Anish Pyne, an Indian American researcher, has won the People’s Choice Award at Carnegie Mellon University’s Three Minute Thesis Championship for his engaging presentation on microbiology and drinking water systems.
Indian American researcher Anish Pyne has been awarded the People’s Choice Award at the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries’ Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Championship. His winning presentation focused on his microbiology research concerning bacteria and drinking water systems.
Pyne, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, was one of ten doctoral students who participated in the championship finals held on March 25. The event challenged participants to present their cutting-edge research in a clear and compelling manner to a general audience, all within a strict three-minute timeframe.
“The Three Minute Thesis competition is all about presenting your research to a general audience, so I’m glad I was able to communicate with the audience in the auditorium and that they voted for me,” said Pyne, who is currently a PhD candidate in Biological Sciences.
Inspired by his friends’ participation in the previous year’s championship, Pyne decided to enter the competition himself. After witnessing three of his fellow doctoral students compete in the 2025 championship, he was motivated to craft a presentation that would effectively convey his research to a broader audience.
“One of my primary goals, both in pursuing a PhD and also as a long-term career goal, is to make science more accessible,” he explained. “It really inspired me that this platform challenged me to cater my talk to be understood by anyone and everyone. You don’t need to be an expert in my subject to benefit from the knowledge of what I’m doing.”
Pyne’s academic achievements include receiving the Institute Proficiency Prize for the ‘Best Master’s Project Work’ in 2022 from IIT Kharagpur, as well as a Silver Medal for being the top student in MSc Molecular Medical Microbiology for the 2021-2022 academic year. Additionally, he was awarded the Tata Trust Scholarship for Excellent Academic Performance across all four semesters of his MSc program in 2022 and received the SPARK Fellowship at IIT Roorkee in 2021.
The Three Minute Thesis Championship, now in its 11th year at Carnegie Mellon, originated at the University of Queensland in 2008. Since then, it has been adopted by over 900 universities in more than 85 countries, promoting the importance of effective communication in research.
According to The American Bazaar, Pyne’s achievement highlights the significance of making scientific research accessible and engaging for all audiences.