3MT
2026 Carleton University 3MT Contest
Our next 3MT contest will be held in the spring of 2026. Info sessions will take place in January, followed by training sessions in February. If you are interested in competing and would like to stay updated regarding the 2026 3MT, please sign up for our 2026 3MT mailing list. This does not constitute official registration in the contest, which will take place closer to the date. 2026 contest rules and eligibility will be posted as soon as they are available. If you have any questions about the 3MT contest, please email David Lafferty at david.lafferty@carleton.ca.
About 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 Carleton 3MT began in 2013.
Thank you to all who took part in our 2025 3MT contest, and congratulations to our winners!
The 2025 Carleton 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, Carleton University
- John Nelson, Director, Innovation Hub, Carleton 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, Carleton University
- Aala Ridha, Manager of Student Mental Health and Wellbeing, Carleton University
- Adam Landry, Communications Officer, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton 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, Carleton University
- Pat Moore, Scholarly Communications & Research Engagement Librarian, MacOdrum Library, Carleton University
- Kyla Reid, Assistant Director, Research Development, Carleton Office of Research Initiatives & Services (CORIS), Carleton University
Here is a photo of our semifinal 2 contestants:
Congratulations to our 2024 Carleton 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”
See the videos from the rest of our finalists here!
The 2024 Carleton 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
Carleton University
Al Hamdani
Executive Vice-President and Chief Business Officer
Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV)
The 2023 Carleton 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 Carleton 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 Carleton University 3MT – Top 3 Announced
The results of the 2022 Carleton 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, Carleton’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 Carleton, to other departments, and even in media. 3MT participants have been featured in Carleton news stories, departmental websites, YouTube, CBC Radio, and the Ottawa Citizen.
2019 Competition:
2018 Competition:
Note: The winner of the Carleton University 3MT, Daniella Briotto Faustino, went on to win 2nd place at the provincial championships held on April 19 at York University.
2017 Competition: