SBU 3MT
Captivate a general audience with your research findings, and hone your research communication skills through the SBU 3MT competition! The top talks receive cash prizes, generously sponsored by the SBU Alumni Association.
The 2025 SBU 3MT competition will feature a Postdoc Spotlight round, showcasing the innovative and invaluable research contributions of Stony Brook
postdocs.
We encourage and invite all faculty, staff, and students to attend this engaging and
insightful 2025 SBU 3MT Competition. Join us to witness impactful research presentations
and expand your knowledge.
Three Minute Thesis, or 3MT® for short, is a spoken word thesis competition. 3MT is an opportunity for SBU graduate students to present their dissertation research findings to a general audience in THREE MINUTES with only one PowerPoint slide. The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. The goal is for students to engage all their communication skills to make their research vivid and engaging while emphasizing its key point without jargon.
At Stony Brook, our students also craft their talks as part of a cohort, undergoing coaching from research communication experts grounded in techniques from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. While there will be winners at the end, our primary goal is for all students to gain professional development and improve their skills in communicating their research.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2025 WINNERS FOR BEST TALKS!
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sai | Abasolo | Biomedical Engineering | Growing Bones: Body Not Included |
| 2nd | Maryam | Azmi | Genetics | Shrinking Brain's Superheroes! |
| 3rd | Chenyu | Zhang | Civil Engineering | From Scribbles to Safety: Drones and AI for Smarter Bridge Inspections |
| People's Choice | Sai | Abasolo | Biomedical Engineering | Growing Bones: Body Not Included |
2025 3MT COMPETITORS
| Name | Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sai Abasolo | Biomedical Engineering | Growing Bones: Body Not Included |
| Maryam Azmi | Genetics | Shrinking Brain's Superheroes! |
| Ariek Barakat Norford | Ecology & Evolution | Monkeys: The Gardeners of the Forest |
| Julia Brown | English | Flipping the Script in Healthcare |
| Kevin Hatton | Geosciences | The Past is the Key to the Present |
| Varun Kankanallu | Chemical & Molecular Engineering | Realizing Safer Batteries |
| Sam Kim | Molecular & Cellular Biology | Tracking Cancer Cells On the Move |
| Jackie Martin | Neuroscience | The Undead in Your Head: Targeting Zombie Cells in the Aging Brain |
| Nikita Soni | Computer Science | Why Doesn't Your Smart Device Get YOU (Yet)? |
| Pallavi Surana | Biomedical Informatics | Decoding Cancer |
| Grace B. Wivell | Linguistics | One Little Language, So Much to Learn |
| Chenyu Zhang | Civil Engineering | From Scribbles to Safety: Drones and AI for Smarter Bridge Inspections |
Speaker Information
Eligibility
To compete in 3MT, students must:
- Be SBU doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy (G5 or equivalent) by the speaker sign-up deadline;
- Be enrolled full-time in Spring 2025 and be in good standing;
- Work in any disciplinary field, with those in the Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences particularly encouraged to participate;
- Have advanced in their dissertation to a stage where findings, preliminary conclusions, and broader impact can be discussed. Students may only participate in 3MT once;
- Affirm during speaker sign-up that their dissertation advisor supports presentation of their research; and
- Commit to participating in all 3 coaching sessions.
Presentation Guidelines
Talks will be three minutes long and may include only one PowerPoint slide. Speakers should craft a talk that distills the heart of their research for a general audience who may not be specialists, in the style of a TED-like talk (watch previous year's 3MT talks for examples). Speakers will receive individualized coaching on their presentation from research communication experts.
All competitors will present live and on-stage during Round 1, and the top eight will advance to Round 2, which will immediately follow with a new panel of judges.
Coaching Sessions
3MT competitors undergo research communication coaching that is grounded in techniques from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. Coaching takes place in small groups where peer feedback and support is expected and encouraged while students workshop their draft presentations.
Information about Postdoc Spotlight coaching is available on the Postdoc Spotlight page.
Judging
- The talks will be evaluated by a panel of judges from a range of backgrounds and disciplines for how well the speaker engages a general audience of non-specialists and can convey the excitement and innovation of their research without jargon or distortion.
- See the full judging criteria
Prizes
- Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, plus a People's Choice award selected by the audience. Prizes are generously sponsored by the SBU Alumni Association.