Thanks to everyone who joined us last night for the 2025 AUT 3 Minute Thesis Finals! Whether you joined in person or online, we hope you enjoyed the presentations and festivities.
From a talented field of 5 finalists, we are pleased to announce the prizewinners!
Winner
First place went to Zahraa Ozeer for her exceptional presentation entitled “Reprogramming the cancer battlefield, the microbial way.” Zahraa used a sustained analogy of fortresses and invaders to describe her research investigating how bacteria could help in the immune response to PDAC (Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma).
Zahraa will go on to represent AUT at the virtual Asia-Pacific finals hosted by the University of Queensland. Look out for her video in the Semi-Final Showcase starting September 22nd. Congratulations Zahraa, we’re cheering you on!
Runner-up
Ankit Parikh secured second place for his presentation “A Portable, Drug Free Treatment for Chronic Pain Management.” The presentation described Ankit’s development and testing of a novel home-based system for managing chronic pain by electrically stimulating the vagus nerve, timed with exhalation to improve the efficacy of the treatment. Well done Ankit!
Audience Vote Award
Nisha Suresh won the Audience Vote award for her presentation entitled “Effects of Yoga Nidra on Nervous System and Sleep”. Nisha’s talk described her research into the use of Yoga Nidra as a treatment for insomnia, using a mix of physiological monitoring and surveys to measure participants’ experiences. Congratulations Nisha!
A huge thanks and congratulations to all the 3MT entrants and finalists for your sharing the gift of your research with us.
If you missed the event, keep an eye on the 3MT website for a recording in the coming days.
You can also follow Zahraa’s progress in the Asia-Pacific finals (and vote for her for the People’s Choice award!) via the Semi-Final Showcase and, if she progresses, the Finals Showcase. Best of luck to you Zahraa!
