Ph.D. Students Distill Their Discoveries in Three Minute Thesis Competition
Carleigh Turner (G’27) was limited to just one slide to summarize four years of research on social behavior and the brain. So she used clothing as an extra teaching aid. The Pharmacology & Physiology doctoral student began her presentation by reassuring the audience that her unorthodox outfit – complete with a multicolor granny square cardigan and plaid slacks – would make sense in a minute.
Pharmacology & Physiology Ph.D. student Carleigh Turner presents her research in the Three Minute Thesis competition.
Turner’s mismatched fashion, a visual metaphor for confused social behavior, helped her win second place among doctoral students in Georgetown’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition on April 22, 2026, in Lauinger Library. The annual event challenges graduate students to summarize their thesis or dissertation work in a three-minute talk.
“It was very difficult, and almost felt wrong at some points,” Turner said. “When you spend four years only thinking about the very minute details of your project, zooming out as far as is required for this talk made it feel like I was leaving out very important details of my research. But the main point of this competition … is truly just for you to tell people from all different backgrounds why your work matters, and how your findings will better the world.”
For Turner, bettering the world means exploring ways to ease social challenges for people with conditions such as schizophrenia or autism spectrum disorder. Her dissertation focuses on temporarily altering the activity of specific brain regions to observe how the change affects social behavior. She hopes her findings will contribute to the development of new therapies to help people socialize more comfortably.
Pharmacology & Physiology Ph.D. student Anjik Ghosh gestures at his slide.
Anjik Ghosh, a Pharmacology & Physiology doctoral student, presented his work on safeguarding babies’ developing brains. Ghosh’s research looks at anti-seizure medications which may be prescribed to pregnant women or newborns. Some of the medications have been found to cause neurotoxic effects on the brain of a fetus or infant – but others are question marks. Ghosh and his colleagues in the Forcelli Lab are working to determine whether larval zebrafish can be used as a model for early-life neurotoxicity; if so, scientists could test medications more efficiently and create safer prescribing guidelines.
Competitors and other attendees listen to a presentation.
“3MT was a great experience because I was able to share my work with the Georgetown community, especially with those outside of the circles where my research is usually discussed,” Ghosh said. “Likewise, I learned about the incredibly cool projects that other graduate students were working on! Students at Georgetown study so many different topics across different fields, and it was great to hear about and ask questions about topics they were passionate about.”
Turner and Ghosh both talked with others about their respective presentations to craft an accessible narrative. Turner’s sister told her to pretend that their grandmother was asking “what your dissertation was about, and how it was going to help others.”
Ghosh gives Turner a high-five after she won second place.
“I watched a lot of videos from prior 3MT winners, and was able to determine some consistent characteristics of the talks that informed how I formatted my presentation,” Turner said. “I highly suggest future presenters do not get bogged down in the minute details of their research (even though it is so very tempting). Try to see the forest from the trees, and think about the broader impact of your research.”
The 2026 winners of the Georgetown University Three Minute Thesis Competition are:
Thesis Presenters
- Sary Valenzuela (Global Human Development)
- Gareth Francis (Tumor Biology)
- Zil Joyce Dixon Romero (Policy Management), Deona Hatley (Executive MBA)
Dissertation Presenters
- Tianyu (Lisa) Ma (Chemistry)
- Carleigh Turner (Pharmacology & Physiology)
- Luke Shafik (Chemistry)
Winning Three Minute Thesis dissertation presenters, from left: Luke Shafik (Chemistry – 3rd place), Tianyu (Lisa) Ma (Chemistry – 1st place) and Carleigh Turner (Pharmacology & Physiology – 2nd place).
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