A Nigerian researcher has won both major prizes at the 2026 Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT) national final in the UK.
Peter Akor, a PhD researcher at Glasgow Caledonian University, received the Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice awards for his presentation on using artificial intelligence and wearable technology to help predict epileptic seizures.
His presentation, titled “The Minutes That Matter: Transforming Epileptic Seizure Care from Reaction to Prediction”, explored how advances in data analysis and wearable EEG technology could help doctors identify seizures before they occur.
The competition brought together doctoral researchers from universities including Oxford and King’s College London, as well as Surrey, Reading and Westminster.
Akor’s double victory makes him only the second researcher in the competition’s history reported to have won both major awards in the same national final.
The result is also a landmark for Glasgow Caledonian University, which secured its first national 3MT title.
Akor previously spent about nine years lecturing in Nigeria before moving to the UK to pursue his PhD.
The Three Minute Thesis competition challenges doctoral researchers to explain their research to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes, with the emphasis on clarity, engagement and communicating the wider impact of their work.
