Thank you to all who attended our live final on 10 September 2025 at the Ann Harding Conference Centre. It was a fantastic evening!
Huge congratulations to our winners
- Major prize: Mona Hemmati (Faculty of Science and Technology)
- Runner-up: Michaela McGrath (Faculty of Health)
- People’s Choice Award: Kamirsyah Wahyu (Faculty of Education)
Special thanks to all our finalists, judges, MC, and UC Media Team for making this such a memorable event.
Couldn’t attend? Read all about it!
Missed out in 2025? Let us know you’re interested to compete next year and be first on the list to receive all the information about the 2025 faculty heats as well as HDR Development training to get 3MT-ready!
Please note this is not an official competition registration form.
Major Prize Winner |
Runner-Up |
People's Choice Award |
|---|---|---|
Mona Hemmati Cracking the Code: Relieving tiny lungs from the grip of RSV |
Michaela McGrath |
Kamirsyah Wahyu |
Check out our #UC3MT finalists for 2025.
| Finalist | Pitch Title and Video Link | Faculty |
|---|---|---|
| Kate Clark | Does heritage matter? | Faculty of Arts and Design |
| Lina Mohammed Abdo Al-Aghbari | Are economic constraints the silent Killer of Women's potential? | Faculty of Business, Government and Law |
| Anton Fichtenmaier | Rethinking social anxiety and alcohol use: Challenging the shy profile | Faculty of Health |
| Stephanie Deering | Learning to survive: Crows, cane toads and the power of behavioural adaptation | Faculty of Science and Technology |
| Jessica Seymour | Changing the narrative: from heartbreak to hope | Faculty of Health |
Judges
Lauren Cannell
Lauren Cannell
Lauren Cannell is a passionate advocate, humanitarian, and changemaker dedicated to building inclusive and compassionate communities. She founded two organisations: Educación Diversa, a not-for-profit community of international humanitarians who volunteer their time to design art-based programs that teach human rights, sexual and reproductive health, and peaceful conflict resolution, and ArtFullness, an organisation that harnesses creativity as a tool for healing, connection, and mental health prevention, supporting people before they require clinical intervention. Professionally, she works as Assistant Director and Project Manager with the Plastics Packaging Reform Taskforce at the Department of Climate Change, leading major sustainability initiatives across government. Lauren was named ACT Woman of the Year 2025, and initiated the Period Poverty, Period Dignity initiative, which helped drive landmark legislation in the ACT.
Tom Navakas
Tom Navakas
Tom Navakas is the Programs Manager at The Mill House Ventures (TMHV), which supports social enterprises in the Canberra and the region. In that role, he helps design and deliver TMHV’s programs which guide early-stage and growing social enterprises toward sustainability and impact. He is widely recognised for his dedication, enthusiasm, and expertise in driving positive change through social entrepreneurship. Before joining TMHV, Tom co-founded Café Stepping Stone in Cartagena, Colombia, in 2017. The café provided employment and structured hospitality and life skill training to disadvantaged Indigenous and Afro-Colombian people. This experience laid the foundation for Tom’s passion for building enterprises that balance social impact, sustainability, and community empowerment.
Wayne Spratford
Wayne Spratford
Professor Wayne Spratford is the Dean of the Graduate Research School at the University of Canberra. Prior to this he was a Teaching/Research academic in the Faculty of Health (8 years) and spent ~15 years at the AIS in various roles (Biomechanics). He received his PhD from the University of Western Australia under the supervision of Professor Jacque Alderson and Professor Bruce Elliott.
The HDR Development team would like to thank a few dedicated and talented people, without whom the 2025 UC Three Minute Thesis Final would not be possible.
To our MC Jess Gillan
To our Judges for so generously donating their time, expertise, and insights for this event: Lauren Cannell, Tom Navakas and Prof Wayne Spratford - your time and expertise were greatly appreciated.
To Dr Ryan Payne and CBRIN for providing pitch training in the lead up to the faculty heats and coaching with the finalists. Thank you for your energy and enthusiasm to help our finalists elevate their pitches to new heights.
To our faculties for organising the Faculty Heats.
To Crux Media for videography
To UCx for their venue support
To UC Web Team for putting the webpage together
To UC Design Team for designing all our UC3MT printed and digital materials
To UC Media Team for producing the finalists’ pitch videos and profile photos, event photography, and social media promotion
Lastly, and most importantly, thank you to all the competitors in the heats and our finalists for taking part in this event and helping to make it a success – without you, there is no 3MT event!