Jessica Tomacic, a master of science student in the Faculty of Arts & Science's Department of Earth Sciences, is the winner of the 2026 University of Toronto Three Minute Thesis (U of T 3MT) competition.
Developed by the University of Queensland in Australia, the 3MT academic research communication program has expanded to more than 900 universities across 85 countries. It has been presented by U of T's School of Graduate Studies since 2013.
Finalists at this year's U of T 3MT represented 10 graduate units across disciplines including pharmacy, astronomy and astrophysics, medicine, biochemistry, nutrition, engineering, criminology and sociolegal studies.
Tomacic took the top prize for her presentation titled, “A Small Crystal with a Big Impact: Unlocking the History of Mars with Garnet." Alessia Pileggi of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and Nathan Reyes from the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies took home the second and third-place prizes respectively, with Kate Kazlovich of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering receiving the people's choice award.
“Never has it been more important for our students to articulate their incredibly complex research to a wider public," said Sarah Sharma, acting vice-dean, research and program innovation at the School of Graduate Studies. "These students did so with remarkable breadth and brilliance, and it was an absolute privilege to be in the room with them.”
As winner of the first-place prize, Tomacic earned the opportunity to represent U of T at the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS) 3MT hosted virtually by Concordia University.