3MT® Competition
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition Guidelines
Deadline to Register is OCTOBER 23rd.
What is 3MT®?
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ). Masters and Doctoral students have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance. 3MT® is not an exercise in trivializing or ‘dumbing-down’ research, but challenges students to consolidate their ideas and research discoveries so they can be presented concisely to a non-specialist audience.
Why Participate in 3MT®?
3MT® is part of an effort to provide students with an opportunity to develop their oral communication and presentation skills.
- Skills Training for Graduate Students
The exercise develops academic, presentation and research communication skills, while developing research students’ ability to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
- Building Research Culture Across the University
3MT® provides a valuable opportunity for graduate students to come together, get to know one another and talk about their research. It also provides a supportive environment for presentation skills training.
- Building External Relations for the University
The overall winner could be a master’s or doctoral student. There will also be awards given for the best master’s and the best doctoral categories. The Graduate School covers the costs for the overall winner to represent The University of Mississippi and compete in the regional 3MT competition held as part of the Council of Southern Graduate Schools’ Annual Meeting in Dallas, TX, March 19-21, 2025 (https://www.csgs.org/annual-meeting).
Awards
Overall Winner: A prize package exceeding $1000: $500 cash prize; Ray Ban Unisex Sunglasses (donated by Dr. Steve M. DePriest, Doctor of Optometry); and custom-fitted whitening trays & premium whitening gel (donated by Oxford Dental)
1st Place Masters and 1st Place Doctoral: $100
2nd Place Masters and 2nd Place Doctoral: $50
Awards will be paid through the Office of Financial Aid
Rules
• A single static PowerPoint slide is permitted (no slide transitions, animations or ‘movement’ of any description, the slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration).
• No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted.
• No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum and competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified.
• Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
• Presentations are to commence from the stage.
• Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through movement or speech.
Judging Criteria
•Communication style: was the thesis topic and its significance communicated in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience?
•Comprehension: did the presentation help the audience understand the research?
•Engagement: did the presentation make the audience want to know more?
Resources
Videos of our winners can be found on the UM Graduate School YouTube Channel!
Overview of competition at UNSW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrrK5c8SwKw
Humanities Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2RE95JK-HE
Social Science Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvjPzsLIyGw
Pharmaceutics Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxbRFWQ56RY
Natural Science Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT_f830Mxn0
Education Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgiqpOejCLs