phd thesis competition

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The Three Minute Thesis Competition  

An 80,000 word ph.d. thesis would take 9 hours to present. their time limit...3 minutes. special thanks to our sponsor riverstone for supporting this event.  .

The 2024 3MT Competition is taking place in February and April! Thirty applicants will be selected to compete. Applications are now closed.

3MT Overview

Three Minute Thesis (3MT ® ) celebrates the exciting research conducted by PhD students around the world. Developed by  The University of Queensland (UQ) , the competition cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. Presenting in a 3MT competition increases their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes , in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. Competitors are allowed one PowerPoint slide , but no other resources or props.

The 8 th  annual 3MT competition took place in March 2023. We had 32 students compete and witnessed some fantastic presentations. We can't wait to see what our new and returning participants bring in 2024. To help students prepare for the 3MT we offer a workshop series that will guide students through the whole process-- developing the talk, creating the slide, and practicing the presentation. view all the 2023 preliminary and final round presentations

Past Participants

The UNH Graduate School Media Channel hosts videos of the 3MT competitions from every year! Browse the channel at the link below to find 3MT presentations from participants across a range of disciplines and subjects. You can find direct links to the videos of our award winners from each year in the "Past 3MT Winners" section on this webpage as well.

UNH Graduate School Media Page Official 3MT Website

2023 3MT Winners

2024 3MT Competition Schedule

Preliminary Round 1 - February 27th from 3-5pm, MUB Theater I Preliminary Round 2 - February 28th from 3-5pm, MUB Theater I 3MT Final Round - April 8th from 4-6pm, MUB Theater II (followed by a reception from 6-7pm)

Preparing for your 3MT

Upcoming workshop open to all UNH graduate students and postdocs

Introduction to the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Come for an overview of what the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition is and what makes a good 3MT, from content to audience to the way you present your research, orally and visually. Attendance can be in-person or virtual. 

When : December 13, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Where : Hamel Recreation Center room 107C or via Zoom

Register here

Past 3MT Winners

• 1 st place: Melanie Smith ,  Master's Student in Marine Biology
• 2 nd place: Manjot Rekhi , PhD Student in Earth and Environmental Science
• 3 rd place: Diana Reyes Gomez , PhD Student in Agricultural Sciences
• People's Choice Award: Ava Boutilier , Master's Student in Biochemistry
• 1 st place: Sathya Jagadeesan ,  PhD student in Chemical Engineering
• 2 nd place:  Nikolai Matukhno , Master's Student in Mechanical Engineering
• 3 rd place & People’s Choice Award:  Nick Pollak , PhD candidate in Chemistry
• 1 st place: David Heit , Msc Wildlife and Conservation Biology
• 2 nd place: Via D'Agostino , MFA Fiction Writing
• 3 rd place: Hannah Lightcap , PhD Psychology
• People’s Choice Award: Jess Flarity , PhD English Literature
• 1 st place: Jordan Pierce , MS Oceanography
• 2 nd place: Allison Giannotti , PhD Composition & Rhetoric
• 3 rd place: Isaiah Paolo Atienza Lee , PhD Molecular and Evolutionary Systems Biology
• People’s Choice Award: Danial Mirzaiyanrajeh , PhD Civil & Environmental Engineering
• People’s Choice Runner Up: Kerry Dykens , MS Oceanography
• 1 st place: Sidney Birch , PhD Molecular & Evolutionary Systems Biology
• 2 nd place & People’s Choice Award: Zane Relethford , PhD Chemistry
• 3 rd place: Katherine Ineson , PhD NRESS
• 1 st place: Jovana Milosavljevic Ardeljan , PhD Education
• 2 nd place: Devon O'Rourke , PhD Molecular and Evolution Systems Biology
• 3 rd place & People’s Choice Award: Kaitlyn Belknap , M.S. Genetics
• 1 st place: Drummond Biles , PhD, Mechanical Engineering
• 2 nd place: Meagan Wengrove , PhD Ocean Engineering
• 3 rd place: Ryan Stevens , PhD Natural resources
• People’s Choice Award: Rev. Holland Prior , MFA Creative Nonfiction
• People’s Choice Runner Up: Jovana Milosavljevic Ardeljan , PhD Education
• 1 st place & People’s Choice Award: Lesley Atwood , PhD Agroecology
• 2 nd place: Susan Deily Swearingen , PhD History
• 3 rd place: Maria Marin Jarrin , PhD Oceanography
• A single static PowerPoint slide is permitted. No slide transitions, animations, or "movement" of any description are allowed. 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, etc.) 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 front of the theater.
• Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.
• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.

Judging Criteria

3 Minute Thesis presentations are judged using the following criteria:

Comprehension and Content

• Did the presentation provide an understanding of the background to the research question being addressed and its significance?
• Did the presentation clearly describe the key results of the research including conclusions and outcomes?
• Did the presentation follow a clear and logical sequence?
• Was the thesis topic, key results and research significance and outcomes communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
• Did the speaker avoid scientific jargon, explain terminology and provide adequate background information to illustrate points?
• Did the presenter spend adequate time on each element of their presentation - or did they elaborate for too long on one aspect so that other aspects of the presentation felt rushed?

Engagement and Communication

• Did the oration make the audience want to know more?
• Was the presenter careful not to trivialize or generalize their research?
• Did the presenter convey enthusiasm for their research?
• Did the presenter capture and maintain their audience's attention?
• Did the speaker have sufficient stage presence, eye contact and vocal range; maintain a steady pace, and have a confident stance?
• Did the PowerPoint slide enhance the presentation - was it clear, legible, and concise?

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2022 3-Minute Thesis Competition

Yale 2022 3-Minute Thesis Competition Winners Announced!

The 3-Minute Thesis Competition challenges Ph.D. students to describe their thesis work clearly and engagingly in just 3 minutes! On April 14th we invited the Yale community to cheer on this year’s 11 finalists in this live-streamed celebration of Ph.D. research. At the Loria Hall event, finalists delivered their presentations live to both an in-person and virtual audience of more than 200.

During the event, Julia Istomina (Associate Director of the Graduate Writing Lab) announced recipients of the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning’s Public Communications Certificate, including 9 of our 2022 finalists! In addition, members of the audience were invited to cast their votes to select winners for two People’s Choice awards.

This year’s esteemed panel of judges included:

Lynn Cooley , Dean of the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Jenny Rooke ’98 Ph.D., Managing Director, Genoa Ventures and Advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation  Max Golts, ‘99 Ph.D., Chief Investment Officer, 4X4invest  Andrea Levitt , ‘78 Ph.D., Professor Emerita of French and Linguistics, Wellesley College

During the event, audience members cast their votes for the People’s Choice awards.

Meet the 2022 3MT Winners

*TIE* First Place – Diondra Dilworth (Chemistry): The Ribosome: Modifiable Machine – A Chemist’s Approach

*TIE* First Place  – Kimmy Cushman (Physics): Dark Matter: The Mysteries of Mass

Third Place – Carson Koepke (Medieval Studies): Centering Saints’ Lives in Medieval Studies

People’s Choice Award: Best in Humanities & Social Sciences – Demar Lewis (Sociology & African American Studies): “Walk it Like We Talk It”: Reimagining Community Safety in the United States

People’s Choice Award: Best in STEM – Aritra Ghosh (Astronomy): Black Holes: Ruthless Destroyers or Formative Gravitational Beasts?

You can view all of our finalists’ videos via the Office of Career Strategy YouTube channel .

Yale’s 3-Minute Thesis Competition is sponsored by the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Yale Graduate School Alumni Association.  It is a collaboration between the offices of the McDougal Graduate Student Center:  The Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning, the Graduate Writing Lab, Graduate Student Life, the Office for Graduate Student Development & Diversity, and the Office of Career Strategy.

Yale’s event is modeled on the 3-Minute Thesis Competition founded by the University of Queensland.  3MT competitions are now held at over 600 universities and institutions across 65 countries around the world.

Office of Career Strategy

Visiting yale.

3-Minute Thesis Competition

3-minute thesis final competition.

The 3-Minute Thesis competition challenges Yale PhD students to clearly and compellingly describe their thesis to a broad audience – in 3 minutes!  By preparing a successful presentation, students will develop a key professional asset that is just as critical for academic conferences and job talks as it is for a job search outside of the academy.  We welcome all Yale students, postdocs, faculty, and staff to attend this exciting and enlightening annual event!   Register here .

Friday, April 12, 2024, 4:00 - 6:00 pm OC Marsh Auditorium, Yale Science Building  260 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511 

Watch as winners from the preliminary divisional rounds compete for recognition and cash prizes.  Cheer on the presenters as you learn about the diverse range and profound impact of graduate student research at Yale. A panel of esteemed judges drawn from Yale alumni will decide the first and second prizes, while the live and virtual audience will vote on “people’s choice” awards. The audience includes graduate students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and GSAS alumni. Join us for this celebration of professional communication!  

Congratulations to our Preliminary Round Winners!

Social Sciences

• Meera Choi (Sociology), “The Rise of Heterosexual Refusal?”
• Leonardo de Siqueira Lima (Economics), “Paying Students to Graduate from High School”

Engineering

• Theodoros Trochatos (Electrical Engineering), “Fortifying Quantum Clouds: Securing Information in the Quantum Era”
• Alev Baysoy (Biomedical Engineering), “Spatial CRISPR Screening”

Physical Sciences

• Lihao Yan (Physics), “Traveling Waves Perpendicular to Macaque’s V4 Area”
• Yanyu Zhao (Chemistry), “Secret Talent of the Gut Microbiome: Metabolism of Small Molecule G Protein-coupled Receptor Drugs”
• Jenna Andrews (Microbiology), “Strike an Adipose: Illuminating Fat as a Reservoir for Q Fever”
• Arya Ökten (Immunobiology), “Making a Norovirus Vaccine: All Good Things Take Time”
• John Webley (Slavic L&L, History of Art), “Ink, Paint, and Blood: India and the Great Game in Russian Culture”

3MT Judging Criteria

Cash prizes for winners of the final round.

• 1st Prize: $1,000 
• 2nd Prize: $500
• 3rd Prize: $300
• Audience Choice (Humanities/Social Sciences): $300
• Audience Choice (STEM): $300

Resources to Enhance Your 3MT Presentation

Workshops and Programs at Yale

Student participants have had access to a series of workshops and programs offered jointly by the  Office of Career Strategy  and the  Graduate Writing Lab  in the  Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning . Where possible, these sessions will be recorded so that 3MT participants can revisit this information throughout the process.

• Poorvu’s CTL Certificate for Public Communication  

One-on-One Consultations

All participants are encouraged to schedule one-on-one advising appointments with  Hyun Ja Shin  and  Jacob Gonzalez  from the Office of Career Strategy. Available appointments can be seen and scheduled via  Yale Career Link . Participants can also  schedule writing consultations with the Graduate Writing Lab .

PitchVantage Public Speaking Studio at the Graduate Writing Lab

PitchVantage  is a program designed to help improve public speaking skills in a variety of different sectors of life.  Easily navigating the space between boardroom and lecture hall, this program focuses on different aspects of public presentation, from pacing to pitch, and evaluates performance in real time.  For more information and to book time in the GWL’s PitchVantage studio, please visit the  online scheduler , select the PitchVantage schedule, and reserve an appointment.

The 3-Minute Thesis Competition is sponsored by the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and is a collaboration of the offices of the McDougal Graduate Student Center. Yale’s competition is modeled on the 3MT® competition founded by the University of Queensland.  

Physics Ph.D. candidate wins 2024 Three Minute Thesis competition

By | Katya Hrichak , Cornell University Graduate School

“I want you to remember a time when you were in a setting where you felt like you didn’t belong. I want you to remember how you felt in that setting, maybe isolated or out of place, and how much you felt like you wanted to continue going back to that setting—probably not much. These feelings are all too familiar for undergraduate women pursuing their studies in science, and in physics specifically,” began Meagan Sundstrom, a doctoral candidate in physics at the ninth annual Cornell University Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.

Alongside seven other finalists, Sundstrom presented her dissertation research in just three minutes on March 20 to a panel of judges and an audience from across campus while additional friends, family, advisors, and lab mates watched online. In the first in-person Cornell 3MT since 2019, presentations were judged by how clearly and compellingly students summarized their research to a general audience, using only one static slide.

Sundstrom’s presentation, “Recognizing and Removing Barriers for Women in Physics,” earned her first place and $1,500. Second place and $1,000 was awarded to information science doctoral student Sterling Williams-Ceci for her presentation, “AI Helps us Write – but at What Cost?”

After nearly 60 in-person and 70 virtual audience members cast their ballots, votes were tallied and the People’s Choice Award and $250 were presented to biomedical and biological sciences doctoral candidate Sharada Gopal for her presentation, “Worming Our Way to a Longer Life.”

This year’s judges included Jane Bunker, director of Cornell University Press; Joe Ellis, director of online degree program development at eCornell; David Lodge, the Francis J. DiSalvo Director of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability; and Bob Riter, patient advocate for the Cornell Community Cancer Partnership. Organization of the competition and coaching of presenters was provided by the Graduate School Office of Career and Professional Development.

“As grad students, there are a lot of opportunities to give your elevator pitch at conferences and more professional settings to more senior people in your field, and I thought this would be a really cool opportunity for me to try to tailor that pitch to a more general audience—how would I describe my research to my family and friends?—so that was fun,” said Sundstrom.

Being able to “zoom out” and view her topic from a different perspective was also helpful for Sundstrom, who is currently writing her dissertation and appreciates having both formulated a storyline and thought about the broader impacts of her work.

Williams-Ceci similarly enjoyed the chance to speak to a different type of audience than she is used to addressing.

“I hadn’t really had an opportunity in grad school to try communicating to a broad audience, it’s always just to my lab, so I wanted to practice having a chance to really tell a story and not just go through the slides,” she said. “It really helped me know for a fact that I can tell a convincing story about a project that I’ve done.”

Gopal shared that the 3MT was a fun way to combine her longtime artistic interests with her science.

“It seemed like such a fun event. I did a lot of theatre in college so I thought, ‘What can I do artistically here?’ and this seemed like a good mix of my scientific interest and my artistic theatre interests,” she said, adding that she also benefitted from looking at the bigger picture of her work and its impacts.

The 3MT competition was first held in 2008 at the University of Queensland and has since been adopted by over 900 universities in over 85 countries. 3MT challenges research degree students to present a compelling story on their dissertation or thesis and its significance in just three minutes, in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Cornell’s Graduate School first hosted a 3MT competition in 2015 and the event has grown steadily since that time. As the winner of Cornell’s competition, Sundstrom will now go on to compete in northeast regional competitions.

“Our Three Minute Thesis final round is a highlight of the year for those of us in the Graduate School—literally we talk about it all year long,” said Kathryn J. Boor, dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education. “We look forward to it because it’s just plain fun, and it’s an opportunity for us to watch and learn from our accomplished and creative graduate researchers.”

“I could not possibly be more proud of the work we saw,” she said.

Read the story on the Cornell University Graduate School website.

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Penn Three Minute Thesis (3MT)

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Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a competition for doctoral and research students to develop and showcase their research communication skills through brief, 3-minute presentations.

Penn's annual 3MT competition is sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for Education, with co-sponsorship and support from Career Services, the Graduate Student Center, and GAPSA. 

Penn 3MT is a University-sponsored speaking competition designed to showcase graduate student research in three-minute talks to a general audience. This is a terrific opportunity for graduate students engaged in substantive original research to develop communication skills and share their work with faculty, students, and staff from across the University.

• 3MT Information Sessions : November 2023 & January 2024
• Research Communications Workshops : October - November 2023 &  February 2024 (optional)
• Practice and Feedback Sessions: February 2024 (optional)
• First Round Video Submissions Due: Saturday, March 2, 2024
• Finalists announced: March 7-8, 2024
• Finalist Feedback Sessions: March 8-21, 2024
• In-person Competition : Friday, March 22, 2024

In addition to bragging rights, a prize of $1000 will be awarded to the first-place winner and $500 to both the second-place and audience choice winners. Winners will also have the opportunity to participate in regional and national 3 Minute Thesis competitions!

Meet the Finalists & Winners!

First place, $1000, kritika jha.

Kritika is a material chemistry Ph.D. student at the SAS and has dedicated her research to sustainable and intelligent packaging solutions. She is also a great fan of cooking, so she’s always cooking up a storm both in the lab and the kitchen,  with a mission to whip up eco-friendly packaging solutions. So, just think of her as a chef-scientist, where her ingredients aren't just spices and veggies, but also the stuff that could make tomorrow's packaging as compostable as an apple core, with a sprinkle of creativity and a dash of science. Now she’s going to tell you more about all that in her talk title “Nanosuperheroes: Who Can See the Unseen Dangers” 

Second Place, $500, Grace Simon

Grace is a PhD Candidate in the Management Department. Before embarking on her PhD journey, Grace spent five years working in the financial services industry. From supporting employees through bank robberies to leading a crisis communications team during the pandemic, Grace realized the central role of emotions in the workplace. In her research, she explores when and why supportive intentions at work can go right and wrong.  When she's not working on research, you can find her searching for the best ice cream in Philadelphia or perfecting her soft pretzel recipe. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled “Putting Feelings into Words” 

Audience Choice, $500, Talayah Johnson

Talayah is Bioengineering Ph.D. student here at the University of Pennsylvania. Her journey started at Penn State University where she received her B.S in biology and Masters in biomechanics. Outside of research she enjoys volunteering at Philadelphia high schools as a way of encouraging minority students to pursue STEM degrees.  Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled “The Tendon’s Achilles Heel: How Reduced Loading Affects Limb Growth” 

Shelvey Swett

Shelvey is a second year PhD student in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department. Her work focuses on carbon capture and storage. Outside of research, Shelvey loves reading, watching video essays, and doing hot yoga. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled ‘Carbon capture? I hardly know her! Critical Mineral Supply and Carbon Dioxide Storage from Mining Waste’ 

Maya Moritz

Maya is a PhD student in the Criminology department at Penn. She grew up in New Jersey and studied labor and historical economics in Scotland, Canada, and Germany. During her studies, she listened to way too many true crime podcasts and, as a result, decided to return home and examine a different labor market- crime. As a PhD student in criminology she tries to keep her work on the brighter side by studying the crime-fighting effects of art, lighting, and the power of community. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled “A Picture Worth A Thousand Words: The Effects of Murals on Crime ” 

Chris Johnson

Chris is a doctoral candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering, with a focus on deciphering the physics behind new materials for energy technology. He has had work published in scientific journals such as Polymer, Advanced Materials Interfaces, and Chemical Communications. He was the 2020 winner of the Elda Wollaeger Gregory poetry award at the University of Delaware, and spends his free time playing with his cat Poe. Now he’s going to tell you about his research in his talk titled “Mission Ion-possible Charges in Motion" 

Natalia (Nati) Aponte Borges

Natalia is a graduate researcher, bilingual STEM educator, and artist. She obtained her B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras and is currently a Biology PhD Candidate in the Schmidt Lab. She is broadly interested in the neurobiology of behavior, known as neuroethology. Her work focuses on the neural mechanisms that control courtship behaviors in songbirds. She studies brown-headed cowbirds, which have an elaborate song and display during courtship. Outside of research, she is passionate about community, science literacy, disability justice, and teaching. Along with birds, she loves photography, sewing, and going to the beach. Now she’s going to tell you about her research in her talk titled “The Neural Command of Courtship: How the Bird Brain Orchestrates an Elaborate Wingspread” 

Pulkit Khandelwal

Pulkit is a 5th year PhD student in the department of Bioengineering. Previously, he completed his masters in computer science at McGill University in Montreal. Pulkit's research interests lie in biomedical image analysis using artificial intelligence and shape analysis to understand how neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, spread in the brain using postmortem human brain MRI. In his spare time, he likes to read poetry, literature, listen to Greek mythology podcasts, nerd out on coffee, enjoy foreign language independent movies, and lately he has been interested in rare books and book binding! Now he’s going to tell you about his research in his talk titled “Alzheimer's disease: cutting the brain open, literally!” 

To enter, students must register below and submit a video of their three-minute talk to Penn 3MT (details below) by Saturday, March 2. From those first-round submissions, up to 10 finalists will be chosen to compete in the campus-wide, live competition on Friday, March 22.

Register for Round 1 Video Submission

The 3MT competition will teach you how to communicate effectively to specialists and non-specialists alike, preparing you to present your research at scholarly conferences and to take part in both academic and professional job markets.

Professional Development:  Penn 3MT is a great opportunity for graduate students to practice sharing their original research to general audiences. Participants have the opportunity to attend workshops and receive group and one-on-one coaching to  develop oratorical skills, dynamic deliveries, and compelling content  when presenting their academic research.

Networking:  3MT participants will have an opportunity to meet and engage with new faculty, staff, and students from across the University.

Impact:  Participants have the opportunity to make the importance and relevance of their research visible to a non-specialist audience. Participants can elect to have their presentation shared online, promoting both your own work and the value of graduate student research to a much wider audience.

Prizes:  Everyone who submits a video will receive prizes from GAPSA and the Grad Center! Please register at the blue button at the top of the page  if you plan on submitting a video so we can collect your contact information. Judges will select a first-place ($1000) and second-place ($500) winner at the live competition. There will also be an audience choice ($500) winner.

Active PhD, Professional Doctorate Research (program composed of at least 2/3 research and eligible for Research Training Program (RTP)), and full-time Masters candidates who have successfully passed their confirmation milestone (including candidates whose thesis is under submission) by the date of their first presentation are eligible to participate in 3MT competitions at all levels. Graduates are not eligible.

Please Note : Students enrolled in any of the following programs are not eligible to enter the 3MT Competition:

Professional Masters

Professional Doctorate (less than 2/3 research)

Entries from all disciplines are welcome and encouraged.

In cases of presentation of a collaborative research project, the presenter’s contribution to the project must be salient and clearly specified.

If you are unsure of your eligibility or would like more information about 3MT, please contact [email protected] . You can also check the Graduate Catalog for your Penn School to see if your program is listed under the PhD and Research Master's Programs.

To enter, you must submit a three-minute video of your presentation by 11:59 p.m. (local time) on March 2, 2024.

Please register at the blue button at the top of the page  if you are interested in participating . Be sure to read through the Rules and Guidelines also before submitting your videos!

Competition Process

Students may submit their slide and video anytime before Saturday, March 2, 2024  for feedback. You can also request a 1:1 session during this time for immediate feedback or to go over your presentation with the Associate Director.

Research Communications Workshops offered by the Graduate Student Center will occur October - November and January - February. See our Events page for details.

Student videos submitted by the deadline of  Satur day, March 2 at 11:59 p.m., EST  are reviewed by a panel of staff for compliance with the eligibility requirements.

10 Finalists are selected for the online competition by March 7-8, 2024.

A  campus-wide competition between the finalists will be held March 22, 2024. A reception will be held after the competition.

On the basis of these presentations, winners will be selected by the panel of judges and a “people’s choice” by audience members.  

Judging and Selection

A panel of non-specialist faculty and staff judges will evaluate student presentations. Presentations will be evaluated based on clarity, comprehension, content, engagement, and communication.

Everyone who submits a video will receive a gift for participating! Please fill out the interest form above if you plan on submitting a video so we can collect your contact information. Judges will select a first ($1000) and second-place ($500) winner at the live competition. There will also be an audience choice ($500) winner.

All decisions of the judging panel are final.

Video submission:   

• Your video and slide should be submitted using the button below.  Please register at the blue button at the top of the page  if you are interested in participating .
• All video files should be named: “Title_of_talk.mp4” or “Title_of_talk.mov”.  Please do not include your name or any other identifying information in the name of the video file.
• You do not need to include your slide in your video. A video of you speaking is enough. You will upload your slide alongside your video.
• At the very beginning of your video, please state your full name, graduate program, and the title of your presentation. The time it takes to do this will not be counted against the three minutes to present your research.
• You will not be judged on your skills as a videographer, and you do not need to use professional video equipment. As long as the judges can see you and the audio is clear and understandable, that is sufficient. You can record yourself using the Panopto interface in Canvas. You can also record yourself in Zoom. You may ask a friend or colleague for help creating your video, or you can get assistance and borrow equipment from the Vitale Digital Media Lab . You can also follow these tips for recording a presentation in Zoom . Here is one demonstrated on a Mac .

Visual submission :

• Presenters may use a single image or static PowerPoint slide (no Prezi or other presentation formats) to enhance their presentation.
• Students must create their slides themselves – they cannot ask someone else to design the slides. Use of PowerPoint templates is allowed.
• Slides can include visual elements (charts, visualizations, photos, clip art, etc.) created by someone other than the student, as long as the slide credits the original creator.
• Embedded audio, animations, and/or video clips (including but not limited to .gif, .avi, .mp4, .mp3, and .wmv file types) are NOT permitted.
• Powerpoint slides should be named "Title_of_talk.ppt". Please do not include your name or any other identifying information in the name of the PowerPoint file.

Powerpoint slides and videos can be uploaded below. If you are having difficulty, please upload it to Microsoft, Box, or Google Drive and email jomcb at upenn.edu the link to download.

Upload Your Video & Slide

Length and Timing: Presentations should be a maximum of three (3) minutes in length, commencing from the moment the speaker starts the presentation through movement or speech.

• The presentation  begins  at the moment the speaker engages with the audience (if they start with a hand clap, a gesture, or any other such engagement, prior to speaking, the clock begins at that time; if there is no such engagement the clock starts when the student begins speaking).
• If the speaker continues past three minutes, points will be deducted from the final score, beginning with one point at 3:03, and one point every two additional seconds thereafter.
• No props of any kind are permitted, and notes cannot be used during the presentation.

Want some help getting started? In need of Inspiration? Check out the resources below!

3MT® Resources

• Three-Minute Thesis Showcase :  Watch winning 3MT presentations from around the world.
• Three Tips to Help You Prepare a Winning Presentation
• 3MT: The Three Most Common Mistakes
• Sample 3MT Coaching Session

Past Penn 3MT ® Competitions and Workshops

Research Communications Workshops

Additional Resources

• Nature MasterClass: Effective Science Communication (PennKey login required)
• Alda Center for Communicating Science Creating Connections Workbook
• XKCD Simple Writer
• Dejargonizer
• TED Talks :  Short talks on “ideas worth spreading.” 
• PhD Comics Two-Minute Thesis  Competition
• Berkeley Grad Slam Competition

Graduate Student Center University of Pennsylvania 3615 Locust Walk Philadelphia PA 19104 215-746-6868

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• Valuing Graduate Students

Chemistry Ph.D. Student Wins 2023 Three Minute Thesis Competition

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On Nov. 11, 2022, Chemistry Ph.D. student Atreya Dey won first place in the final round of The Graduate School’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition at UT. Dey’s presentation “The Theory of a Hundred Thousand Grandmas” earned him a $1,000 prize and the opportunity to advance to the regional 3MT competition in March.

Human Development, Culture, and Learning Sciences Ph.D. student Ana Guadalupe Vielma was runner up for her work “There’s Beauty in the Struggle: Uplifting First-Gen College Students” and Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. student Vineet Kulkarni won the People’s Choice Award for his presentation “Ultraportable 3D Printing Platform for Fabricating Patient Centric Medication.” Vielma received $750 as runner-up and Kulkarni $500 for the People’s Choice. All of the prizes were generously underwritten by the Graduate Coordinator Network .

3MT was developed by the University of Queensland to celebrate the exciting research conducted by graduate students across the world. The international competition helps students cultivate the skills to communicate advanced academic research concepts to non-specialist audiences. Contestants are faced with the challenge of distilling many years of research into a brief three-minute presentation that may be accompanied by only a single static slide.

Participants used approachable language and easily understandable concepts to explain their research in three minutes or less to a panel of judges. They were then assessed based on the comprehension, content, engagement and communication of their presentation.  This is the first time the 3MT Competition has been held in person at UT since 2019.

Dey is a theoretical biophysicist, but he is comfortable in front of an audience too. He acted in theatrical productions in his home country of India, and this public speaking experience gave him a big advantage in the 3MT Competition. He also spent two weeks writing his script, finding analogies to make his ideas easy to understand and practicing overcoming potential distractions in the mirror.

“Sometimes I would have very loud music like Metallica playing to distract me,” Dey said. “I found that really helped to prepare for situations where I could get distracted by the audience.” Dey found the 3MT competition rewarding in a variety of ways. “Getting involved in the event exposed me to a network of scicomm practitioners. I think it also really boosted my confidence in talking about my research to a non-technical audience. Overall I really appreciated taking part in the event.”

This year’s panel of judges included Dr. Archie Holmes, Jr. , Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for The University of Texas System; Sally Allen , Senior Director of Foundation Relations for Texas Development; and Nick Hundley , Director of Communications for the UT Austin Graduate School.

The upcoming regional 3MT contest will include graduate students from universities across the south, from Texas to Maryland, at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools competition on March 2-4 in Tampa, FL.

Watch the 2023 3MT finals online.

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• Higher contrasts

THESIS COMPETITION

3 MHT THESIS COMPETITION, AN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY COMPLETED THEIR PH.D TO PRESENT THEIR THESIS IN 3 MINUTES AT THE IHC2022 PLENARIES !

1 st Prize (2,500€) offered by Agropolis Fondation, a scientific cooperation foundation dedicated to research, training and innovation at the service of stakeholders in agriculture an sustainable development.

Marta NUNES DA SILVA :  thesis “Kiwifruit bacterial canker : exploring tolerance mechanisms and novel control strategies”

2 nd Prize (2,000€) is offered by SNHF, the French Society of Horticulture, to promote horticulture to act as a link between amateurs and professionals, and to participate in actions to promote the knowledge and protection of plant heritage.

C ristiano SOARES : thesis “Mitigating glyphosate effects on crop plants and soil functions : strategies to minimize its potential toxicity”

3 rd Prize (1,500€) is offered by Agreenium, the French alliance for training and research on agriculture, food, environment and global health

Chiara AMITRANO : thesis  “Characterization of plant water flows in controlled environment – Plant Smart Sensors”.

The Education Committee of IHC2022 is pleased to launch an international competition for PhD theses in Horticulture, in the form of "My thesis in 3 minutes" competition. This new competition, named 3MHT, is conceived as a specific event, designed for this congress. It is distinct from the existing ISHS awards, more directly related to the symposia of the international congresses and often dedicated to young people in the course of their studies. The 3MHT is designed to showcase the work of young scientists who have recently defended an outstanding PhD in the field of horticulture, with a vote by the congress audience. 

They provide for the participation of a maximum of two candidates (female and male) per country, with academic approval by the national institution responsible for Horticulture - ISHS Council member or not - to participate in the competition. The best accredited candidates , after a pre-selection step by an international jury (spring 2022), will compete orally during IHC 2022 . The pre-selected participants will be awarded a free registration to the congress and the three winners according to the audience vote of the IHC 2022 plenaries will be granted by our sponsors.

Here the competition rules :

We count on you for ensuring that this competition is effectively publicized to the national institutions of your choice, which will likely organize this competition at national level. 

Reference persons :

J-L. Regnard ( [email protected] )

R. Kahane ( [email protected] ).   

Graduate students take the stage at the Three Minute Thesis competition

Eleven graduate students will compete for cash prizes and a people’s choice award at UW–Madison’s Three Minute Thesis final competition on February 16.

Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an international research communication competition, which started at the University of Queensland in Australia. In every 3MT competition worldwide, a panel of judges weighs competitors’ skill in audience engagement, communication to non-specialists, and overall comprehension and content of their research presentation.

The student competing on Feb. 16 come from different disciplines across campus, representing areas including STEM programs and design studies. They initially competed with a wider field of participants in October, with the top candidates advancing to this month’s competition.

Master’s student Zack Sieb, one of the finalists, said he is looking forward to the competition.

“It’s not every day you get the opportunity to talk about your work to people outside of your field, so I’m excited for the opportunity to talk about my thesis project to a wide audience,” Sieb said. “Hopefully there’s something helpful from my presentation that people can use in their everyday lives living in Wisconsin.”

Sieb enjoyed participating at the semifinal competition, both for learning about other research happening on campus and because he received feedback on his presentation from the judges. He’ll use that feedback to prepare his talk, “Tick Control by the Pros,” for the final competition.

“I’ve learned that no matter how confident you are in explaining your science, it takes a lot of practice to ensure your message comes out the right way,” he said.

PhD student Kyoungjin Jang-Tucci decided to participate in Three Minute Thesis to work on her public speaking and research communication skills with her talk, “Quiet Injustice in the Workplace: College Interns’ Experiences of Workplace Injustice.” She also enjoyed hearing about other competitor’s research, while also gaining new ideas of how to effectively craft speeches and visual aids.

“I was particularly inspired by [3MT competitor] Rudy Dieudonne’s presentation and the way he used his visual aids to deliver the topic very intuitively. Therefore, I’m planning to improve my slides for the finals so they can communicate the message to the audience more effectively,” Jang-Tucci said.

Members of the campus community and the public are invited to attend the event and vote for their favorite presentation as part of the People’s Choice Award. The top competitors will take home cash prizes from local sponsors. The overall winner will also compete in a regional 3MT with the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools.

The 11 students competing in the UW–Madison 2023-24 3MT finals are:

• Sanchita Chakraborty, “Was Ross’s PIVOT! Technique really right?”
• Ray Czerwinski, “‘One at a Time!’ Chemical Conversations with Single Molecules.”
• Rudy Dieudonne, “Lighting, Noise & Behaviors”
• Yuchen Gu, “Skin cancer detection at fingertips”
• Christine Hustmyer, “Building Bridges: How Bacteria Control Their Behaviors”
• Kyoungjin Jang-Tucci, “Quiet Injustice in the Workplace: College Interns’ Experiences of Workplace Injustice”
• Kristen Kehl-Floberg, “Getting the Signal: Brain fog and disability in Long COVID”
• Katie Ryan, “Microbes vs Worms: Searching Nature for New Antiparasitic Compounds”
• Victoria Salerno, “Do Bees pass down Family Recipes?”
• Zack Sieb, “Tick Control by the Pros”
• Ziyan Wu, “Plastic pollutions in the Great Lakes: macro-problem caused by micro-plastics”

How to attend

The Three Minute Thesis final competition takes place Friday, February 16 from 10 am to noon in the DeLuca Forum at the Discovery Building. Registration for audience members is recommended but not required, and attendance is free.

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The ISGS PhD Thesis Award Prize for 2021 goes to…

July 3, 2022

ISGS PhD Thesis Awardees

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By hun bok jung, maxim i. boyanov, hiromi konishi, yubing sun, bhoopesh mishra, kenneth m. kemner, eric e. roden, and huifang xu.

The ISGS PhD Thesis Award, first launched in 2018, was created to distinguish PhD theses representing outstanding contribution to scientific and/or technological knowledge in the field of sol-gel chemistry and related fields.

The PhD Award Committee for the 2021 competition was composed of Professor Vadim Kessler (Chair) , Professor Maria Zaharescu and Professor Aivaras Kareiva ..

The members of the PhD Award Committee examined the four applications received, which were all of extremely high quality. All the candidates presented very strong summaries, reflecting very advanced and well-performed Thesis works.

On the present edition, the overall ranking obtained by the members of the Committee placed Dr. Emanuel Carlos and Dr. Sofia Soares (equal, written in alphabetic order) top of the list. Dr. Hyunhwan Lee and Dr. María de los Ángeles Ramírez placed second and third, respectively.

• Dr. Emanuel Carlos ’s PhD thesis, entitled “Design and synthesis of low temperature printed metal oxide electronic devices”, was defended at the FCT NOVA, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon (Portugal).
• Dr. Sofia Soares ’s PhD thesis, entitled “Magnetic bio-hybrid nanosorbents for the removal of pharmaceutical pollutants and pesticides from water”, was defended at the University of Aveiro, Aveiro (Portugal).

For the Gold Medals, the PhD Award Committee would like to emphasize that both candidates:

1) Made excellent works that contributed to fundamental insights into sol-gel processes for formation of printable electronics and of bio-based polymer incorporating hybrid materials respectively.

2) Mastered and successfully applied a broad variety of methods for characterization of both produced materials and their functional characteristics.

3) Made considerable input in developing attractive industrial applications for related sol-gel materials.

4) Produced large number of excellent scientific publications and conference presentations disseminating their research.

Thanks to Springer sponsoring, they will receive books in the value of US$500, US$500, US$400 and US$300, respectively.

Moreover, they will be invited to contribute with a paper to the  Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology , the official journal of ISGS.

The Board of Directors of the ISGS and the ISGS PhD Thesis Award Committee wish to warmly congratulate the four awardees.

ISGS is an international, interdisciplinary, not-for-profit organization whose primary purpose and objective is the advancement of sol-gel science and technology. ISGS aims are both to represent the particular needs and aspirations of the international sol-gel community and to support this sol-gel community.

Since the inception of the highly successful Sol-Gel Workshop series in Padova during 1981, sol-gel science and technology has evolved from its origins within traditional materials science (mainly glass and ceramics) to become an extraordinarily multidisciplinary area of research, spanning chemistry, physics, biology, materials science and nanotechnology.

ISGS, grouping of scientists who are interested in sol-gel science and technology at the begining, evolved over time in a professional, fully functional, scientific society.

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Prizes for Best PhD Thesis 2023

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce the following prizes for outstanding work by graduate students. These awards, announced each spring, recognize doctoral research and carry a $1,000 prize. The awards were established in Academic Year 2021-22 and are funded by endowments made possible through the philanthropic support of faculty, friends, and alumni.

George H. Cady Prize for Best Thesis in Inorganic Chemistry

Ben Mitchell earned his Ph.D. in 2023 for his work with Assistant Professor Alexandra Velian on “Leveraging Molecular Nanoclusters for Atomistic Insights Into Reactive Interfaces.” He is now a Science, Technology, and Policy Fellow of the Building Technologies Office in the Department of Energy. As a fellow, Ben works on advancing a range of innovative technologies and solutions to decarbonize commercial building infrastructure. Ben is based in Washington, DC.

Gary and Sue Christian Prize for Best Thesis in Analytical Chemistry

Caitlin Cain will earn her Ph.D. in 2024 for her work with Professor Robert Synovec on “Advances in the Chemometric Analysis of Multiway Chromatographic Data to Improve Discovery and Identification.” In summer 2024, she will begin a postdoctoral research position with Professor Robert Kennedy at the University of Michigan, where she will probe our understanding of the brain metabolome with use of capillary liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and chemometric data analysis methods.

B. Seymore Rabinovitch Prize for Best Thesis in Physical Chemistry

Kristina Herman will earn her Ph.D. in 2024 for her work with Affiliate Professor Sotiris Xantheas titled “Extension of the Many-Body Expansion (MBE) to Periodic Systems: Developing Tools to Analyze and Improve Models of Intermolecular Interactions.” Kristina has accepted a position as a postdoctoral scholar with Prof. Greg Voth's group at the University of Chicago where she will develop multiscale computational models of the HIV life cycle.

Congratulations, Ben, Caitlin, and Kristina!

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Samantha O'Sullivan (Physics / African American Studies)

Gullah Physics: Challenging English Language Hegemony in Science

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Sahar Mariam Mohammadzadeh (Government)

The Impact of Twitter on the Supreme Court

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Stephanie Alderete (Psychology)

Preschoolers' Ability to Think about Alternative Possibilities

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Alex Grayson (Molecular & Cellular Biology)

Comparing Fox and Human Brain Connectivity Patterns

Javin Pombra (Computer Science)

Unraveling the Black Box: Explainability for Artificial Intelligence in the Twenty-First Century

Zelin Liu (Classics / History)

Using the Past to Define Group Identity

Jerrica Li (Comparative Literature)

Diaspora: A Genre for This New Planetary Reality

Jahnavi Rao (Government)

The Spillover Potential of a Nudge

Daiana Lilo (Government / Data Science)

A Great Personality: How Different Characteristics Can Predict Supreme Court Decisions

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You can dance if you want to —

Meet the winners of the 2024 dance your phd contest, "one of the main messages i wanted to convey... is that differences lead to diversity.".

Jennifer Ouellette - Feb 29, 2024 5:31 pm UTC

We've been following the annual Dance Your PhD contest for several years now, delighting in the many creative approaches researchers have devised to adapt their doctoral theses into movement—from "nano-sponge" materials and superconductivity to the physics of atmospheric molecular clusters and the science of COVID-19. This year's winner is Weliton Menário Costa of the Australian National University for his thesis "Personality, Social Environment, and Maternal-level Effects: Insights from a Wild Kangaroo Population." His video entry, "Kangaroo Time," is having a bit of a viral moment, charming viewers with its catchy beat and colorful, quirky mix of dance styles and personalities—both human and kangaroo.

As we reported previously , the Dance Your PhD contest was established in 2008 by science journalist John Bohannon. It was previously sponsored by Science magazine and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and is now sponsored by the AI company Primer, where Bohannon is the director of science. Bohannon told Slate in 2011 that he came up with the idea while trying to figure out how to get a group of stressed-out PhD students in the middle of defending their theses to let off a little steam. So he put together a dance party at Austria's  Institute of Molecular Biotechnology , including a contest for whichever candidate could best explain their thesis topics with interpretive dance.

The contest was such a hit that Bohannon started getting emails asking when the next would be—and Dance Your PhD has continued ever since. It's now in its 16th year. There are four broad categories: physics, chemistry, biology, and social science, with a fairly liberal interpretation of what topics fall under each. All category winners receive $750, while Costa, as the overall champion, will receive an additional $2,000.

Further Reading

A native of Brazil, Costa earned a PhD in ecology from ANU in 2021 after spending several years studying eastern gray kangaroos, using a remote-controlled car to determine their distinct personalities. For example, some were bold and would approach the car out of curiosity; others were shyer and would avoid the car. Among his chief findings: Kangaroos like to socialize in groups but prefer smaller social circles. Kangaroo personalities emerge early, just like in humans, with mothers, offspring, and siblings often having similar personalities. But their personalities are also somewhat flexible; kangaroos will adjust their behavior based on social cues from the kangaroos around them.

When it came time to translate his research into movement, Costa decided to represent the rich diversity of kangaroo behavior with an equally diverse collection of dancers and dance styles: classical ballet, Brazilian funk, and urban styles, to name a few. Everyone was free to improvise their moves, with the only instruction being to mingle with others and slowly unify as a group. Costa joined in, adapting his dance style throughout to match other dancers, thus mimicking how kangaroos adapt their personalities to fit into a group. There's even a behind-the-scenes video, which you can watch here .

"There was a sense of surprise and delight in it," visual artist Alexa Meade, one of the content judges, told Science about why they selected Costa's entry. "You could tell they were having fun through the process, that it wasn't this labored, stressful experience."

Costa is the first ANU researcher to win the contest and only the fourth Australian. "I think it not only shows the incredible might of the research conducted here in Australia but also how creative we are as a nation. Even us scientists," Costa said of his win. "One of the main messages I wanted to convey through this piece of work is that differences lead to diversity, and this is evident throughout the entire video. It's evident with the different dancers that herald from various cultures and backgrounds." Costa is pursuing music as "Dr. WELI," and "Kangaroo Time" is one of four songs on his debut EP, Yours Academically, Dr. WELI . But he'll still be working at ANU as a visiting fellow until early 2025.

Check out the winners of the chemistry, physics, and biology categories on the next page.

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How to tackle the PhD dissertation

Finding time to write can be a challenge for graduate students who often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. Mabel Ho provides some tips to make the process less daunting

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Is it time to turn off turnitin, use ai to get your students thinking critically, taming anxiety around public speaking, emotions and learning: what role do emotions play in how and why students learn.

Writing helps you share your work with the wider community. Your scholarship is important and you are making a valuable contribution to the field. While it might be intimidating to face a blank screen, remember, your first draft is not your final draft! The difficult part is getting something on the page to begin with. 

As the adage goes, a good dissertation is a done dissertation, and the goal is for you to find balance in your writing and establish the steps you can take to make the process smoother. Here are some practical strategies for tackling the PhD dissertation.

Write daily

This is a time to have honest conversations with yourself about your writing and work habits. Do you tackle the most challenging work in the morning? Or do you usually start with emails? Knowing your work routine will help you set parameters for the writing process, which includes various elements, from brainstorming ideas to setting outlines and editing. Once you are aware of your energy and focus levels, you’ll be ready to dedicate those times to writing.

While it might be tempting to block a substantial chunk of time to write and assume anything shorter is not useful, that is not the case. Writing daily, whether it’s a paragraph or several pages, keeps you in conversation with your writing practice. If you schedule two hours to write, remember to take a break during that time and reset. You can try:

• The Pomodoro Technique: a time management technique that breaks down your work into intervals
• Taking breaks: go outside for a walk or have a snack so you can come back to your writing rejuvenated
• Focus apps: it is easy to get distracted by devices and lose direction. Here are some app suggestions: Focus Bear (no free version); Forest (free version available); Cold Turkey website blocker (free version available) and Serene (no free version). 

This is a valuable opportunity to hone your time management and task prioritisation skills. Find out what works for you and put systems in place to support your practice. 

• Resources on academic writing for higher education professionals
• Stretch your work further by ‘triple writing’
• What is your academic writing temperament?

Create a community

While writing can be an isolating endeavour, there are ways to start forming a community (in-person or virtual) to help you set goals and stay accountable. There might be someone in your cohort who is also at the writing stage with whom you can set up a weekly check-in. Alternatively, explore your university’s resources and centres because there may be units and departments on campus that offer helpful opportunities, such as a writing week or retreat. Taking advantage of these opportunities helps combat isolation, foster accountability and grow networks. They can even lead to collaborations further down the line.

• Check in with your advisers and mentors. Reach out to your networks to find out about other people’s writing processes and additional resources.
• Don’t be afraid to share your work. Writing requires constant revisions and edits and finding people who you trust with feedback will help you grow as a writer. Plus, you can also read their work and help them with their editing process.
• Your community does not have to be just about writing!  If you enjoy going on hikes or trying new coffee shops, make that part of your weekly habit.  Sharing your work in different environments will help clarify your thoughts and ideas.

Address the why

The PhD dissertation writing process is often lengthy and it is sometimes easy to forget why you started. In these moments, it can be helpful to think back to what got you excited about your research and scholarship in the first place. Remember it is not just the work but also the people who propelled you forward. One idea is to start writing your “acknowledgements” section. Here are questions to get you started:

• Do you want to dedicate your work to someone? 
• What ideas sparked your interest in this journey? 
• Who cheered you on? 

This practice can help build momentum, as well as serve as a good reminder to carve out time to spend with your community. 

You got this!

Writing is a process. Give yourself grace, as you might not feel motivated all the time. Be consistent in your approach and reward yourself along the way. There is no single strategy when it comes to writing or maintaining motivation, so experiment and find out what works for you. 

Suggested readings

• Thriving as a Graduate Writer by Rachel Cayley (2023)
• Destination Dissertation by Sonja K. Foss and William Waters (2015)
• The PhD Writing Handbook by Desmond Thomas (2016).

Mabel Ho is director of professional development and student engagement at Dalhousie University.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,  sign up for the Campus newsletter .

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Visualise Your Thesis competition 2024

Graduate researchers, the Visualise Your Thesis  competition is back at UQ in 2024 and proudly sponsored by the UQ Union Association of Postgraduate Students .

Get involved to showcase your research and develop skills in visual storytelling and communicating complex ideas to a general audience. You could also win a share of A$1500 in prize money!

About the competition

The competition is open to currently enrolled graduate researchers (students enrolled in Master of Philosophy, Masters by Research, PhD, or Professional Doctorate programs) at any stage of their candidature who are active and attending .

Entrants must create an eye-catching, 60-second audio-visual representation of their research project and its potential benefits to a non-specialist audience.  

Entries are judged on their visual impact and how well the content presents the research. Presenting in a digital format allows for different levels of creativity, multi-media, interactivity and interpretation, and is suitable for all disciplines.

Winners and prize money

The competition winners will be awarded at the UQ  Visualise Your Thesis  Awards event in August 2024 and receive prize money of:

• 2024 winner: A$1000
• Viewer's Choice winner:  $500

The winner of the UQ competition will automatically be entered into the international competition by 2 September 2024.

How to enter

Express your interest from 13 may.

Submit an expression of interest from 13 May until 7 June 2024 by email to our Visualise Your Thesis team at  [email protected] . We will email eligible entrants with details about how to prepare and submit your entry to the competition.

Competition submissions will be accepted from 13 May until 11:59pm on 22 July 2024.

Key competition dates for 2024

• Expressions of interest: open from 13 May until 7 June
• Competition entries: open from 13 May and close on 22 July
• Announcement of winner:   August (date to be announced) 
• Winning entry into international competition:  2 September

How to prepare

Feeling inspired? Here are a few things you can do to prepare to enter the competition. 

View past entries

Watch entries in the 2023 international competition:

• Visualise Your Thesis 2023 International  
• Watch the UQ 2023 Visualise Your Thesis award winner presentation by Tara Crandon:  "Weathering the Storm”: Understanding Climate Anxiety and Coping in Young People (Vimeo, 1m14s) . 

Brush up on your skills

We offer training sessions to help you develop your design or visual story-telling skills and refresh your copyright knowledge. We run sessions on PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator, Premiere Pro, InDesign, Photoshop and more.

UQ students also have access to LinkedIn Learning courses . Take advantage of your access to build your software and editing skills.

Contact us if you have questions

Email your competition questions to our Visualise Your Thesis team at  [email protected] .

About Visualise Your Thesis

The Visualise Your Thesis competition was developed by the University of Melbourne. The competition has offered local and international competition rounds since 2019 and has wide international reach. 

UQ first participated in the competition in 2022.

Read more about the Visualise Your Thesis competition .

About the competition sponsor

The UQ Union Association of Postgraduate Students (UQUAPS) encourages postgraduate student community and wellbeing at UQ.  

• To discover their Social, Mental Health and Wellbeing, and Academic programs
• For postgraduate student events
• To buy fun merchandise including hoodies, t-shirts, plushies, and socks.

Thank you to APS for their generous support of the UQ Visualise Your Thesis competition in 2024!  

Related news

• [23 Aug 2023] Winners of the UQ Visualise Your Thesis Competition 2023
• [21 Oct 2022]  International winner, Visualise Your Thesis Competition 2022
• [25 Aug 2022]  Winners of the UQ Visualise Your Thesis competition for 2022
• Building work at Biological Sciences Library, April–August 2...
• Announcing the 2024 Fryer Fellow

USask 3MT®

Competition.

Preliminary Rounds Begin March 2025

• Prelim Submission How-To
• Prelim Entry Form

2024 Competition Results

3mt® western regional competition.

Hosted by: UBC Okanagan  Wednesday, May 8th at 2 PM (PDT) 

We will find out if it's just a man cold , or if sex hormones influence highly pathogenic coronavirus disease severity.

Tune in to the live stream at 3 PM SK time when  Marin Habbick represents USask at the Western Regionals. 

From elucidating the problem statement to outlining methodology and results, preliminary competitors must captivate a panel of four judges while showcasing the innovation and relevance of their work. This process not only hones communication skills but also fosters an appreciation for the essence of concise and impactful storytelling in academia, preparing scholars for broader dissemination of their research beyond the confines of their field.

3MT® Finals | April 11th 

First place.

Second Place

Third Place

People's Choice

3MT® 2024 Finalists

• Visit the YouTube Playlist

The first 3MT® took place in 2008 at the University of Queensland, Australia, and has since grown to become an international academic competition. Since 2011 the popularity of the competition has increased and 3MT competitions are now held in over 200 universities across more than 18 countries worldwide.

For nearly ten years, the Graduate Student Association, sponsored in part by the College of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies, hosted USask’s 3MT® competition every spring. The 3MT® communication competition challenges students to translate their research and its impact to an audience of non-specialists in just 3 minutes using only one static slide. This competition helps graduate students develop essential communication skills which are transferable for many purposes:

• Funding proposals
• Transitioning into employment
• Generating interest in, awareness of and support for academic research
• Communicating with confidence and clarity to diverse audiences

The College of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies assumed responsibility (in 2013) for USask’s 3MT allowing the GSA to focus on its advocacy of its members in pursuit of a safe, supportive, respectful, accessible, and inclusive community that fosters the multi-faceted roles played by graduate students at the University of Saskatchewan. Visit #GSA for more information.

80,000 

That’s how many words are in a typical PhD thesis. Years of gruelling research, sleepless nights, and history-making breakthroughs. Presenting something of this scale would take approximately nine hours. 3MT competitors do it in 3 minutes.

• USask Finals 2023
• 3MT Westerns Results (2023)

Eligibility

• All USask Master's and PhD thesis-based graduate students are eligible to participate.
• A student whose thesis is under submission on the date of their first competition is still eligible to compete.
• Presenters must register for the event and be able to present in person.
• One single static PowerPoint slide is permitted.
• No slide transitions, animations or ‘movement’ of any description are permitted.
• Your slide is to be presented from the beginning of your oration.
• No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted.

Suggestions,

• Less is more:   text and complicated graphics can distract your audience – you don’t want them to read your slide instead of listening to your talk.
• Personal touches:   personal touches can allow your audience to understand the impact of your research.
• Creativity drives interest:   do not rely on your slide to convey your message – it should simply complement your oration.
• Work your message:   think about how your slide might be able to assist with the format and delivery of your presentation – is there a metaphor that helps explain your research?
• An engaging visual presentation can make or break any oration, so make sure your slide is  legible, clear and concise.

How to's for virtual entries

Submitting a recording for the virtual 3MT competition? Follow these steps:

1. Submit a recording of you speaking (no slide) | one file

Filmed on the horizontal Filmed on a plain background Filmed from a static position Filmed from one camera angle MP4 video format is preferred. Instructions on how to submit your video file will be sent to you  after you complete the registration form.

Send only 1 static slide using 16:9 .pptx format then convert that to a .jpeg. Do not include a title slide Include this file with your registration form

Our team puts the two files together (the recording and the slide) once submitted to ensure a standardized format for every entry. 

The judging panel for the virtual preliminaries is selected from campus faculty/staff and students who have a communications background and/or previous winners of research poster competitions. They will be selecting up to 15 of the highest calibre talks to move forward to the finals on April 11th.

Of the 15 presenters selected each will receive a certificate of participation and a brief feedback summary.

How to's for the finals

[info coming soon]

Each recipient will receive a certificate of participation and a swag bag.

• Presenters are allowed a single PowerPoint slide; no slide transitions, no animations or movement' of any kind, the slide is presented from the beginning and for the duration of the presentation.
• No additional electronic media (ex: sound or video files) are permitted.
• No additional props (ex: costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum; presentations running over 3 minutes will be disqualified.
• Presentations are limited to spoken word (ex: no poems, raps, or songs).
• Presentations are to commence from the stage (ex: no dramatic entrances).
• Presentations are considered to have commenced when the presenter starts their presentation through movement or speech.
• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.

Judging criteria

The competitors will be judged based on two criteria:

Prizes awarded at the finals

• First place - $1,500
• Second place - $750
• Third place - $500
• People's Choice - $250

Consent forms

All competitors must complete these forms and include them with their registration details.

• Photo release form
• Personal information release form
• Simon Clews   (University of Melbourne) has prepared a helpful guide on  preparing for the Three Minute Thesis Competition
• Jackie Amsden   (Simon Fraser University) discusses how narrative frameworks can help grad students   effectively tell their research story
• Matt Abrahams   (Stanford University) provides   Tips and Techniques for More Confident and Compelling Presentations
• Matt Abrahams   (Stanford University) podcast   Think Fast, Talk Smart : advice for impromptu speaking
• Anett Grant   (Executive Speaking) addresses  Six Pieces of Bad Speaking Advice That Just Won’t Die
• Inger Mewburn   (RMIT University) developed   How to Talk About Your Thesis in 3 Minutes
• Henry Miller   (UT Health San Antonio) shares   11 Tips For The 3 Minute Thesis Competition
• At the high point, the 3MT Finals event page (2023) had 2.3K views and an event count (scrolls) on the page of 7.2K.
• The People’s Choice voting had over 2000 active hits with more than 919 actual votes placed from unique IP addresses.
• The live stream captured ~ 508 active watchers from across the globe. The heatmap below is a snapshot of where folks tuned in from.

What could make this page better?

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2024 ThesisIn3 Competition for Students

Call for proposals: asis&t europe thesisin3 competition for students ist conference july 8-10, 2024 submission deadline: 12th june 2024 @ 18:00 cet.

As part of the Information Science Trends (IST) Living online and offline, in darkness and light conference, the European Student Chapter (ESC) of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) in collaboration with iSchools are seeking student contributions to an online ThesisIn3 event where students are invited to present their research topics for theses and dissertations in three minutes.

This event is intended to encourage wider student participation in the Information Science field in a fun and inclusive space, allowing students to develop both their confidence and their presentation skills, and to offer their own insights and gain constructive feedback. The event will be run as a video entry competition, students are encouraged to attend both as presenters and as observers and will be able to join virtually via Zoom to ensure as many students as want to, can attend. You can register for the ThesisIn3 competition here . Students are encouraged to present their research topics for theses and dissertations within a concise three-minute timeframe. Submissions, accepted in video format, will be eligible for multiple prizes, prizes including Best Visuals and Best Explanation of Topic, etc. Winners will be notified prior to the conference and invited to attend the full IST conference. Their winning video presentations will be showcased during the event, with the ESC announcing the winners. The date for the presentation of the winning entries will take place between July 9th and 10th and will be confirmed later.

Submission requirements:

Students are defined as BA/BSc, MA/MSc, or PhD students within Information Science (including related areas such as Library Science, Archival Science, Data Science, Information Management, Digital Humanities and Human Computer Interaction).

Please submit a short description (max. 5 sentences) of the topic of your (3 minute) presentation and video entry via Google Form here .

Submission Deadline:

Submissions to participate will be accepted until 18:00 CET on 12th June 2024 and we will be in touch with everyone who has submitted their proposal shortly thereafter regarding the outcome.

For more information:

The organisers are happy to answer any questions you might have regarding this student-run event.

• Nana Musa, [email protected] , (EU Student Chapter Chair)
• Juan Becerril del Toro, [email protected] , (Communication Officer)
• Faye Carrie, [email protected] (EU Student Chapter past-chair)
• Richmond Sarpong, [email protected] (EU Student Chapter Chair Elect)
• Romain Herault, [email protected] , (iSchools Doctoral Seminars Chair)

For any queries you might have on the Information Science Trends (IST) Information Science Living online and offline, in darkness and light conference, you can contact any of the co-chairs below.

• Dr Yuhua Wang, [email protected] , (EU Chapter chair)
• Dr Muhammet Damar, [email protected] , (EU Chapter chair-elect)
• Dr Sophie Rutter, [email protected] , (EU Chapter past-chair)
• Nana Musa, [email protected] , (EU Student chapter Chair)
• Richmond Sarpong, [email protected] , (EU Student chapter Chair-elect)

Advertisement for the Post of Project Assistant in RESCUE Project, INYAS

• Advertisement for the Engagement of Project Assistant in SciPADReC project, INYAS
• PRAYOJAN 2024
• INYAS Flagship Program – PRAYOJAN 2024
• National Science Day Celebration 2024 at Gopali Indranarayan Memorial High School, Kharagpur

Indian National Young Academy of Science

Saransh – Thesis Competition for PhD students (2023)

Announcement: INYAS Saransh announcement with extended deadline

INYAS is pleased to announce the 3 rd edition of Saransh – Thesis Competition for PhD students. Saransh is an opportunity for the new generation of budding Indian scientists to communicate their research to the wider population beyond the scientific community.

The need for scientific innovations arises from challenges faced by the society at large. However, it is often seen that dissipation of such knowledge to the population is laced with challenges like dearth of appropriate platforms, lack of proper connect with audience and excessive use of scientific jargon. “Saransh” by Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS), is an attempt to bridge the gap between the budding scientists and the community at large. It aims to provide a platform to PhD scholars across the country to present their work to a wider audience who have little or no knowledge in their area of research.

Eligibility:

• The competition is open to PhD students registered in any State/ Central Institution or University (government or private) in India only.
• The student entering the competition must have completed at least 2 years of doctoral research and must not have defended his/ her thesis yet.
• There is no entry fee.
• Letter of endorsement for participation by PhD Guide/Supervisor/Head (pdf file) on official letterhead is required.

Registration and entry to the competition

• Registration and entry to the competition will be done through an online application form.

Preliminary Round:

• The students will submit their entries as video presentation uploaded on YouTube ( youtube.com ). The video must include the slides with an embedded voice/video. Incorrect or inaccessible youtube links will lead to disqualification.
• The students will be allowed to present a maximum of three slides without any animations (any additional slides will lead to disqualification) .
• Students can present either in English or Hindi.
• Students will have to explain their thesis work to an audience that may or may-not have any knowledge about their research area.
• The students should communicate their work in such a way that people can understand the real world implications of the work.
• Analogies may help in conveying their message.
• Time limit: 3 minutes (exceeding the time-limit even by a second will straight lead to disqualification without any exception).

Final Round (Live Online Competition through Video Conference)

• The YouTube entries from Preliminary Round will be evaluated and screened by a jury appointed by INYAS.
• Around top ten entries in each category will be selected for the Final round of the competition.
• Results will be posted on INYAS website. The selected participants will also be individually informed.
• The final round will be conducted as an online live competition through video conference.
• The participants selected for the final round can edit/ modify/ change their presentation slides that were used for the first round or they may use the same slides.
• The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session by the jury members.
• The students will be allowed to present a maximum of three slides without any animations (any additional slides will lead to disqualification).
• Time limit for presentation: 3 minutes (exceeding the time-limit even by a second will straight lead to disqualification without any exception). Q&A time will be additional.

General guidelines:

• The competition will be conducted by INYAS.
• All submissions should be available as editable files and should be available for later use on request.
• The actual presentations on YouTube should have the presentation with speaker’s video (and audio) on one corner. An example on how to do this may be seen at: https://www.panopto.com/blog/the-best-way-to-record-a-powerpoint-presentation/ . Please note that this link has been provided just as an example. INYAS does not endorse this in any way. Participants are advised to choose any method of their choice. Similar format will be required for the final round that will be conducted on a live online platform.
• The participant should agree to allow the usage of entry by INYAS.
• An individual can submit only one entry .
• Category A: Physical/ Mathematical Sciences
• Category B: Chemical Sciences
• Category C: Life Sciences
• Category D: Engineering Sciences
• Results will be posted on INYAS website. The winners will also be informed individually.
• In case of any discrepancy or ambiguity, judgment of the jury will be final.

Judging Criteria: Students will be evaluated on the basis of originality of the work presented, structuring of the presentation, presentation style and ease of understanding for non-experts.

Important Dates:

• Social media/website/email announcement and opening of submissions: 22 nd of September (Friday), 2023
• Last date for submission of entries: 8 th of October (Sunday), 2023 22 nd of October (Sunday), 2023
• Results of Preliminary Round will be announced by 15 th of November (Wednesday), 2023 (tentative) 22 nd of November (Wednesday), 2023 (tentative) , End of November, early December, 2023
• Final Round (tentative): November/ December 2023 (tentative)
• Award declaration & ceremony: December, 2023 (tentative)

Cash Prize + Certificate

Click here to register:

https://tinyurl.com/saransh-2023

For enquiries: [email protected] or [email protected]

Event Sponsor: 

Link to INYAS Saransh 2022 Award Winners’ Videos:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTY5i4IsblQ9hyLWM4Lrq9xxQVp5PaGp2&si=bvJiC9jhaFkt1EjU

Link to INYAS Saransh 2021 Award Winners’ Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTY5i4IsblQ_5Eho8sw3bhyz951sv19LV

(Please note that some rules were changed in 2022 – e.g. no animations allowed)

• ← INYAS (India), SAYAS (South Africa), and NAYAN (Nepal) consortium under InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) to empower science players in diplomacy
• Nurturing Curiosity and Community Service: My INSA Remote Area Lecture in the Southern part of West Bengal – Lakshmikantapur →

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