The University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine and College of Nursing and Health Sciences jointly hosted a preliminary round of the 2026 Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®) for medical and nursing/health sciences graduate students on Thursday, March 12, 2026.
The fast-paced and fun 3MT—developed by the University of Queensland in 2008 and now held in more than 900 universities in 85 countries around the world—is an internationally recognized research communication competition in which Ph.D. students deliver a compelling presentation of their dissertation research and its significance in just three minutes (180 seconds!), using language appropriate for a non-specialist audience. 3MT is a valuable opportunity for competitors to refine their research communication skills and showcase their scholarship to the broader UVM community.
Fifteen Ph.D. candidates who are in their dissertation phase participated, with their presentations evaluated on comprehension, content, engagement, and communication. Awards were given for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, as well as a People’s Choice award. Finalists from this preliminary round will advance to the UVM-wide competition, which will be held during UVM Research Week on April 15 at 4:00 p.m. at the Fleming Museum Room 101.
The winners are all graduate students in the cellular, molecular, and biomedical sciences program:
- 1st Prize - Matthew Owens, Bruce Lab, “Preventing Cellular Grand Theft Auto” (Advisor: Emily Bruce, Ph.D.)
- 2nd Prize - Madeline McTigue, Howe Lab, “A Game of Cellular Telephone” (Advisor: Alan Howe, Ph.D.)
- 3rd Prize - Maggie Trout, Cunniff/Stafford Lab, “Hot Glioma Cells in Your Area Looking for Mitochondria: How Brain Tumors Steal Mitochondria From Neighboring Cells” (Advisor: James Stafford, Ph.D.)
- People’s Choice Award: Alexa Price, Howe Lab, “Telling a Tal-in Mechanobiology” (Advisor: Alan Howe, Ph.D.)