Graduate School Announces 2022 Three Minute Thesis Winners

Tiarra Cooper, Ph.D. candidate in German and Scandinavian studies, has been named the winner of the 2022 Three Minute Thesis competition. Organized by the Graduate School, the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) challenges graduate students to describe their research in an engaging manner, using non-technical language, all in three minutes or less. Cooper's presentation, “The Affective Experiences of Women Forcibly Sterilized Under the Nazi Regime, 1933-1945” was selected by the distinguished panel of judges as the winner in the live campus final, held Friday, March 4 in Old Chapel.

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Jun Wang, Ph.D. student in marketing, and Prerana Rathore, Ph.D. student in chemical engineering, tied as the 3MT runners-up. The audience voted Jessa Makabenta, Ph.D. student in chemistry, as the People’s Choice recipient. A total of 10 finalists representing 10 graduate programs in four schools or colleges competed in the campus final. As UMass's 3MT winner, Cooper will go on to compete in the regional 3MT in April, along with 3MT winners from over 20 graduate schools in the northeastern United States and Canada.

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The 3MT Campus Final included the Images of Research competition, featuring images submitted by graduate students and postdocs. A selection of 22 finalists were named and posted to Instagram (@UMass_OPD), with winners named in multiple categories. Three students were named Graduate School Favorite, as voted by Graduate School staff: Katie Billings, sociology, Wayne Barnaby, neuroscience and behavior, and Tatjana Washington, environmental conservation. Washington was also the Instagram Favorite and voted the People’s Choice by the audience at the 3MT Final.