Conversations full of discoveries and questions swirled throughout hallways and classrooms as College of Veterinary Medicine trainees recently shared their research at the annual Research, Innovation, Discovery, and Education (RIDE) Summit event. 

For trainees—graduate students and residents—the RIDE Summit offers a unique opportunity to share their work, hone communication skills, learn from each other and participate in a little friendly competition. 

Among those contests was the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Seven students from the Comparative and Molecular Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine graduate programs undertook the challenge of winnowing their theses into three-minute explanations aimed at a general audience. Participants competed for a chance to represent CVM at the University of Minnesota’s 3MT competition, hosted each year by the Graduate School. This year’s winners were:

• 1st place: James Berg, advised by Nathan Schuldt. 
• 2nd place (tie): Alan Stephen, advised by Ferenc Toth and Casey Johnson, and Kristin Soucek, advised by Kelly Makielski.

Graduate researchers also participated in a poster session, which gave them an opportunity to showcase their work. Judges selected three posters for awards:

• 1st place: Sydney Phu, advised by Hinh Ly.
• 2nd place: Manojkumar Narayanan, advised by Maxim Cheeran. 
• 3rd place: Alan Stephen, advised by Ferenc Toth and Casey Johnson.

Residents from the Veterinary Medical Center and the Veterinary Public Health and Preventative Medicine (VPHPM) program also presented during the summit. Judges selected VPHPM resident Guillermo Arcega Castillo’s presentation as the session’s winner. Arcega Castillo is advised by Melinda Wilkins.

Also announced during the awards ceremony were more than a dozen scholarship and fellowship selections. Find full coverage of the day's events as well as a slideshow of images.