Alber Aqil wins $1,000. in Three-Minute Thesis competition

The Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT), hosted by the Graduate School and the Startup and Innovation Collaboratory (CoLab) powered by Blackstone LaunchPad, took place in March 2024. Presentations took place in the Screen Room at CFA. Alber Aqil, with biological sciences, presented Echoes from the Past, taking third place. Photographer: Douglas Levere.

The Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT), hosted by the Graduate School and the Startup and Innovation Collaboratory (CoLab) powered by Blackstone LaunchPad, took place in March 2024. Presentations took place in the Screen Room at CFA. Alber Aqil, with biological sciences, presented Echoes from the Past, taking third place. 

BIO PhD student Alber Aqil's presentation, “Echoes from the Past", earned third place in UB's 2024 Three Minute Thesis competition. Aqil, a PhD student with Dr. Omer Gokcumen, presented a research project that he conducted with Dr. Charlotte Lindqvist. The work examines the relationship of DNA from ancient bone fragments found in a cave in Alaska to modern-day humans living nearby. Their research shows that the Tlingit people, indigenous to Southeast Alaska, have been living in basically the same location for at least 3,000 years. Upon winning the award of $1,000, Aqil calculated he earned $333 for each minute of his presentation.

Zoom image: Three minutes to win it The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition celebrates PhD students' exciting research by cultivating their academic, presentation and research communication skills. Participants are judged on their ability to effectively convey the essence and importance of their research in an engaging way to a non-specialist audience in just 3 minutes, with one PowerPoint slide. This year's winners (from left): Sabrina Orsi, people's choice; Mindula Wijayahena, first place; Ameya Tandel, second place; and Alber Aqil, third place. See more photos from the event Photo: Douglas Levere Three minutes to win it The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition celebrates PhD students' exciting research by cultivating their academic, presentation and research communication skills. Participants are judged on their ability to effectively convey the essence and importance of their research in an engaging way to a non-specialist audience in just 3 minutes, with one PowerPoint slide. This year's winners (from left): Sabrina Orsi, people's choice; Mindula Wijayahena, first place; Ameya Tandel, second place; and Alber Aqil, third place. See more photos from the event Photo: Douglas Levere

Three minutes to win it

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition celebrates PhD students' exciting research by cultivating their academic, presentation and research communication skills. Participants are judged on their ability to effectively convey the essence and importance of their research in an engaging way to a non-specialist audience in just 3 minutes, with one PowerPoint slide. This year's winners (from left): Sabrina Orsi, people's choice; Mindula Wijayahena, first place; Ameya Tandel, second place; and Alber Aqil, third place. See more photos from the event Photo: Douglas Levere

Published March 6, 2024