Student researchers tackle three-minute challenge

From moldy buildings to metabolic function to tone-deaf chatbots, East Carolina University graduate students are working to solve real-world problems through research. This week they had an opportunity to explain their work in the university’s 12th annual Three-Minute Thesis competition.

Three-Minute Thesis is an international competition for graduate students to present their research in three minutes or less using only one static slide. Begun at the University of Queensland in 2008, the 3MT concept has become global in scale, with more than 600 universities participating.

Jude Kinkead presents his research during the Three-Minute Thesis competition. (ECU photos by Rhett Butler)

“It’s a really important effort to help prepare our students to talk about their research,” said Susan Eckert, assistant director for retention and success at the ECU Graduate School. “Each student has three minutes to present with one static slide behind them, and the rules are very stringent. There are no props, nothing but the student and a slide.”

This year’s competition at ECU featured 44 presenters, and Elody Bensch was named Grand Champion for her presentation, “Biofilms: A Sticky Situation.” Bensch will represent ECU in regional competition during the annual meeting of the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“Presenting to a live audience was such an exciting experience, Bensch said. “It’s one thing to talk about your research with scientists who share your background, but explaining it to a broader audience in just three minutes was a whole new challenge. I’ve given talks before, but this felt different. It was fast-paced, creative and a lot of fun. Seeing people genuinely curious about something as unexpected as bacterial slime made it incredibly rewarding.”

Bensch said her research in the lab of Dr. Morgan Milton in the Brody School of Medicine investigates how bacteria form biofilms ­­— “sticky communities that help them survive in harsh environments and resist antibiotics.” Understanding biofilm formation could provide insight into how to prevent harmful bacteria from forming biofilms in humans.

Other winners in ECU’s 3MT competition included first runner-up Maeve Schumacher and People’s Choice winner Daniel Stevens, and the Department Cup went to kinesiology.

Weston Nelson, a master’s student in data science, is studying how to make conversational assistants like Siri and Alexa more in tune with our emotional situation.

Elody Bensch was named Grand Champion of ECU’s 2025 Three-Minute Thesis competition and will represent ECU at the regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“When you wake up in the morning and you’re super tired and you’re getting ready for the day, and you ask, ‘What’s the weather?’” he said, you might not want a loud, chipper response. But building that kind of sensitivity into an AI interface is “computationally expensive,” especially working with smaller devices like a phone.

Nelson said presenting his work in a similar competition as an undergrad — as well as a previous job as a tour guide — helped prepare him for the 3MT experience.

Eckert said the variety of research across a wide spectrum of fields and departments makes the event interesting for the judges and participants. Any graduate student is eligible to compete, regardless of where they are in the process of developing a thesis, and the Graduate School covers the cost of the winner’s trip to the regional competition.

“They are really excited about getting to share what they’re working on,” she said, and the experience of explaining their work to a general audience will help them down the road in situations like defending their theses or obtaining research funding.

“This competition really helped me appreciate the value of storytelling in science,” said Bensch. “It pushed me to think beyond the data and focus on why my research matters. That’s something I’ll carry forward, not only in how I present my work but also in how I approach it every day in the lab.

“Being able to clearly communicate complex ideas is such a powerful skill, whether you’re writing a grant, mentoring students or collaborating across disciplines.”

For more information visit ECU’s 3MT website.

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