Three Minute Thesis – also known as the 3MT® – is a university-wide competition for graduate students. Competitors must present their research and its wider impact in 3 minutes or less to a panel of non-specialist judges.
The challenge? Present complex research in an engaging, accessible, and compelling way, using only one static slide.
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a university-wide competition for graduate students in which participants present their research and its wider impact in 3 minutes or less to a panel of non-specialist judges. The challenge is to present complex research in an engaging, accessible, and compelling way, using only one static slide.
The 3MT® competition provides graduate students with an opportunity to refine skills that can be transferred after graduation to diverse career paths. Distilling research into a clear form, without over-simplifying, and highlighting the wider implications of the research are important skills to carry into post-graduate employment and public service.
The competition also enables students to showcase their research to a wider multidisciplinary audience, within the university, and to the broader public. The competition is open to the public, and is advertised within the community. This is a unique opportunity to communicate the innovative and significant research undertaken by graduate students.
The main focus of McMaster’s 3MT® – March 13 – 14, 2019 – is oriented around student development and learning how to effectively communicate complex research in just three short minutes. This unique opportunity will allow students to expand their range of communication skills in a dynamic and challenging way.
The top eligible presenter at McMaster will attend the Ontario 3MT® competition hosted at McMaster University in April 2019. Most Ontario universities are expected to participate in the provincial competition.
The 3MT® competition initially was developed by the University of Queensland in 2008, with competitions by other Australian and New Zealand universities following, culminating in the first Trans-Tasman competition held in 2010. 3MT® also has spread internationally and is now run in more than 60 countries worldwide. UBC ran the first Canadian competition in 2011; Queen’s and Western held competitions in 2012. In 2013, 16 Ontario Universities sent representatives to the inaugural Ontario 3MT® Competition at Queen’s.
Learn about the Three Minute Thesis Competition – who can compete, the rules, judging, and more.
Online and downloadable resources to help you design – and deliver – your Three Minute Thesis.
Making the Most of Your 3 Minutes by Simon Clews, director of the Writing Centre, University of Melbourne.
Communicating Your Research in Lay Language by Christian A Linte, in the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Magazine May/June 2009.
What graduate students gain by participating in the 3MT, a video playlist of past McMaster competitors talking about the benefits of their 3MT experiences.
National 3MT Competitions
A list of adjudicators for the preliminary heats and Final Competition will be available soon.
Check out the past competition Finals on YouTube.
McMaster hosted the 2019 Ontario 3MT.