3rd place in the Three Minute Thesis UiB Final 2026

On March 24^th 2026, 8 PhD candidates across different disciplines from the UiB were selected and challenged to present their research projects as part of the UiB Final of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition organized by UiB in collaboration with the Coimbra Group and SANORD.

The rules were strict and simple: you had exactly 3 minutes and one static slide without animations, videos, a pointer or physical props. The challenge lied in communicating the importance and impact of your research and making it accessible to a broad audience, while not trivialising or oversimplifying important concepts.

The finalists presented on a stage in front of a jury pannel chaired by Kristoffer Chelsom Vogt, and a general, non-specialist audience. After all the presentations concluded, the jury chose the top three and winner who would receive prizes. The winner would get the possibility of representing the UiB at the international 3MT competitions and conferences organized by the Coimbra Group at the University of Granada and SANORD at the University of Namibia.

Ovidiu Todoran, a PhD student in the Brenk group, presented his work on molecular docking against RNA-targets and finished in 3^rd place in the competition, winning NOK 1,000. In his talk, he explained the importance of developing antibiotics with a novel mechanism of action, such as riboswitches, and how computational methods like molecular docking can help in the discovery of potential antibiotics.

The event succeeded in bringing together academics from different disciplines at the UiB and challenging young researchers to share their work with a broader audience.