QUT Graduate Research Student Showcase 2026 (3MT Grand Finals)

QUT Graduate Research Student Showcase (3MT®)

Please join us as we celebrate QUT's graduate research (PhD, MPhil, and Professional Doctorate) student talent with the QUT Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Grand Finals.

The event will be held in person at E Block, Kelvin Grove campus and online Zoom for those who are unable to attend in person.

About Three Minute Thesis (3MT®)

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an international competition which cultivates graduate students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. Graduate researchers have just 3 minutes to explain their research and its significance in a compelling speech. 3MT® challenges graduate researchers to consolidate their ideas and research discoveries so they can be presented concisely to a non-specialist audience.

The QUT 3MT® Grand Final will bring together 5 finalists representing each QUT's Faculty. The 2026 finalists are:

• Turning Windows into Power: The Future of Sustainable Cities - Maham Akhlaq, Faculty of Engineering

  • Every day, sunlight pours through millions of city windows and disappears as untapped energy. My work aims to capture that light by transforming ordinary windows into transparent solar cells—preserving the view while quietly powering the cities of the future.

• Getting Hands-On: Co-Designing Robots with Surgeons - James Dwyer, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, Australian Cobotics Centre

  • Robotic systems are a growing part of surgical practice, and while they hold great potential to extend human capabilities, they're often designed around work as imagined rather than work as it's actually done, meaning surgical teams have to adapt their practice to the machine. My research delivers a co-design approach that brings surgeons' hands-on expertise directly into how the next generation of surgical robots gets built, offering a human-centred framework for applied robotics that is scalable for a wide range of Australian industries from the operating theatre to the manufacturing floor.

• More Likes, Fewer Sales: Helping Small Sellers Turn Attention into Purchases - Sichen Meng, Faculty of Business and Law

  • Livestreams that attract more likes and comments do not always generate more sales. Using machine learning to analyse more than 1,300 livestreams, this research examines how emotional expression shapes real consumer behaviour and how these insights can help small sellers increase income and reduce financial pressure.

• Who decides who waits? Evolving New Rules to Prioritise Patients - Jack Powers, Faculty of Science,  

  • We evolved millions of prioritisation formulas for Australia's surgery waiting lists, discovering fairer rules that a hospital can audit, a doctor can understand, and a patient can question.

• From Prescription to Partnership: Co-designing a Plant-Based Diet for Chronic Kidney Disease - Jujube Yuen, Faculty of Health

  • Chronic kidney disease is a silent killer. Plant-based diets may improve kidney outcomes, but getting patients to follow them remains challenging. What if patients designed the diet themselves?

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland, Australia.

The winner of the QUT Grand Final will proceed to compete in the Asia-Pacific International competition.