The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition is a great way to practice talking about your research to a variety of audiences. Whether you have an opportunity to talk to the media, a political leader, a potential funder, or just your family, this is a critical skill to have.
The 3MT is a research communication competition originally developed by The University of Queensland in 2008, and now has been widely adopted at universities around the world. The exercise challenges masters and doctoral students to present a compelling talk on their thesis/dissertation topic and its significance. Many theses and dissertations can be over 80,000 words and take hours to present, but students in this competition have just three minutes and one slide to convey their often highly-technical research to a lay audience.
Presentations are judged by two main criteria: comprehension/content and engagement. Did the presentation help the audience (who may have no background at all in the research area) understand the topic? Did the method of presentation make the audience want to know more?
All graduate students are invited to register to participate for this in-person competition. First-round competitions will be held in late February and finalists will advance to the final competition on March 29, during Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week.