Imagine presenting hours of research in only three minutes. Auburn University graduate students competed this summer to present their research within that time limit as part of the university’s first Three Minute Thesis competition. Students were judged on communication style, comprehension and engagement with the audience, as well as their capacity to effectively explain research to a non-specialist audience.

Chemical engineering graduate student Shaima Nahreen won first place in the doctoral category for her three-minute presentation on producing jet fuel from biomass. Runners-up included electrical and computer engineering student Nikhil Jha and materials engineering student Naved Siddiqui. The competition originated at the University of Queensland in Australia and has since spread to more than 10 countries. Auburn University became the fourth institution in the United States to implement the competition.

Auburn held its second Three Minute Thesis competition in October. The top 10 competitors in the preliminaries advanced to the final round held in November.