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This annual event, which showcases graduate student’s ability to distill their nine-hour thesis down to three minutes, comes back Jan. 29 at 4 p.m.

What is the best way to distill a multitude of information into just three minutes?

That’s the question that 11 graduate students will be wrestling with as part of the Graduate School’s ninth annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final competition, which will be held in the University Memorial Center’s Glenn Miller Ballroom on Jan. 29, 2026, from 4 to 6 p.m.

This event challenges students to explain their thesis to the general public. They are then evaluated by a panel of judges from across the university and ������ý���� community. Winners of the event will be announced at the end of the program and the audience will have the opportunity to vote for the People’s Choice award.

While the event is free and open to the public, space is limited and for in-person attendance. The event .

This year’s competitors include:

• Muhammad Ali, journalism, "AI Anchors, Real Concerns: Journalism at Crossroads"
• Yorick Andeweg, physics, "From Pendulums to Atoms: How to Keep Clocks Ticking Without Disturbing Them"
• Mackenzie Bowden, environmental engineering, "Detecting Hidden Hazards in Our Water"
• James Cannon, aerospace engineering, "Measuring Electron Puddles in our Atmosphere"
• Rosanna Garris, biochemistry, "How Cyanobacteria Solve the Carboxysome Puzzle"
• Loraine Glidewell, teacher learning, research & practice, "From Fish Guts to Fireflies: ��Finding the Magic of Rural Education in Pre-Service Teacher Learning"
• Ben Hammel, materials science and engineering, "Looking at Nanocrystals"
• Laurie Lawson, information science, "'That’s Not How I Remember it' We’re Lost in Translation"
• Krithik Ranjan, creative technology and design, "Lights, Camera, Interaction! Designing for Creative Computational Thinking"
• Phani Arvind Vadali, civil, environmental and architectural engineering, "The Challenge of Electrification: Light Through SABER"
• Shreya Venkatesh, mechanical engineering, “Breast Cancer in Bone: A Vicious Cycle of Destruction”

The 3MT competition began in 2008 when the state of Queensland, Australia, suffered from a severe drought. To conserve water, residents were encouraged to time their showers, and many people had a three-minute egg timer fixed to the wall in their bathroom. The then-Dean of the University of Queensland Graduate School, Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson, challenged graduate students to present their research in the same amount of time, launching what would become a global academic tradition.

At CU ������ý����, 3MT competitors are tasked with delivering a compelling, jargon-free explanation of their thesis in just three minutes using a single static slide.

To prepare, students participated in a series of fall-semester workshops focused on storytelling, writing, presentation skills, and improv comedy techniques. They then competed in a preliminary round, from which eleven finalists were selected to advance to the final competition. At the finals, participants will be evaluated by a panel of judges on comprehension, content, engagement, and communication.

This year's judges include Lori Bergen, dean of the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information; Sammy Ramsey or "Dr. Sammy," an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a science communicator who is an international 3MT winner; Leopold Beuken, an assistant teaching professor in robotics and a former CU ������ý���� 3MT finalist; and Aaron Brockett, City of ������ý���� mayor. Bud Coleman, professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, will be the event’s emcee.

The first-place winner of the competition will receive $1,500 in prize money and will have the chance to compete at the state and regional competitions as the ������ý����’s representative. The runner-up and the People’s Choice winner, voted on by the live audience, will also receive prize money.

More information about the competition is available on the Graduate School's 3MT web page.