The winners of the Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) were announced Feb. 3 during a virtual award ceremony held over Zoom.

To fit the virtual format of this year’s competition, graduate students submitted videos of them presenting their theses on Jan. 30. Students were then sorted into four groups with each student in the group getting judged by the same set of judges. Students were judged on content and comprehension along with communication and engagement.

The top person from each group was then selected as a finalist along with the top two overall scorers. The six finalists were Cyril Ahiable, Jackson Benda, Niyati Borkar, Shokoofeh Ghasemi, Michael Johnson and Riddhi Trivedi.

Riddhi Trivedi won first place for her presentation titled “Nanoparticles for the Win: Seeking out hiding HIV in the brain to combat NeuroAIDS,”Niyati Borkar won second place for her presentation titled “Its all about the kiss: Gender and Asthma,” and Jackson Benda won third place for his presentation “Development of Robust Fueling-release Coatings with Amphiphilic Surfaces to Combat Biofouling.”

The 3MT has been held at North Dakota State University since 2015 and allows graduate students to present their thesis in under three minutes. The competition challenges students to think fast and communicate effectively to present their research in a timely manner.