2026 UW 3MT Winners

Paul Morgan, a Ph.D. student in Earth & Space Sciences, is this year’s UW Three-Minute Thesis winner.  Satria Ardianuari, Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering, is Runner-Up and Leah Anderson, Ph.D. Student in Genome Sciences, is People’s Choice winner. 

UW 3MT® is a professional development competition that celebrates the exciting capstone and research experiences of master’s and doctoral students from across the UW. The competition supports graduate students’ capacity to effectively explain their research or capstone project in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a public audience. The event was founded by the University of Queensland in 2008 and has since become a global phenomenon. 

This year, nine finalists took the stage—covering topics like preventing  landslide disasters, Parkinson’s Disease, the impact of delivery parking spaces in cities and so much more. Finalists competed for cash prizes, including $2,500 for First Place,$1,500 for Runner Up, and $1,000 for People’s Choice Awards.   

“Graduate students are tackling some of society’s most complex challenges, but their work can only have its fullest impact if people understand it,” Graduate School Dean Joy Williamson-Lott said. “Three Minute Thesis helps students develop the critical skill of communicating their research clearly and persuasively; it showcases not only the excellence of their scholarship, but also their capacity to share it with the communities they serve.” 

Morgan’s winning presentation, Damability Maps Can Help Prevent Landslide Dam Disaster, explored how landslides can reshape entire landscapes and create new hazards. His research helps scientists better identify where landslide dams may form, providing critical information that could improve disaster preparedness and public safety. 

Runner-Up Ardianuari’s presentation, Can Prosthetic Leg Features Help Reduce Knee Stress?, examined how prosthetic design can improve mobility and long-term health outcomes for people with limb loss. By combining engineering innovation with insights from clinical care, his work aims to help people move more comfortably, independently and safely. 

People’s Choice winner Anderson presented Microbial Evolution – Live in the Classroom, highlighting how yeast can help scientists understand the evolution of drug resistance. Her research builds on “yEvo,” an educational program developed in the Dunham Lab that brings real scientific experiments into high school classrooms. Through the program, students contribute to research while gaining firsthand experience with laboratory evolution and genome sequencing. 

Each spring, the university’s annual 3MT® competition is presented in partnership by the Graduate School’s office of Graduate Student Affairs and UW Libraries Open & Interdisciplinary Research Support.  

Congratulations to this year’s winners and all of the finalists for sharing your work and representing the breadth and brilliance of graduate research at the UW. 

Visit the event landing page.