Medicinal Chemistry Students Participate in 3MT Competition

The Office of the Associate Dean of Graduate Education within the College of Pharmacy held its annual 3-Minute Thesis competition for our graduate student population on October 10^th, 2025.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is intended to "cultivate students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills." During the 3MT competition each student has three minute to explain their research in a manner accessible for a lay audience.   The first 3MT competition was held at University of Queensland in 2008 with 160 students competing. Today, 900 universities across more than 85 countries worldwide hold 3MT competitions annually.

This year, the Judge’s Winner and People’s Choice Winner was Mary Raphel Daniel from the Department of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology. Riddhi Kini from the Department of Pharmaceutics was the Runner-Up.

From Medicinal Chemistry, the following students were involved and gave excellent talks:

• Cole Friederichs (Duerfeldt Labs)
• Farzana Kabir (Harki Lab)
• Bryan Magana (Wagner Lab)
• Maryam Nazari (Georg Lab)

Prof. Adam Duerfeldt was also a judge for the competition, and Administrative Manager and Graduate Program Coordinator Arturo Hernández was the timekeeper for the event.

At the University of Minnesota, each college holds a separate competition early in the Fall Semester. The winner of each unit will advance to the University-wide 3MT competition in November. The winner of the University-wide 3MT competition will then advance to a regional 3MT competition in the Spring.

We're happy to see our Department so well-represented at the event. Thanks to all who participated!