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Sciences Graduate Students Share Their Research — in Three Minutes

Sciences Graduate Students Share Their Research — in Three Minutes

November 7, 2018 1-min. read
The 10 Three Minute Thesis finalists pose after the competition.
The 10 Three Minute Thesis finalists, including Sciences students Katharine Ahrens (back row, left), Melissa Gaddy (back row, second from left) and Nathan Corder (back row, center).

How quickly and plainly could you describe a complex scientific concept to a group of laypeople? Three College of Sciences students recently answered that question as they competed in the NC State’s Graduate School‘s Three Minute Thesis contest. This international competition challenges graduate students to share their research in three minutes with one slide.

The competition was held on Oct. 30 in the Duke Energy Center of Hunt Library, as part of NC State’s Red and White Week. The 10 finalists, representing four NC State colleges, were chosen during preliminary rounds held Sept. 25-27.

Katharine Ahrens, a Ph.D. student in mathematics, shared her research on “Rethinking Cryptography: Breaking Codes in a Post-Quantum World.”

Nathan Corder, a Ph.D. student in statistics, gave a talk titled “My Data Has a Hole in It, and so Do the Solutions.”

Melissa Gaddy, a Ph.D. student in mathematics, discussed “The Mathematics of Optimized Cancer Treatment.”

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