Research, Outreach Meet the 2024 Penn 3-Minute Thesis Finalists & Winners!
The first 3MT competition was held at the University of Queensland in 2008. In 2009 and 2010 the 3MT competition was promoted to other Australian and New Zealand universities and enthusiasm for the concept grew. Since 2011, the popularity of the competition has increased and 3MT competitions are now held in over 900 universities across more than 80 countries worldwide. In the US this has led to regional and national competitions that Penn has participated in since 2019. Penn’s version of the competition has seen various forms throughout the years. It began as Pitch Your PhD and was hosted by Career Services and the Grad Center. Eventually, we adopted the 3MT format in 2019. This competition was completely virtual in 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic and you can view those videos on our website! Throughout all of these iterations though we have had the support of the Office of the Vice Provost for Education, Career Services, and GAPSA to make sure that our competition remains impactful. You can learn more about the Penn 3MT on our website!
All of these students had three minutes to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance. 3MT is not an exercise in trivialising or ‘dumbing-down’ research, but challenges students to consolidate their ideas and research discoveries so they can be presented concisely to a non-specialist audience. This seemingly simple act is actually very powerful--building trust between experts and the communities their research impacts. Instead of our academic pursuits sitting in the ivory tower or buried in a journal article, the ideas and the accomplishments of our up-and-coming scholars are presented here for everyone to understand and get excited about!
Meet the Finalists!
First Place, $1000, Kritika Jha
Kritika is a material chemistry Ph.D. student at the SAS and has dedicated her research to sustainable and intelligent packaging solutions. She is also a great fan of cooking, so she’s always cooking up a storm both in the lab and the kitchen, with a mission to whip up eco-friendly packaging solutions. So, just think of her as a chef-scientist, where her ingredients aren't just spices and veggies, but also the stuff that could make tomorrow's packaging as compostable as an apple core, with a sprinkle of creativity and a dash of science. Now she’s going to tell you more about all that in her talk title “Nanosuperheroes: Who Can See the Unseen Dangers”
Second Place, $500, Grace Simon
Grace is a PhD Candidate in the Management Department. Before embarking on her PhD journey, Grace spent five years working in the financial services industry. From supporting employees through bank robberies to leading a crisis communications team during the pandemic, Grace realized the central role of emotions in the workplace. In her research, she explores when and why supportive intentions at work can go right and wrong. When she's not working on research, you can find her searching for the best ice cream in Philadelphia or perfecting her soft pretzel recipe. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled “Putting Feelings into Words”
Audience Choice, $500, Talayah Johnson
Talayah is Bioengineering Ph.D. student here at the University of Pennsylvania. Her journey started at Penn State University where she received her B.S in biology and Masters in biomechanics. Outside of research she enjoys volunteering at Philadelphia high schools as a way of encouraging minority students to pursue STEM degrees. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled “The Tendon’s Achilles Heel: How Reduced Loading Affects Limb Growth”
Shelvey Swett
Shelvey is a second year PhD student in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department. Her work focuses on carbon capture and storage. Outside of research, Shelvey loves reading, watching video essays, and doing hot yoga. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled ‘Carbon capture? I hardly know her! Critical Mineral Supply and Carbon Dioxide Storage from Mining Waste’
Maya Moritz
Maya is a PhD student in the Criminology department at Penn. She grew up in New Jersey and studied labor and historical economics in Scotland, Canada, and Germany. During her studies, she listened to way too many true crime podcasts and, as a result, decided to return home and examine a different labor market- crime. As a PhD student in criminology she tries to keep her work on the brighter side by studying the crime-fighting effects of art, lighting, and the power of community. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled “A Picture Worth A Thousand Words: The Effects of Murals on Crime ”
Chris Johnson
Chris is a doctoral candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering, with a focus on deciphering the physics behind new materials for energy technology. He has had work published in scientific journals such as Polymer, Advanced Materials Interfaces, and Chemical Communications. He was the 2020 winner of the Elda Wollaeger Gregory poetry award at the University of Delaware, and spends his free time playing with his cat Poe. Now he’s going to tell you about his research in his talk titled “Mission Ion-possible Charges in Motion"
Natalia (Nati) Aponte Borges
Natalia is a graduate researcher, bilingual STEM educator, and artist. She obtained her B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras and is currently a Biology PhD Candidate in the Schmidt Lab. She is broadly interested in the neurobiology of behavior, known as neuroethology. Her work focuses on the neural mechanisms that control courtship behaviors in songbirds. She studies brown-headed cowbirds, which have an elaborate song and display during courtship. Outside of research, she is passionate about community, science literacy, disability justice, and teaching. Along with birds, she loves photography, sewing, and going to the beach. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled “The Neural Command of Courtship: How the Bird Brain Orchestrates an Elaborate Wingspread”
Pulkit Khandelwal
Pulkit is a 5th year PhD student in the department of Bioengineering. Previously, he completed his masters in computer science at McGill University in Montreal. Pulkit's research interests lie in biomedical image analysis using artificial intelligence and shape analysis to understand how neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, spread in the brain using postmortem human brain MRI. In his spare time, he likes to read poetry, literature, listen to Greek mythology podcasts, nerd out on coffee, enjoy foreign language independent movies, and lately he has been interested in rare books and book binding! Now he’s going to tell you about his research in his talk titled “Alzheimer's disease: cutting the brain open, literally!”
Meet the Judges!
Dr. Kate Townsend Creasy is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition Science in the School of Nursing at Penn. She received her PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Kentucky, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Francisco with additional training with Dr. Dan Rader in the Department of Genetics at Penn. Her research focuses on the intersection of human genetics and nutrient metabolism in cardiometabolic diseases. She has over 11 years of experience investigating how changes in liver lipid metabolism contribute to complex with the goal of improving diagnostics and therapeutic strategies.
Dr. Leland McGee is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Policy, Organizations, Leadership, and Systems Division in the Penn Graduate School of Education. Dr. McGee’s interests are in advancing education equity through the translation of research to practice. His focus on student-centered, community-engaged education envisions a K-20+ education continuum with a goal of producing competent civic citizens. At GSE, Dr. McGee serves as the co-director of the Penn Experience Course, is co-founder and manager of the GSE Writing Commons, and serves on the GSE Committee on Race, Equity, and Inclusion. Prior to pursuing master's and doctorate degrees from Penn GSE, Dr. McGee had an extensive legal career.
Dr. Aurora MacCrae-Carer has had many roles in her 17 years at Penn, including being a staff member, a graduate student and now faculty. Currently a Lecturer in Critical Writing at Penn’s Mark Family Center for Excellence in Writing, “Dr. Mac” (as her students call her) strives to make complex and technical topics accessible to mainstream audiences and teach others to do the same. She earned her doctorate in biology from Penn, where she studied soil microbes and climate change in Mongolia. From microbes to social movements, she is fascinated by how small things can catalyze large change. She is the recipient of NSF, EPA, and AAAS Fellowships, and has shared her research with diverse audiences, from preschoolers to prison inmates.
