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3 Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic competition that showcases UNSW’s innovative PhD candidates, who have just 3 minutes to explain their world-changing research and why it is important.

You are invited to join us on Tuesday, 27 August at Leighton Hall and hear this year’s UNSW PhD Candidate finalists pitch their world-changing ideas.

Event photographer: Isabella Moore

2023 UNSW 3MT Highlights

If you learn how to tell the story of what you’re doing in a convincing way, you can affect real change.

Professor Christy Newman, Deputy Dean of Research, Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture

There’s incredible minds, and incredible cleverness that we’re unleashing on the world at the moment.

Ms Emily Chang, Founder Stoke and Co-Founder Cruxes Innovation

Watch all 3MT talks here

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Three Minute Thesis (3MT®)

Time is precious and so is our research.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an international competition celebrating the remarkable research undertaken by PhD candidates.

This competition offers a unique opportunity to nurture their research communication skills, empowering candidates to effectively articulate their research to a diverse audience beyond their field of expertise.

The 2024 UniSA 3MT Grand Final, presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies has been scheduled for:

Tuesday 17 September 2024, 6pm Allan Scott Auditorium, UniSA City West Campus

Get your ticket now for September 6.

Get Tickets

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia.

Watch the 2023 UniSA 3MT grand final event

UniSA 3 Minute Thesis Finalists for 2023

Sindhrani Dars UniSA: Allied Health and Human Performance  “Step it up – how people use podiatry services after chemotherapy”

Hayley Caldwell UniSA: Justice and Society “Recreating the sleeping brain during wake: A comparison of memory mechanisms used to learn”

Rachel Lever UniSA: Education Futures “Harmful sexual behaviours displayed by children: Police responses and diversions”

Daniel Johnstone UniSA: Clinical and Health Sciences “Cancer stories in education”

Elita Nuraeny UniSA: Creative “Architecture and culture: A study of Betawi spatial qualities in modern Jakarta”

Rupinder Kaur UniSA: STEM “Peptides for a greener future: Boosting mining’s sustainability”

Kathryn Anderson UniSA: Business “Does place matter for entrepreneurship and innovation?”

Hear from past participants

Participating in 3MT was an invaluable experience. It helped hone my communication skills and allowed me to connect with other participants in a collaborative environment. Even though we were competing, there was a sense of camaraderie and mutual support that made it feel like we were all in it together. One valuable aspect is learning to convey complex ideas in a concise and accessible manner. Another is the exposure which has helped raise my profile and could lead to new collaboration and funding opportunities. I would highly recommend 3MT to anyone looking to improve their communication skills and gain visibility for their research. Maria Vieira UniSA – STEM, 2022 UniSA 3MT Competition Finalist

Maria Vieira UniSA – STEM, 2022 UniSA 3MT Competition Finalist

Participating in UniSA's 3MT is one of the biggest highlights of my PhD journey. It was a great experience to be able to efficiently share my research with people outside of my field. 3MT has also helped boost my confidence, particularly in sharing and presenting my research. And I got to meet a wonderful group of fellow 3MTers! Overall, I really enjoyed my 3MT experience - with two big takeaways in my research journey being sharing and listening. Billy Setiawan UniSA – Justice and Society, 2022 UniSA 3MT Competition Finalist

Billy Setiawan UniSA – Justice and Society, 2022 UniSA 3MT Competition Finalist

The 3MT has been a major highlight of my PhD studies - and not just because I won the $3000 prize! It was fantastic to meet other students and hear about their inspirational projects. Getting honest feedback from other students allowed me to clearly articulate what my project is about and why I think other people should care about it too. The competition is great for pushing you out of your comfort zone for public speaking and proving to yourself that you can do it. Finally, I'm just back from a research field trip to New York funded by my winnings. What an amazing opportunity!  Lainie Anderson UniSA – Creative, Winner of the 2022 UniSA 3MT Competition

Lainie Anderson UniSA – Creative, Winner of the 2022 UniSA 3MT Competition

Participating in the 3MT competition was an amazing experience for me during my PhD journey. It was difficult to condense the complex concepts of my 3 years of research into a straight-to-the-point presentation within 3 minutes. But it helped me to gain more confidence in public speaking and gave me a chance to realise the big-picture impact of my work. I also had the opportunity to interact with other PhD students from different disciplines and learn about their exciting projects. I really enjoyed the whole process and I think it’s worth a try! Giang Thuy Lam UniSA – Clinical and Health Sciences, 2022 UniSA 3MT Competition Finalist

Giang Thuy Lam UniSA – Clinical and Health Sciences, 2022 UniSA 3MT Competition Finalist

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Three Minute Thesis

Meet the 2021 3mt competition finalists.

They say that, on average, it would take nine hours to present an 80,000-word thesis to an audience. Our competitors have just three minutes.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final is a competition held annually for Higher Degree Research candidates across the University. In just three minutes, using only a static slide, participants present their research – what they’re doing, how they’re doing it and why.

This year our 17 finalists, representing a broad range of disciplines across each School of the university, have delivered their presentations virtually.

The Three Minute Thesis Final was held on Wednesday 25 August, 2021. The judging panel were hugely impressed by the quality of all the presentations and their deliberations were long and painstaking! In the end, Zarinah Mohamed Amin was awarded 1st place for her presentation An electrochemical Breathalyser for Lung Cancer . Zarinah will represent the University at the Asia-Pacific finals on 20 October 2021 and collects $5,000 towards her research expenses.

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists in this year’s competition!

Meet our 2021 finalists

Awards Ceremony

View the awards presentation here

Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.

Are you visiting our site from South Asia ? Head to our dedicated page with all the information you need to study at the University of Newcastle. Close

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3 Minute Thesis winners

The public speaking competition cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills, and develops their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

The event started in Australia in 2008, and is now run in more than 85 countries across the world, with the tagline of ‘An 80,000 word PhD thesis would take 9 hours to present. Your time limit... 3 minutes.’

The Faculty of Science judges had a tough time selecting the winners due to the high calibre of all the presentations. In the end, they chose one winner, one second place and two equal third place winners. The top two Faculty of Science contestants will compete in the University of Sydney Three Minute Thesis competition on 18 August.

The Faculty of Science winners are:

First place: Jordan Martenstyn , from the School of Psychology, who spoke about ‘When bulking up becomes a problem’.

Second place: Alice Shirley , from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, who spoke about ‘Hot Cows, Cool Solutions’.

Third place (equal): Eloise Spanner , from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, who spoke about ‘What Are the Odds: Predicting the Fertility Game’.

Third place (equal): Mezzalina Vankan , from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, who spoke about ‘Cutting through Cancer with Precision’.

Faculty of Science Three Minute Thesis winners (left to right): Eloise Spanner (=3rd place), Jordan Martenstyn (1st place), Alice Shirley (2nd place), and Mezzalina Vankan (=3rd place). 

The other Faculty of Science PhD students who presented at the faculty Three Minute Thesis competition are:

• Teleri Clark, from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, who spoke about ‘Speed Dating with CRISPR’
• Jordan Oh, from the School of Psychology, who spoke about ‘Statistical Reasoning: An Intuitive Skill in a Messy World’
• Josephine Massingham, from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, who spoke about ‘How many severed legs does it take to write a thesis?’
• Faysal Mehedi Hasan, from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, who spoke about ‘Grazing management decision: Mapping Australia's cattle feed base using liveweight gain’
• Tian Du, from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, who spoke about ‘Snakes on a (96-well) Plate’
• Olivia McRae, from the School of Chemistry, who spoke about ‘Science on stage: communicating science with improv theatre’
• Laura Haidar, from the School of Physics, who spoke about ‘Big Little Medicine: from Stardust to Scripts’
• Gargi Tyagi, from the School of Physics, who spoke about ‘Building the Quantum Internet: Integrating microwaves and light’

The twelve Faculty of Science PhD students who spoke at the faculty Three Minute Thesis competition, with Professor Kate Jolliffe (red top), the Associate Dean of Research Education.  

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Adelaide Graduate Research School

Three Minute Thesis

DON'T MISS OUT!  Registrations for Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) close on Friday 14 June.

Don’t miss out on this excellent chance to develop your academic presentation and research communication skills as well as your ability to effectively explain your research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

There are a range of prizes on offer to successful competition entrants, and the winner of the University competition will represent Adelaide in the 2024 Asia-Pacific Three Minute Thesis final.  All participants qualify for  5 CaRST points.

For key dates, rules, available training, prize details and more, visit Key Dates and Competition Details on the 3MT webpage.

Remember to register and submit your PowerPoint Slide by Friday 14 June !

Register Now!

More information about 3MT is also available at the University of Adelaide 3MT website .

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3 Minute Thesis 2021

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) celebrates the exciting research conducted by Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Professional Doctorate (Research) candidates. It is an international academic competition developed by the University of Queensland to cultivate students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills.

2021 UTS 3MT winners

3MT continued as online event due to COVID-19. While it was great to connect with people from all over the world and different time zones, it was not easy for our extraordinary finalists and judges. The judges had taken a considerate amount of time in choosing the winner and runner-up award for 2021 UTS 3MT, while 100% of our online audience were busy voting for their People's Choice.

And, the 2021 prizes were awarded to:

• Melissa Miao (Faculty of Health) First prize: $3000 and represented UTS at 2021 Asia-Pacific 3MT competition
• Monique Potts (Transdisciplinary Innovation School) Runner-up: $1000
• Chelsea Vu (Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology) People's Choice: $1000

Melissa won with her 3MT topic "Road to Recovery: A Map to Implement Online Communication Training After Brain Injury", by talking about healthcare interventions that are and are not used by patients and clinicians in real-world settings.

2021 UTS Three Minute Thesis (3MT) online competition

• Front row: MC Prof. Joanne Tipper, Comm specialist Samia Rahman, Judge Prof. Simon Knight, Judge Prof. Kate McGrath, Finalist Justin Hitchen.
• Second row: Finalist Sharni Collins from Science, Finalist Monique Potts from TIS, People's Choice winner Chelsey Vu from FIET, GRS organiser Chris O'Neill, Finalist Geoff Isaac from DAB.
• Third row: Finalist Gemma Sentance from Law, Finalist Jess MacArthur from ISF, Judge Nawshad Akther, GRS organiser Jing Zhao.
• Fourth row: Event coordinator Ness Heckscher, Event coordinator Melanie Steenkamp.

2021 Faculty Finalists

Overall winner: melissa miao, graduate school of health, runner-up: monique potts, transdisciplinary innovation school.

TRANSCRIPT: Monique Potts — Resilience and experiential learning for young people

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be a teenager in Australia in 2021? Do you think it’s harder to be a teenager now than it was in the past? How will their future be different to ours? What skills and competencies might help prepare them for an uncertain world? These are some of the questions I’ve been immersed in over the past few years in my PhD. 

This story starts a little closer to home for me with my two daughters. Both my girls loved learning in primary school, however when they got to high school they started to lose interest in school and learning. At the same time I watched their mental health decline and did my best to support them through experiences of panic attacks, anxiety and depression.  

Their schools seemed unprepared and under-resourced to deal with these challenges. It became clear to me as a parent, that the health and education systems were not really talking to each other. This left me feeling frustrated and at a loss to know what I could do to help.  

So I started to research youth mental health in Australia to get a big picture of what was happening. What I found shocked me and I think might shock you too. Did you know that one in four young Australians are suffering from mental illness or psychological distress? Or that one in five students in are disengaged from learning and feel they don’t belong at school? 

I went on to interview teachers, youth workers and students to get a sense of what they thought were the most important issues affecting resilience and wellbeing for young people. Some of the key themes to emerge included changing pathways for work and life, pressure around image and identity, a loss of connection and belonging and a looming sense of uncertainty. 

To try to address this we’ve been working on co-designing a pilot program with year 10 students and teachers at a Sydney high school. Through this research we’ve identified a set of six meta-competencies to support greater resilience and wellbeing for young people, including agency, adaptability, creativity, compassion, interbeing and self-awareness. 

With a team of experienced educators and practitioners we have designed six experiential learning modules that align with these meta-competencies. For example storytelling aligns with creativity and compassion, place-based learning with interbeing and self-awareness. 

What is unique about this approach is that it focuses not only developing on personal resilience through social and emotional learning; but also collective resilience through learning to design interventions for complex real-world problems.  

In the self-organising projects module students design a learning experience for younger students to improve their wellbeing, using the methods they have learned in the program and their own lived experience.

The preliminary research findings are very promising with an average engagement score of 8 out of 10 and feedback from students on real benefits to wellbeing and resilience. We hope to partner with the Department of Education to make this evidence-based framework and program available to other schools across NSW in 2022. 

My heartfelt wish is that this research might help to reduce the trauma to young people and their families . And that our young people might not only survive but also thrive in our rapidly changing world.

Thanks for listening 

People's Choice: Chelsey Vu, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology

TRANSCRIPT: Chelsey Vu — Microalgae: the foundation of tomorrow

Nowadays, if you go onto online shopping and type in the search “microalgae”, you will be able to find hundreds of microalgal based products that are advertised to be health and skin supplements.

But did you know what microalgae is and that microalgae can provide much more than just vitamin and collagen?

Microalgae is photosynthetic microorganism, invisible to naked eyes and are different from the large algae such as seaweed that we are familiar with. Microalgae is a renewable and climate-friendly resource that can transform many industries and evolve into a carbon-neutral bioeconomy.

The colour of our clothes and food can be obtained from microalgal pigments.

You can go into the supermarket and grab yourself a pack of algal beers.

Microalgae can also be used as feed for aquaculture, and a platform for carbon munching and wastewater treatment.

And the next thing you know is that you’re driving a motorbike or car fuelled by microalgae.

In reality, microalgal cultivation is easy but harvesting the microalgal cells from the diluted suspension to produce such valuable pigments and chemicals is still a difficult and expensive task.

To tackle this bottleneck, my PhD focuses on developing a low-cost and highly efficient microalgal harvesting technology using polymer flocculation. Polymers are positively charged and act like magnets to attract the negatively charged microalgae cells. Opposites attract!

When polymer is added to the algal solution, the cell surface charge is neutralised, making it sticky. The polymer then acts like a giant magnetic spider web to agglomerate thousands tiny algal cells together for collection.

Microalgae are tiny organisms and their cellular properties evolve as they grow. My research has shown that harvesting microalgae using polymer is the most effective at the beginning of the mature growth phase. This finding will help to optimise the cost and the quantity of microalgae harvested.

My research shows that flocculation for microalgal harvesting is competitive, requires 80% less energy and no complex equipment to achieve higher efficiency compared to traditionally used techniques such as centrifugation and membrane filtration. These advantages make polymer flocculation easier and more accessible to be implemented by microalgae farmers and producers, thus open ways to a new algal industry and create job opportunities for the industry.

I believe microalgae will be the foundation of our modern economy and we are getting closer to sustainable future where one day, an algae-fuelled airplane can take us to our next holiday destination.

Anne Casey, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

TRANSCRIPT: Anne Casey — The second-wave impact in Australia of the Great Irish Famine: Eliza's story

Although you may not understand the words on my slide, in three minutes, I hope they will mean something to you… 

Through my research, I’ve discovered a hidden cluster of refugee children who were abused and discriminated against because of their ethnic origins. My research seeks to restore voice to those who have been silenced.

Let me tell you a story… Everything I am going to tell you is true. It’s about a girl named Eliza.

Before she was born, a neighbouring nation invaded her country, killing almost half of Eliza’s people, the indigenous population who had lived there since prehistoric times. Their lands, language and culture were stolen. 

Eliza’s people lived on the verge of starvation until their country was overwhelmed by a devastating famine. For five years, her people starved while their foreign rulers shipped vital food supplies out of Eliza’s homeland. 

Over a million people died of hunger and disease. More than a million more fled the country as refugees. Eliza’s mother was one of more than 100,000 who died at sea.

Struggling against discrimination and destitution in her country of refuge, Eliza was arrested in a brothel at age 15. I’ve discovered that more than half the children in juvenile detention with her were from Eliza’s home country. They were sexually assaulted, humiliated and beaten. For attempting to escape, they were bound in straight jackets and locked in solitary confinement on starvation rations.

Eliza died aged 24, far from her native Ireland—my country, my people too. The events that led to her untimely death in Sydney were triggered by three factors: climate, politics and economics, together with a perhaps-mistaken belief that good people won’t fail to do something. 

Blending in-depth archival research with my own family history, I am writing creative non-fiction and poetry to uncover new connections and reveal the human story behind the history.

Although Eliza died 145 years ago, there are one million ‘Elizas’ living in the shadow of her story in Australia today, 356 million children starving in our world due to the same three factors that sealed Eliza’s tragic fate.

My mission in telling you this story is to open one mind, one heart—yours. By raising our voices for the silenced, let us make sure that good people won’t fail to do something.

Those words on my slide are in Eliza’s and my native tongue, a language that was forbidden to our people. They translate as:

“People live in each other’s shadows”

In my culture that means we all depend on each other.

Sharni Collins, Faculty of Science

TRANSCRIPT: Sharni Collins — Lipids in Textiles … A Key to Time Since Death?

What if I told you that our fashion choices could actually help forensic investigators estimate time since death?

What do I mean by that?

Well, textiles and clothing materials have actually been a target area for archaeological research for many years now, as a means to reconstruct the history of human civilizations across the globe. Now they do this by looking at the materials themselves, but also by looking at the residues trapped within them; so lipids for example when somebody dies and the body breaks down they get trapped within that material. And so lipids have proven to be incredibly useful because they can withstand really harsh environmental conditions and they have been found to be preserved in the environment for over a millennia.

We also know the way in which they break down over time. So let's bring that back to a forensic context, where a lot of our victims are wearing clothing and so when we do come across human remains it's very common that they are in association with clothing and that makes sense right because we're all wearing clothing on a daily basis. And so if we know that these lipids can be trapped in textiles and that they can be preserved for many years then why not use them as a means to map how long someone has been dead for and help assist police with that really important question, when did they die?

And so that's what I'm doing in my work. Now my work is conducted out of the Australian facility for taphonomy experimental research also known as AFTER. Which is a world-class facility that allows us to study whole human decomposition in a natural Australian environment. Now here I study how the body breaks down and this breakdown process occurs immediately after the heart stopped speeding and it continues up until all the soft tissue has been degraded. Now the timeline for this is really dependent on a range of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, like climate and insect activity, but we do know that regardless of that the macromolecules in the body, so the proteins the carbohydrates and the lipids, they start to break down and they're released into the immediate environment into the clothing that someone's wearing.

So that's what I take advantage of in my work. Now for my project I close both peak and human remains on the soil surface added after, and I take my samples from the front and the back of the body over a decomposition timeline. Now the reason that I'm studying both pig and human remains is because peaks have been used a lot in the past as models for human decomposition due to legal and ethical restrictions, but we don't actually know if they are a good model just yet. Now so far in my work what I have found is that lipids and textiles allow me to indirectly monitor decomposition. I've also found some patterns and trends in the arrival and disappearance of certain lipid products that are related to time since death. I'm also seeing a notable difference between the rate and manner in which pigs and humans decompose.

And so the end goal for my work is to continue this study of lipids in textiles so that I can map the timeline of death, and answer that all important question of when did they die?

Justin Hitchen, Faculty of Business

TRANSCRIPT: Justin Hitchen — Rethinking Performance Evaluation

One of the major trends emerging during kobe was an increased participation in financial markets many people were seeking to build wealth via investment but what distinguishes a good investment from a bad investment you probably want an investment that will increase in value but you may also want to avoid anything with a lot of risk. I

In finance we rely on a metric called alpha to capture this balance, however my thesis questions where the alpha is reliable. In practice a positive alpha indicates a good investment and negative alpha indicates a bad investment. If there's a skilled investor in a financial market with a good investment strategy then investors like you and I will try to copy their approach. The alpha of their strategy will tend to zero in future years since it no longer outperforms investors like us.

So what's the problem with alpha anomalies? By the 90s academics recognized a couple of investment strategies that conflicted with our estimation model. People knew about and could copy these strategies, yet the alpha wasn't going to zero as a result. Our field assumed some of these strategies must somehow incur unknown risks, so we simply extended our initial model to include them as risk factors. That may have been a plausible solution in the 90s, but by now there are almost 500 published return anomalies that don't fit our estimation models. This has created a big puzzle in contemporary finance. Anomalies by definition should be scarce, yet they seem to be almost everywhere.

In my thesis I take a novel approach to find out why. I show that some of the most famous anomalies in finance are observable in random data. These anomalies are not the result of real world investment practice but rather they're an inevitable by-product of how we apply our alpha estimation models. The estimation approach taught to practitioners and employed in many academic papers forces our regression line through zero. If finance theory perfectly explained the real world then this would not be an issue, however as soon as the real world deviates from the theory—as it so often does—the estimation approach used in our field produces spurious alphas.

The consequence is that trillions of dollars’ worth of global investment decisions are currently being influenced by a faulty performance metric. Investors like you and i are adopting investment strategies that became popular due to misestimated alphas.

Based on my findings, I urge that we reconsider how we evaluate performance in finance. I recommend an alternate data-driven approach to alpha estimation. By adopting this alternative approach we can ensure that our field's dominant performance evaluation tool accurately evaluates performance. The outcome is improved global resource allocation and enhanced economic prosperity for all of us

Geoff Isaac, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building

TRANSCRIPT: Geoff Isaac — Could this chair help save the planet?

Could this plastic chair help save the planet?

Plastics cause enormous environmental damage—fossil fuels are burned to create them, and most end up in landfill, or littered polluting our oceans and even our food.

It gets worse—production of plastic will triple by 2050, by which time there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

We could try and stop using plastic altogether; good luck with that. But even if it were possible the environmental impact of using materials like wood or metal would just be worse.

There is a solution, renewable carbon plastics, that's recycled plastic and bioplastics. These materials were primarily developed for grocery suppliers keen to eliminate virgin fossil plastics from their packaging. That's great, but what about the thousands of plastic products that we use every day; pens, toothbrushes, smartphones, and even plastic chairs.

Made from recycled plastic the Bell Chair by Konstantin Grcic is about half a kilo lighter than other plastic chairs. It stacks vertically 12 high for transportation and can also be recycled. It's a perfect example of how design has the power to decrease the demand for planet destroying virgin fossil plastics. The Bell Chair is just one of many recent designs made from renewable carbon plastics, but are all these chairs more sustainable than a traditional plastic chair.

Tools do exist to make these types of comparisons, but they're very complicated to use, and industry just simply ignores them. I've created a simplified digital tool to calculate environmentally responsible product ratings for 32 chairs made from renewable carbon plastics, five perform much better than the rest.

Next I interviewed 20 leading international product designers including Philippe Starck and Karim Rashid, to get their expert opinions on renewable carbon plastics and the barriers to using them. I've analysed these interviews and studied the most environmentally friendly chairs such as the Bell Chair to identify what can be learned to drive the uptake of renewable carbon plastics. My 20 years’ experience marketing transitional technologies such as the internet and five years working on waste projects at the EPA have helped me here.

I am now applying a theoretical model to identify strategies to help designers and manufacturers transition to developing more environmentally friendly plastic products. While my focus has been on plastic chairs most findings are relevant to all those working with plastics.

We have no choice but to minimize our use of virgin fossil plastics going forward. My research helps accelerate the transition towards more eco-friendly plastics so we can all continue to enjoy the countless benefits of plastic while we leave the ocean for the fish.

Jessica MacArthur, Institute for Sustainable Futures

TRANSCRIPT:  Jess MacArthur — Four methodological innovations: Evaluating changes in gender equality at work

Hi there, I'd like to introduce you to Samai. Now, Samai is a regional manager in an aid program in rural Cambodia, and about a year ago he took part in the gender training put on by his organization. After the training he began taking a more active role in household work, something he'd always seen as “women's work”. And the ripple effects of a gender training at the office into the gender dynamics into Samai‘s household have been significant.

Understanding this change is important to gender equality work in Cambodia and beyond. Now, my work is a little bit different, my research has been research on research—we call this methodological research, and I've been investigating innovative ways to ask about hear understand and share stories like Samai’s. Although Samai's story might seem straightforward asking questions about gender equality is notoriously difficult, especially in cross-cultural contexts.

So the first part of my research has been understanding how best to ask good questions about changing gender dynamics, and I learned the questions which rely on basic verbs work the best. Questions like, what's changed about what you do, or about how you speak.

Second, I had to find a good way to hear answers from these questions from staff members spread across rural Cambodia all during a lockdown. So I co-designed a data collection method where staff use their own smartphones to share stories through photos, audio recordings, or short text messages, and I learned that offering both text and audio options created safer opportunities for staff to share personal stories; and I heard over 200 stories of change.

Then I had to actually understand the stories, so I designed and piloted a cutting-edge persona-based approach to story analysis. Using both verb-based thematic coding and natural language processing algorithms identified 14 unique personas of change representing all the common types of change from the program staff, and out of the 176 staff that participated in this research there were actually 19 men with similar stories to Samai. Samai is actually a persona.

Finally, I had to find and use effective ways to share stories to strengthen future gender training, so I explored and tested communication methods that work in cross-cultural contexts, while maintaining integrity of findings. And I learned from program teams that data-driven infographics and cartoons with actual quotes are ways that help them most engage with and use findings.

Each of these four innovations expands the sector's thinking on monitoring changes in organizations, by centring on participants voices and leaning in to creativity. Stories really matter. And an important way of understanding the complexities of gender equality.

With these new ways of investigating impacts I hope that organizations will be better equipped to ask, hear, understand, share and ultimately learn from stories like Samai’s.

Gemma Sentance, Faculty of Law

This video has been removed by request of the student.

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.

3-minute thesis

An 80,000 word PhD thesis would take 9 hours to present. Your time limit... 3 minutes.

The Three Minute Thesis competition celebrates the exciting research conducted by Doctor of Philosophy students. Developed by The University of Queensland, 3MT cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills.

The competition supports your capacity to effectively explain your research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Eligibility

Anyone who is active in a PhD* or MPhil* program (including thesis under submission) will be eligible to participate in 3MT. Graduates are not eligible.

MRes students are welcome to enter the Macquarie competition, but the national eligibility rules prevent them from progressing to the Asia-Pacific event.

* Note: degree must be at least two thirds research (definition drawn from Grant Guidelines 2006 for Higher Education Support Act (HESA) 2003) and must produce a thesis that is examined externally.

2024 Competition dates

Prizes for the Macquarie Winners 2024

• Winner: $1000
• Second Place: $500
• Third Place: $250
• People's Choice Winner: $250

Note: Prize money is to be used for research costs only and is not a cash prize.

Prizes for the Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition 2024

• Winner: $5000 research grant
• Runner Up: $2000 research grant
• People's Choice: $1000 research grant

Judging panel

Prof Sakkie Pretorius - DVC Research

Prof Simon Handley - PVC Graduate Research

Prof Sarah Sorial - Associate Dean, Research Training and Performance, Faculty of Arts

Format and rules

The University of Queensland (UQ) has made the decision to host the 2024 Asia-Pacific Three Minute Thesis Competition in a virtual format (video submission).

Competitors have three minutes to give an engaging and dynamic talk on their thesis topic, and its significance, in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience. The talk should engage the audience without reducing the research to entertainment value only. As such, the competition does not trivialise or "dumb-down" research but forces students to consolidate their ideas and crystallise their research discoveries.

Modifications to the 3MT rules have been made to accommodate the new virtual format.

• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes and competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified.
• Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through speech (timing does not include the 3MT title slide and commences from when the competitor starts speaking, not the start of the video).
• Filmed on the horizontal;
• Filmed on a plain background;
• Filmed from a static position;
• Filmed from one camera angle;
• Contain a 3MT title slide;
• Contain a 3MT PowerPoint slide (top right corner/right side/cut to).
• A single static slide is permitted in the presentation (no slide transitions, animations or ‘movement’ of any description). This can be visible continuously, or ‘cut to’ (as many times as you like) for a maximum of 1 minute.
• The 3 minute audio must be continuous – no sound edits or breaks.
• No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment and animated backgrounds) are permitted within the recording. Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
• No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted within the video recording.
• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.
• Submissions via video format (only video link provided to Event Coordinators). Files sent in other formats will not be accepted.
• Entries submitted for final adjudication to Wildcard or University Final are to be submitted from the School/ Faculty/Institute 3MT Event Coordinator. Competitors should not submit their videos directly to 3MT.

Note: Competitors *will not* be judged on video/ recording quality or editing capabilities (optional inclusions). Judging will focus on the presentation, ability to communicate research to a non-specialist audience, and 3MT PowerPoint slide.

Competitors can find additional information directly from the Asia-Pacific Competitors Guide website .

Macquarie students participating in the Macquarie competition should download and use the Macquarie Identifying Slide for Competitors [PPT 1,118KB].

Judging criteria

At every level of the competition each competitor will be assessed on the judging criteria listed below. Each criterion is equally weighted and has an emphasis on audience.

Comprehension and content - REVISED

• Presentation provided clear motivation, background and significance to the research question
• Presentation clearly described the research strategy/design and the results/findings of the research
• Presentation clearly described the conclusions, outcomes and impact of the research

Engagement and communication

• The oration was delivered clearly, and the language was appropriate for a non-specialist audience
• The PowerPoint slide was well-defined and enhanced the presentation
• The presenter conveyed enthusiasm for their research and captured and maintained the audience’s attention

3-Minute Thesis Info Session

Tuesday 16 July 1:30 - 2:00pm

To help you prepare your 3MT entry, this info session will cover important competition details including entry requirements, judging criteria, and key dates.

***This workshop will be held in hybrid. Please use the respective registration link based on your preferred mode of attendance:

On campus:   https://myrdc.mq.edu.au/registration/new/407061

Online:   https://myrdc.mq.edu.au/registration/new/407101

Nb. The 3MT info session will be followed by the Storytelling Your Thesis workshop which will provide more practical information on crafting the content your entry (see details below).

Storytelling Your Thesis workshop

Tuesday 16 July 2:00 - 4:00pm

Communicating your research to a non-specialist audience is a valuable skill that can help broaden the reach and impact of your research. However, it can be a challenge, distilling the essence of your research into a cohesive story using language that a non-specialist audience can understand.

In this workshop we will discuss key components and considerations when communicating your research to non-specialist audiences, as well as explore the narrative of your own research.

On campus:   https://myrdc.mq.edu.au/registration/new/407141

Online:   https://myrdc.mq.edu.au/registration/new/407181

How to win the 3MT

Did you miss last year's "How to win the 3MT" workshop on Zoom? Don't worry, you can access all the materials here!

Delivered by Pitch & Communication guru, Peter Browne and our own Dr Megan Brewer, find out everything you need to know about entering and acing this competition!

• Workshop recording
• Megan's slides
• Peter's slides

3MT Editing video tutorials

Topics and Timestamps:

• 02.35 converting Powerpoint slides in jpeg files
• 04.30 accessing and setting up Kapwing*
• 06.16 using Kapwing to add slide in top-right format**
• 14.46 using Kapwing to create "cut-to" format
• 21.44 vimeo set up
• *nb that in this example I haven't created an account - one downside would be that you cannot save projects and you will have to do all the steps in one sitting
• **forgot to mention that you need to download the file once done - see timestamp 18.45 for how that works See Part 2 if you want to learn how to use OpenShot Video editor for the "cut-to" format

This video covers using OpenShot Video Editor to create your virtual 3MT entry with the "cut-to" slide format. See Part 1 for instructions on how to convert powerpoint slides to jpeg images and vimeo set up

2023 Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final Showcase!

Over the next two weeks, two judging panels will review and select 8 finalists from the 56 competitors, to proceed to the  2023 Virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT Final which will be held via  live stream , on Wednesday 18 October.  Audience registration is now open. Voting for the People's Choice winner will take place during the live final so you'll need to register to take part.

The 8 finalists competing at the  Virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT Final will be revealed on the 3MT website on  Monday 9 October . Good luck Frigg! 🤞

2023 MQ 3MT Winners

On 7 September 2023, we announced the winners of the MQ 3MT competition! We would like to thank our fantastic judges and finalists for their involvement and support. Thank you to our People's Choice voters too - we are so pleased you participated.

Congratulations to our MQ finalists and winners:

• Frigg Speelman (Natural Sciences) ($1000 research grant)
• Presentation title:  Children of divorce: what we can learn from the animal kingdom

1 st Runner-up

• Karen Woo (Education) ($500 research grant)
• Presentation title:  Kinder Surprise or Failed Experiment - How well are kids learning to code in schools?

2 nd Runner-up

• Khalia Ackermann (AIHI) ($250 research grant)
• Presentation title:  Investigating sepsis survivor health

People's Choice Winner

• Thomas Montefiore (Philosophy) ($250 research grant)
• Presentation title:  The Gamer's Dilemma: Intersecting Tasteless and Morally Impermissible Gameplay

Frigg's winning 3MT entry will be submitted to the University of Queensland and included in the 2023 Virtual Asia- Pacific 3MT competition. We wish Frigg the very best of luck as she represents MQ in this exciting competition!

2023 MQ 3MT Finalists

Congratulations to our 2023 MQ 3MT Finalists - view their presentations here

Deepak Chahal (FSE) -  Stellar Tantrums: The Evolution of Anger in Stars

Jo DowlingSoka (FOA)  -  The Miracles of 626 CE

Connie Henson (FMHHS) -  Celebrating Indigenous participation and leadership in digital health

Maksym Mohorian (FSE) -  Unveiling Cosmic Alchemy with Stellar Fossils

Melissa Reed (FMHHS) -  How do Teachers Learn on Social Media?

Velina Serafimova (MQBS) -  Impact of Passionate Leaders

Sadhana Singh (MQBS) -  Guardians of Legacy: Exploring Factors Influencing Next-Generation Engagement in Family Firms

Zairul Nurshazana Zainuddin (MQBS) -  Modern slavery - the untold story of a wicked problem

MQ 3MT interviews on 2SER

Throughout November, each of our 2023 3MT finalists featured in a 5-minute interview on  2SER radio ’s show  The Daily . Like the 3MT itself, this radio spot is an excellent opportunity for our candidates to hone & demonstrate their research translation & oral communication skills.

The 2SER interviews with our 3MT finalists have been collated  here.

Previous MQ winners

• Graduate Research Academy
• Level 2, 16 Wally's Walk
• Macquarie University NSW 2109
• T: +61 (2) 9850 4741
• E: [email protected]

Related links

• Industry engagement
• Skill development

Florida State University

FSU | The Graduate School

Main navigation Pulldown

The graduate school, three minute thesis (3mt™).

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT™) is a research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland, Australia. The exercise develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of students' capacities to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience.

Doctoral students have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their dissertation topic and its significance. 3MT™ encourages students to consolidate their ideas and crystalize their research discoveries.

Congratulate the 2023 3MT Winners!

1st Place:  Hyosoon Yim

Sport Management Promoting Sport Participation among Older Adults: Application of the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

2nd Place:  Tania Sultana

Biomedical Sciences ZIKV NS3 Drives Assembly of a Viroplasm-Like Structure (VLS)

3rd Place:  Meng Tian

Communication The Stereotypes of Female eSports Players

People's Choice:  John Akintola

Chemistry and Biochemistry Functional Polyelectrolyte Complexes

2023 3MT Competition Finalists!

Sima Sabbagh

Neuroscience Unmasking the Architects of the Brain: Marvelous FMRP

Art Education Art May Facilitate Community Building to Alleviate Chinese International Students' Alienation

Andre Juliao

Condensed Matter Experimental Physics Nb3Sn for Axion Detection

Hemant Goswami

Molecular Biophysics Development of an Ultrasensitive and Rapid Virus Detection Method Based on CRISPR-Cas Enzyme

Toshiaki Kanai

Physics  Quantum Computer on Solid Neon 

Qiushan Liu

Developmental Psychology Investigating Strategy Flexibility in Algebra

Click here to read the FSU News Article

Click here to see the 2023 3MT Competition Gallery

Your graduate research. 3 minutes. 1 slide.

Why Participate?

Skills development for research candidates Participating in 3MT develops academic, presentation and research communication skills, while developing research candidates’ ability to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Building external relations for the university 3MT winners go on to represent FSU at regional and national competitions which provides an excellent networking and professional development opportunity. 

Are you eligible?

Currently enrolled doctoral students at Florida State University are eligible to participate in the 3MT™. 3MT® presentations must represent the primary research the student has conducted in their graduate program.

Master's students are not eligible.

What are the prizes?

• 1st Place -  $1,000
• 2nd Place -  $750
• 3rd Place -  $500
• People's Choice (selected by the audience): $250

What are the judging criteria?

At every level of the competition each competitor will be assessed on the judging criteria listed below. Each criterion is equally weighted and has an emphasis on audience.

Comprehension and content

• Presentation provided clear background and significance to the research question
• Presentation clearly described the research strategy/design and the results/findings of the research
• Presentation clearly described the conclusions, outcomes and impact of the research

Engagement and communication

• The oration was delivered clearly, and the language was appropriate for a non-specialist audience
• The PowerPoint slide was well-defined and enhanced the presentation
• The presenter conveyed enthusiasm for their research and captured and maintained the audience’s attention

What are the rules?

• A single static PowerPoint slide is permitted (no slide transitions, animations or 'movement' of any description), and the slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration and remain in view for the duration 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.
• The decision of the judging panel is final.

Helpful Resources

• Click here to view the Three Minute Thesis Virtual Competition Handbook.

3MT Recording/Editing Links

• OpenShot Editing Video
• Kapwing Website
• 3MT Workshop Recording of Kapwing Editor: this video is a demonstration of the software
• Kapwing Tutorial
• FSU Canvas Support Center Tutorial : Best Practices for Student Video Production (iMovie and Movie Maker)
• Vimeo Website

Past 3MT™ Competitions

Fall 2023 3MT™

Doctoral student in Sport Management, Hyosoon Yim took first place at this year's 3MT competition and won $1,000. Read more .

Fall 2022 3MT™

Doctoral student in Science Education, Dionne Wilson took first place at this year's 3MT competition and won $1,000. Read more .

Fall 2021 3MT™

Doctoral student in Art Education, Chris Omni took first place at this year's 3MT competition and won $1,000.  Read more.

Fall 2020 3MT™

Mark Duslak (Educational Leadership & Policy Studies) and Matthew Martenson (Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences) finished first this year. Read more.

Fall 2019 3MT™

Judges selected Alyssa Henderson (Physics)and Sara Jones (Biomedical Sciences) as this year’s first-place winners. Read more.

Fall 2018 3MT™

Doctoral student in biological science, Eve Humphrey took first place at this year's 3MT competition and won $1,000. Read more.

Fall 2017 3MT™

For the first time, a student from the College of Education, Shannon Gooden (Teacher Education), won the $1,000 prize. Read more.

Fall 2016 3MT™

Madhuparna Roy (Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering)won first place in this year's competition. Read more.

Fall 2015 3MT™

Aniket Ingrole (Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering) won first place in the 3MT™ competition. Read more.

Fall 2014 3MT™

Kimberly Smith (Neuroscience) won first place in this year's 3MT™ competition. Read more.

View the past 3MT competition galleries

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Three Minute Thesis @ UNI

Present your research.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic research competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. The 3MT® competition challenges graduate students to summarize their research in three minutes or less. 

• Arts & Humanities
• Behavioral & Health Sciences
• Business, Government & Nonprofit
• Science & Technology
• Accelerated Degree Options
• Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS)
• All Programs & Degrees
• Pre-Application
• Post-Application
• Post-Admission
• Application for Graduate Assistantship
• Tuition Scholarship Application
• Enrichment Fellowship
• Current Students
• 2024 Graduate Studies Awards
• Nominate Students for Awards
• Forms for Faculty & Staff
• Graduate Studies Funding Allocations
• Professional Development Assignment (PDA)
• Summer Fellowship
• James F. Lubker Research Award
• Outstanding Graduate Faculty Teaching Award
• Distinguished Scholar Award
• Graduate Campus Tours

Eligibility

Students must be enrolled in a master’s or the EdS program to be eligible to compete in the 3MT® competition.

The presentation topic must cover student's original research project. 

Students must have been enrolled at some point during the academic year, including the previous summer, in which the MAGS competition is held.

• First Place: $500 
• Second Place: $300
• People's Choice: $200
• First Place will have the opportunity to represent UNI at the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools regional 3MT® competition with all travel expenses paid for by Graduate Studies.

How it Works:

Students will compete in preliminary heat(s) to determine who will advance to the final round. 

Graduate Studies will host workshops to prepare students for the 3MT® Competition. Students may use one static PowerPoint slide to enhance their presentation.

All rounds will take place on the same day. All finalists will compete for prizes and the winner will have the opportunity to continue on to the regional 3MT® competition hosted by the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools.

Preparing for the 3MT® & Keys to Success

Examples & further reading.

UNI'S 2021 First-Place Winner: Emma Newton, Communications & Media

UNI's 2022 Second-Place Winner: Matthew Bancroft-Smithe, Communications & Media

UNI's 2022 Competition: All entrants

University of Queensland Examples

MAGS Competition Website

Samantha O'Sullivan (Physics / African American Studies)

Gullah Physics: Challenging English Language Hegemony in Science

Second prize expand_more

Sahar Mariam Mohammadzadeh (Government)

The Impact of Twitter on the Supreme Court

Third prize expand_more

Stephanie Alderete (Psychology)

Preschoolers' Ability to Think about Alternative Possibilities

Finalists expand_more

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

2024 Virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT

The 2024 Asia-Pacific Three Minute Thesis Competition will be held as a virtual event (video submission) .

The 3MT competition allows Higher Degree by Research candidates to hone their communication skills, receive international peer review, and gain skills surrounding the presentation of their research to a wider audience. The UQ 3MT Team is dedicated to providing all the assistance and support it can to the 3MT community.

3MT Rebrand - Important Information

The Three Minute Thesis competition is unveiling a new look logo and brand identity.

Established in 2008, 3MT has cemented itself as the premium worldwide research communication competition, offering the opportunity for thousands of Research Higher Degree candidates to showcase and communicate their research on a global stage.

The University of Queensland comprises many initiatives that are united around one vision and one purpose. To help achieve this vision, and build on the strength of UQ's brand a refresh of the 3MT identity was required.

A new look logo has been developed to visually align the competition with the UQ brand through application of colours, fonts, and graphic elements.

The University of Queensland would ask your institution to adopt the new 3MT logo and marketing materials when hosting a 3MT competition. The University of Queensland has a registered trademark over the use of the Three Minute Thesis logo and brand. 

Request permission to use the new 3MT brand

To request permission to use 3MT information, resources and marketing material please complete the 3MT Event and Brand Permission Form . Following submission of the form, you will immediately be sent a resources and marketing materials pack so that you can get started planning your competition.

Asia-Pacific 3MT University Registration

The 2024 Asia-Pacific 3MT competition will be hosted virtually by UQ and is open to Universities in Australia, New Zealand, South-East and North-East Asia.

Universities from the eligible regions are invited to send their Institution’s 3MT winner's video for consideration in the Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition.

Only one competitor per registered University is eligible to compete. Registered Universities are required to complete their 2024 competition and confirm their representative's details (video submission) with us by Friday 27 September 2024.

2024 Participating universities agree to:

• Provide the $220 (incl GST) registration fee.
• Ensure competitors meet the eligibility criteria and adhere to the 3MT rules.
• Provide competitors recorded 3MT presentation Vimeo link, PowerPoint slide, contact details, photography waiver by September.
• Conduct the 3MT ® competition as outlined in all materials provided by The University of Queensland.

Registrations will open in March 2024.

Asia-Pacific 3MT Key Dates

Key Dates for the 2024 Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition

• NOW - Stay Connected - Like 3MT on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
• March  - Asia-Pacific 3MT University Registration opens
• Friday 2 August - Asia-Pacific 3MT University Registration closes
• Friday 27 September - Asia-Pacific 3MT Competitor Video Submission Deadline
• ​Online Showcase published on the 3MT website
• ​Finalists announced / Online Showcase published on the 3MT website
• ​Video Viewing / Finalist Q&A / People Choice Vote / Announcement of Winners (Virtual)

Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final

The 2024 Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final  will showcase the video submissions from the 3MT finalists from across Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, North-East Asia and South-East Asia. The showcase will be launched on the 3MT website.

Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final Showcase Date: Tuesday 8 October 2024 Event Format: Online Showcase on 3MT website

Asia-Pacific 3MT Final

The  2024 Asia-Pacific 3MT Final  will be held on Wednesday 30 October and will bring together the video submissions from the eight 3MT finalists from selected by the judging panels from the Semi-Finals.

Asia-Pacific 3MT Final Showcase - Finalists Announced Date: Monday 21 October 2024 Event Format: Online Showcase on 3MT website

Asia-Pacific 3MT Final - Livestream Date: Wednesday 30 October 2024 Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm (AEST) Event Format: Video Viewing / Finalist Q&A / People Choice Vote / Announcement of Winners

Asia-Pacific 3MT Eligibility

Eligibility

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

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

• Masters (MPhil and coursework);
• Professional Doctorate (less than 2/3 research)

Asia-Pacific 3MT University Video Submission

Video Creation and Submission - Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition Registered universities participating in the 2024 Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition are required to follow the guidelines for video creation and submission.

• 3MT video recording competitor guide

Examples of the video recordings are below:

• Video - 3MT PowerPoint slide top right ;
• Video - 3MT PowerPoint slide cut .

All participating universities are required to email 3MT  with the following information by September  - Asia-Pacific 3MT Video Submission Deadline. Please feel free to email this information to 3MT earlier if you can.

• Completed 3MT Participant Contact Details Template
• Competitors 3MT PowerPoint slide ; and 
• Competitors 3MT Vimeo link;
• Competitors Head Shot; and
• UQ Photography/Video Waiver

Video Creation and Submission - University Level Competition

In order to take part in a virtual 3MT competition each participating institution will hold its own internal 3MT competition to select a winner (live or virtual). The key requirement for each university winner/entry into the Asia-Pacific 3MT will be that students must pre-record their presentation for consideration by the judges. This will ensure participants are not disadvantaged due to technical issues during a presentation. Institutions are free to decide the format of their local competition (live or virtual), within the rules set by The University of Queensland - an example structure of a simple virtual competition is outlined below. We have also put together a number of resources to help you with your planning for a virtual event. 

• Competitors record and edit their 3MT presentations (using any available recording or mobile device) and upload to a Vimeo account (competitors to set up a personal Vimeo account) and provide the presentation link to their university 3MT Event Corodinator for consideration in their university 3MT competition (School/Faculty/University).
• Universities to upload competitors 3MT video to their univeristy website (or similar) for audience viewing.
• Universities to email 3MT video links and 3MT PowerPoint presentations to judging panel.
• Judging panel review all videos (mark using 3MT scoring sheets) and conduct a Zoom meeting to discuss judging and final placement of winners – Winner / Runner-up.
• People’s Choice element (you could consider using Facebook/Vimeo likes or a Survey Monkey poll)
• Winners announced online during a webinar or online via newsletter/social media.

Please note: Ensure you instruct the judging panel that they must not judge the presentation based on the video/recording quality or editing capabilities (optional inclusions). Judging should focus on the presentation, ability to communicate research to a non-specialist audience, and 3MT PowerPoint slide.

Competition Rules (for virtual 3MT)

Modifications to the 3MT rules have been made to accommodate the new virtual format.

• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes and competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified.
• Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through speech (timing does not include the 3MT title slide and commences from when the competitor starts speaking, not the start of the video).
• Filmed on the horizontal;
• Filmed on a plain background;
• Filmed from a static position;
• Filmed from one camera angle;
• Contain a 3MT title slide;
• Contain a 3MT PowerPoint slide (top right corner/right side/cut to)
• A single static slide is permitted in the presentation (no slide transitions, animations or ‘movement’ of any description). This can be visible continuously, or ‘cut to’ (as many times as you like) for a maximum of 1 minute.
• The 3 minute audio must be continuous – no sound edits or breaks.
• No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment and animated backgrounds) are permitted within the recording. Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
• No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted within the video recording.
• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.
• Submissions via video format (only video link provided to Event Coordinators). Files sent in other formats will not be accepted.
• Entries submitted for final adjudication to Wildcard or University Final are to be submitted from the School/ Faculty/Institute 3MT Event Coordinator. Competitors should not submit their videos directly to 3MT.

Please note: competitors *will not* be judged on video/ recording quality or editing capabilities (optional inclusions). Judging will focus on the presentation, ability to communicate research to a non-specialist audience, and 3MT PowerPoint slide.

Please note: After each competition round competitors have the option to either submit their current presentation or rerecord and submit a new presentation for entry into the next round.

Competition Resources

• 3MT competitor guide (virtual)
• 3MT competition guide (live)

Asia-Pacific 3MT Competitor Prizes

The following prizes will be awarded at the 2024 Asia-Pacific 3MT competition.

• Winner:  $5000 research grant
• Runner Up:  $2000 research grant
• People’s Choice:  $1000 research grant

Past Asia-Pacific 3MT Finalists

Past Asia-Pacific finalists can be viewed here

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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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Australia set to house Southern hemisphere’s largest 1.3 GW wind farm

The wind farm is expected to be operational by 2027 and supply eight percent of the victoria state’s energy demand..

Ameya Paleja

Representational image of wind turbines at an onshore wind farm.

Danish turbine maker Vestas will supply turbines for the second stage of the Golden Plains Wind Farm in Australia, solidifying its position as the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere. When complete, the Golden Plains Wind Farm will boast a power capacity of 1.3 GW, a press release said. 

Australia aims to achieve net zero emission status by 2050, and the island country has major plans to move away from fossil fuels. Unlike other countries investing heavily in offshore wind power plants, Australia is working with onshore wind power technology. 

The turbines used for onshore wind farms are much smaller and, therefore, generate less energy per spin of their blades. Nevertheless, Australia’s ambitious plans mean it is using a smaller capacity technology and still building the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere. 

The Golden Plains Wind Farm

The Golden Plains Wind Farm is located in the Golden Plains Shire near the small town of Rokewood. The town is about 37 miles away from Geelong, the second-largest city in the state of Victoria after Melbourne. 

The site of the wind farm supports crop and livestock farming. Construction of the wind farm began in 2023 and was split into two phases. 

In the first phase, 756 MW of power generation capacity was installed using Vestas V162-6.2 MW wind turbines. The company is currently installing 122 units of the turbine as part of its EnVentus platform and is expected to begin commercial operations next year. 

The wind farm is planned as a replacement of the 1,480 MW coal-fired Yallourn power station which is set to retire in 2028, Power reported . 

Phase Two approved

Plans for the second phase of the project included installing 93 more turbines of the same power rating at the site and adding 577 MW of power generation capacity. Together, the two phases will have a power output of 1.3 GW. 

When the second phase goes commercial, which is expected in 2027, the Golden Plains Wind Farm will generate 4,500 GWh of energy annually and meet eight percent of the state of Victoria’s energy demand. 

This is also a landmark for Vestas, marking the largest onshore wind farm the company has helped build up. 

🇦🇺/🌏: Our largest-ever onshore wind farm! We've secured an order for the 2nd stage of the Golden Plains project. Building on our existing 756 MW EPC contract with @TAGEnergy for stage one, this is now our largest onshore wind farm globally. More: https://t.co/ZfhHnuAE26 pic.twitter.com/i8BikoPh4C — Vestas Wind Systems (@Vestas) June 18, 2024

“Through our best-in-class people, wind turbines , and capabilities, Vestas is delighted to build and service this landmark project,” said Purvin Patel, President of Vestas Asia Pacific, in the press release. 

“As the world’s largest provider of wind energy, we have always been committed to Australia’s sustainable future and we thank TagEnergy, for joining us in this world-changing mission”, Patel added. 

The approval for Phase Two came after its developer, TagEnergy, secured funding for the project from lenders and Clean Energy Finance Corp, an initiative of the Australian Government. As part of the project, Vestas will also perform service and maintenance duties at the wind farm for 30 years. 

“The diligence and expertise of Vestas who leveraged world-leading practices developed during the adjacent 756 MW Golden Plains Wind Farm Stage 1, ushered the success of financial close for Stage 2,” said Andrew Riggs, Managing Director at TagEnergy, in a press release . “We look forward to continuing to work with Vestas.”

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ABOUT THE EDITOR

Ameya Paleja Ameya is a science writer based in Hyderabad, India. A Molecular Biologist at heart, he traded the micropipette to write about science during the pandemic and does not want to go back. He likes to write about genetics, microbes, technology, and public policy.

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