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T20:47:23","slug":"up-to-the-three-minute-thesis-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/04\/up-to-the-three-minute-thesis-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Up to the Three-Minute-Thesis Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is no small feat to summarize years of research into a three-minute presentation. On Wednesday, Apr. 8, dozens of UConn graduate students and Ph.D. candidates rose to the occasion.<\/p>\n

The Graduate School hosted a Three-Minute-Thesis competition at the Dodd Center for Human Rights. The event challenged students to summarize their graduate and doctoral theses and dissertations into short presentations before an audience of peers, family, and advisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just excited to hear from the students, in their own words, the impact and the value of their graduate research,\u201d said Leslie Shor, UConn vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School.<\/p>\n

\"Tracy
Tracy Geha (CLAS) presents her winning presentation during the Three-Minute-Thesis competition, held at the Dodd Center for Human Rights. Photo by Matt Engelhardt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Three-Minute-Thesis competition evolved from a program at the University of Queensland in 2008. At the time, Australia was experiencing a severe drought. The former dean of the Queensland graduate school quipped that graduate students should be able to explain their research to a general audience in three minutes or less \u2013 the same amount of time requested that people limit their showers.<\/p>\n

Since the first challenge, the program has gone global, with hundreds of events held annually at institutions throughout the world. The goal is for the researchers to describe their thesis and dissertation topics in a manner easily understandable by all attendees, regardless of previous knowledge.<\/p>\n

Appropriately, UConn\u2019s competition was held as part of Graduate Student Appreciation Week. The celebration includes a series of events honoring the work, research, and contributions that graduate students make to the University, as well as offering them professional development and networking opportunities.<\/p>\n

The Three-Minute Thesis was divided among three divisions: master\u2019s degrees and professional\/clinical doctorates; Ph.D. candidates in arts, humanities, and social sciences; and STEM Ph.D. candidates. Judges selected one winner from each division, with $1,000 prizes awarded. Runners-up in each category received $750. Additionally, attendees in-person and remotely voted on a \u201cpeople\u2019s choice\u201d winner for the respective categories, with each winner earning $500.<\/p>\n

Tracy Geha (CLAS), who is seeking a master\u2019s degree in French and Francophone studies, piled up the accolades at the challenge, earning first and people\u2019s choice in her group as well as overall winner. For the latter, Geha received an additional $5,000. As the overall winner, Geha will represent UConn at a nationwide competition.<\/p>\n

One of the participants \u2013 Muireann Nic Corcr\u00e1in \u2013 presented immediately after successfully defending her dissertation for a doctorate in applied linguistics. She joked that she had just finished a 25-minute defense only to now have to summarize her work in 180 seconds.<\/p>\n

The Three-Minute-Thesis winners are:<\/p>\n

Category 1: Master\u2019s Degrees; Professional\/Clinical Doctorates<\/strong><\/p>\n

First: Tracy Geha (CLAS), \u201cWorld Languages: The Cognitive Benefits We Fail to Market\u201d<\/p>\n

Runner-Up: Amelia Hickey (CLAS), \u201cThe Hidden Role of Women in Trafficking Networks\u201d<\/p>\n

People\u2019s Choice: Tracy Geha<\/p>\n

Category 2: Arts, Humanities, and Social Science Ph.D. <\/strong><\/p>\n

First: Urvi Kaul (CLAS), \u201cBiological and Social Narratives of Displacement\u201d<\/p>\n

Runner-Up: Daniela Dominguez (CLAS), \u201cImaginaries of Mexican Infrastructure\u201d<\/p>\n

People\u2019s Choice: Rui Wu (CLAS), \u201cMapping Weight Stigma Online: What Social Media Platforms Reveal\u201d<\/p>\n

Category 3: STEM Ph.D.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First: Meshach Ojo (ENG), \u201cFrom Decades to Weeks: Tackling Connecticut\u2019s Crumbling Foundations\u201d<\/p>\n

Runner-Up: Samantha Glass (CLAS), \u201cTuning into the Arctic: Rethinking How the Polar Oceans Store Carbon\u201d<\/p>\n

People\u2019s Choice: Yasmin Bimbatti (ENG), \u201cLower Cost, Less Energy, Cleaner Planet\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UConn graduate students and Ph.D. candidates synthesize years of study into quick presentations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":243859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1866,2226,2459,2076,2712,1875,2235,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2381],"class_list":["post-243857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engr","category-clas","category-graduate-students","category-research","category-student-success","category-grad-school","category-today-homepage","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 10:06:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243857"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243903,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243857\/revisions\/243903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/243859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243857"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=243857"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=243857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}