Through 3MT, Doctoral Students Share Accessible Research

Back for its 10th year at Carnegie Mellon University, Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a celebration of research that challenges Ph.D. students to present a compelling oration on their work and its significance in language that anyone can understand. 

Developed by The University of Queensland in Australia, the competition was brought to Pittsburgh by Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of Libraries Keith Webster(opens in new window) in 2013. Since then, CMU doctoral candidates have joined students at over 900 universities across more than 85 countries worldwide in sharing their work with broad audiences through the competition.

Ten finalists will compete in the 2025 3MT Championship(opens in new window) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, in the Cohon University Center’s McConomy Auditorium. A livestream will also be available.

Finalist Jonathan Shulgach learned about 3MT from a fellow lab member, and is approaching the competition as a personal challenge to tell the story of his research in a way that makes people excited about it, whether or not they have a background in a similar field. Shulgach, who studies mechanical engineering(opens in new window) in CMU’s College of Engineering(opens in new window), develops high-density, flexible electromyography (HD-EMG) systems that can capture weak muscle signals with high precision.

“Most commercial EMG systems can only record from several muscles at a time,” Shulgach explained. “My technology has the potential to integrate into existing and future prosthetic technologies, help individuals with spinal cord injuries monitor or regain movement, improve rehabilitation tools, and even open doors for wearable human-machine interfaces in everyday life.”

His presentation demonstrates his work aiming to make prosthetics feel more natural and responsive to input signals, reducing frustration and making adoption easier. 

“Just because movement isn’t visible doesn’t mean it’s gone,” he said. “If we can detect those hidden signals, we can give people control over their prosthetics, rehabilitation and assistive devices in ways they never thought possible.”

For Shulgach, 3MT is a chance to introduce his research to more people. He believes that good science communication makes innovation more accessible and inclusive, helping patients, clinicians, and even policymakers understand why this work matters.

“Science doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” he said. “A breakthrough sitting in a lab doesn’t help anyone. If we want research to make an impact, we have to bring people into the conversation.”

Science communication is a subject second-time finalist Samskrathi Sharma has long been passionate about. The biological sciences(opens in new window) student from the Mellon College of Science(opens in new window) was recently awarded the 2024 Quad Fellowship(opens in new window) after emphasizing the responsibility scientists have to make STEM research more accessible to the public — a goal she wants to further elevate through participating in 3MT.

“When we scientists are involved in experimental pursuits, we can get caught up in the nitty-gritty details specific to our fields,” she said. “However, I think we owe it to society to explain the implications of the scientific discoveries we make. I believe that even if we are doing the most interesting science, if we cannot communicate the relevance of these findings to a general audience, it can never truly benefit society.”

Sharma’s research explores the role of the circadian clock in metabolism, examining how circadian rhythms contribute to the way humans absorb nutrients from food. This work could ultimately provide therapeutic solutions for people with irregular sleep-wake cycles, like those who work a night shift, who might be prone to metabolic disorders like obesity as a result.

To reach a general audience unfamiliar with her discipline, Sharma has experimented with a variety of creative forms to communicate the implications of her research.

“Often, creative art forms and science are considered distinct,” she admitted. “But as a scientist and artist, I think science can be communicated more effectively when used with art, as it is visually appealing and relatable. I have been trying to communicate my scientific findings to diverse audiences using presentations, hands-on activities, outreach and paintings.”

Finalist Ananya Joshi also participated in 3MT last year, and has continued to refine her presentation by balancing the theoretical and practical aspects of her thesis. The School of Computer Science(opens in new window) student studies artificial intelligence systems that domain experts in public health use every day to monitor large volumes of public health data in the Computer Science Department(opens in new window).

Joshi’s research is applied here at CMU. For the past two years, the university’s Delphi Group, which develops the theory and practice of epidemic tracking and forecasting, has used her functional monitoring system to detect data quality issues or outbreaks.

“During the pandemic, Delphi had large volumes of data, but the data users — including public health decision-makers and modelers — were overwhelmed by the volume of data,” she explained. “Because of the noisy, ever-changing and messy nature of public health data, the theoretical limitations of existing approaches became clearer. I discovered that the core problem of ‘finding the needle in a big data haystack’ was an open one after trying various existing techniques.”

Joshi’s solution helped solve a real-world issue in the field of public health. Now, she is considering ways it might be applied across other domains with large, imperfectly monitored data streams, including agricultural pest detection or anomalous financial activity monitoring.

At the championship, CMU leadership and alumni judges will choose the first-, second- and third-place winners to receive $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. Two audience-selected winners will receive $500 for the People’s Choice Award and $750 for the Alumni Award.

Alumni can watch the competition via the livestream, where they can vote to select the Alumni Award winner.

The Three Minute Thesis Championship is free of charge and open to the public. Registration is required(opens in new window) to attend the in-person event or to view the livestream.