Three Minute Thesis Competition Yields Regional and Campus Winners

Ai Ling Lu is the winner of the 2021 University of Arkansas Three Minute Thesis competition (3MT) hosted by the Graduate School and International Education. She earned the top prize for her presentation Methods and Effects of Shadowing Using Online Authentic Videos on the Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese Tones.

As the top finisher, Lu won $750 and entry to the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS) regional Three Minute Thesis contest. At the CSGS virtual event, Lu was awarded the People's Choice award. She is the second consecutive UA student to earn the prestigious award.

Lu is a master's student in comparative literature and cultural studies in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and is advised by Danjie Su. In the regional contest, Lu competed against students from universities across the Southern Region.

In addition to Lu, five other UA students were recognized as academic college winners in the UA competition in February. They each won $300.

2021 academic college winners:

Jonathan Phares is the Sam M. Walton College of Business winner for his presentation Unintended Consequences of Regulation on Supply Chain Structure, Conduct, and Performance. Phares is a supply chain management doctoral student advised by Brian Fugate.

Charles Krampah Jr is the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences winner for his presentation Transnational Artist Identity. He is a master of fine arts student advised by Kristin Musgnug.

Kaushik Luthra is the College of Engineering winner for his presentation Feeding lives: vital role of grains in ensuring world food security. He is a biological engineering doctoral student advised by Sammy Sadaka. 

Amelia House is the College of Education and Health Professions winner for his presentation Caring for Caregivers: Using Co-occupations to Mitigate Caregiver Burnout. She is an occupational therapy doctoral student advised by Jeanne Eichler. 

Peter Gann is the Interdisciplinary/Graduate School winner for his presentation Minding the rice cell's "starchy business." He is a cell and molecular biology doctoral student advised by Vibha Srivastava.

Tristen Avent is the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences winner for his presentation Evaluation of Fenclorim Safener for Use in Rice with Chloroacetamides. He is a crop, soil and environmental science master's student advised by Jason Norsworthy. 

Finally, three students earned Honorable Mention recognition in the competition. They are Keia Jones and Pamela Carvhalo De Lima, both students in the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences, as well as Charlotte Castro from Fulbright College.

In 2020, UA 3MT winner and doctoral student Mahsa Lotfi-Marchoobeh earned the CSGS People's Choice Award for her presentation A Miniaturized Neural Probe for Detection of Chemicals in the Brain. After her success at the regional level, Lotfi-Marchoobeh was invited to present at the Council of Graduate School's 3MT Showcase and People's Choice Competition, which took place virtually on Feb. 3.

Lotfi-Marchoobeh completed a live presentation of her award-winning 3MT presentation and participated in a virtual roundtable with other students to discuss their experiences preparing for and participating in the 3MT.

About the Three Minute Thesis Competition: The competition was founded in 2008 at The University of Queensland as a way to cultivate students' academic, presentation and research communication skills. Presenting in a 3MT competition increases their capacity to effectively explain their research in just three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.