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A Nigerian researcher, Peter Akor, has won both the Judges’ Choice Award and People’s Choice Award at the 2026 Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT) national competition in the UK.
Akor, a postgraduate researcher at Glasgow Caledonian University, emerged winner after competing against five other researchers from universities across the United Kingdom.
The finalists represented the University of Oxford, King’s College London, the University of Surrey, the University of Reading and the University of Westminster, alongside Akor’s Glasgow Caledonian University.
The Judges’ Choice Award was determined by the competition judges, while the People’s Choice Award was decided through a public vote.
Akor’s research presentation, titled “The Minutes That Matter: Transforming Epileptic Seizure Care from Reaction to Prediction,” focused on the use of technology and data to predict epileptic seizures before they occur.
The research examines how seizure prediction could potentially improve safety and treatment for people living with epilepsy.
Akor, who is from Owukpa in Benue State, secured his place in the national final after winning the Judges’ Choice Award at his university’s 3MT final in June.
His victory also made him the second researcher in the history of the Vitae competition to win both the Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice awards in the same national final, according to information released after the competition.
Rachel Bernasconi of the University of Surrey won the Editor’s Choice Award, selected by The Conversation UK.
The 3MT competition requires postgraduate researchers to explain their research to a non-specialist audience using one presentation slide within three minutes.
Akor studied Electrical/Electronics Engineering at Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, where he graduated with First Class Honours in 2012. He later worked in academia before moving to the UK for his PhD.
As part of his prizes, Akor will receive grants and mentorship linked to public engagement and professional development activities.
He said he plans to use the funding, subject to approval, to organise public engagement events in the UK and Nigeria on artificial intelligence, research and neurological disorders.
