Congratulations to SMP PhD candidate Matthew Armanasco (Supervisor: Professor Andrew White), who has been named the 2026 Faculty of Science Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Winner.
Matthew and fellow SMP finalist Arshia Anjum (Supervisor: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt) delivered outstanding presentations at the Faculty Final on 5 August, showcasing the breadth and impact of research being undertaken in the School of Mathematics and Physics.
The standard of competition was exceptionally high, with finalists challenged to explain their complex research to a general audience in just three minutes using a single presentation slide. Matthew and Arshia rose to the occasion, engaging the audience with clear, compelling presentations and demonstrating the strong communication skills that are increasingly important for researchers.
Arshia captured the audience’s attention with her talk titled “The Missing Link”, explaining how she used computer simulations of the Universe’s development to determine that mid-sized black holes form by cannibalising little black holes, and forecasting how next-generation space exploration technology will benefit from her findings.
Matthew challenged the audience to think about the real energy cost of using genAI in his talk titled “Teaching Light to Think”, highlighting that it was likely to be more than what the human brain supercomputer needs (i.e. ‘just a coffee and a few Tim-Tams’), and describing the brain-inspired, energy-efficient quantum nanochip technologies he is developing.
Among a strong field of finalists, Matthew Armanasco was named the 2026 Faculty of Science 3MT Winner.
Matthew will now represent the School of Mathematics and Physics and the Faculty of Science at the UQ 3MT Final, to be held on 16 September 2026. Congratulations to both Matthew and Arshia on their achievements and wishing Matthew every success as he prepares for the next stage of the competition.
If you are interested in attending the UQ 3MT Final you can register by Thursday, 10 September.
