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In 3MT contest, PhD candidates to pitch their thesis in 3 minutes or less

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The rules for the Three Minute Thesis competiton are simple: Contestants have up to 3 minutes to pitch their research, using a PowerPoint slide to display any necessary information. Nothing else is allowed; if a participant uses more than 3 minutes, they're disqualified.

By ALEXIS NICHOLSON

Undergraduate medicinal chemistry major.

Published February 23, 2022

On March 4, UB will be hosting its sixth annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition , which highlights the skills and knowledge of PhD students while stressing the importance of good communication.

You can think of 3MT as an elevator pitch — one where students get the opportunity to inform people about the research they are doing.

This year, organizers will livestream the competition , enabling audience members to watch the event live as contestants pitch on a stage. The event begins at 3 p.m.

“Communicating the importance of one’s research can be challenging. But, in today’s world, it is critical, says Elizabeth Colucci, assistant dean for graduate professional development. “If research is going to have an impact on the broader world, it must be communicated clearly. This competition challenges doctoral students to learn this important skill. We look forward to hearing about the incredible research happening at UB by our doctoral students.”

In order to be eligible, participants must be current UB PhD students who are doing their dissertation research. Presentations must be related to their research, as well as their degree program.

The rules are pretty simple: Contestants have up to 3 minutes to pitch their research, using a PowerPoint slide to display any necessary information. Nothing else is allowed, and if a participant uses more than 3 minutes, they are disqualified.

After participants wrap up their talks, they are judged based on their communication style, the audience’s comprehension of their research, and engagement with the audience. 

The contestant who comes in first place receives $1,000, while the second- and third-place participants receive $750 and $500, respectively. During the competition, viewers are able to cast their vote for the People’s Choice Award. The winner of this award will receive $250.

The participants of the 2022 3MT competition:

• Jocelyn E. Marshall (Traumatic Reckonings: New Readings of Contemporary Feminist Art) , Department of English. Research focuses on identifying feminist textual practices that interrogate the cultural and political implications of imperialism and the impact on displaced women.

• Mahasweta Bhattacharya (Decrypting Your Brain: Quest for Smarter Machines) , Department of Biomedical Engineering. Research focuses on brain activity and could contribute to development of brain-machine interfaces that will hopefully help with the rehabilitation process of neurodegenerative diseases.

• Hannah Calkins (Combating Treatment Resistance in Lung Cancer) , Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Cancer Therapeutics, Roswell Park Graduate Division. Research focuses on treatment-resistant lung cancer and ways to kill the treatment-resistant cells.

• Hamed Khorasani (The Search for Sewage in U.S. Rivers and Lakes) , Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. Research focuses on the presence of wastewater effluent in our rivers and lakes.

Background image credit Shehzil Malik.

• Maria Amir (Finding Jugni: A Sufi Mapping of ‘Mera Jism, Meri Marzi’ for Pakistan’s Aurat Marches) , Department of Global, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Research focuses on the themes in indigenous folklore from Pakistan and the relation to women’s marches.

• Bita Nasiri (Say Farewell to Multiple Surgeries: Artificial Vessel That Grows With the Patient) , Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Research focuses on the production of cell-free vascular grafts that grow after implantation.

• Danielle Lewis (An Examination of Men Faculty Allies for Undergraduate Women in STEM) , Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. Research focuses on the experiences of men faculty allies for undergraduate women in STEM.

• Sricharan Veeturi (Imaging Biomarkers for Risk Stratification of Brain Aneurysms) , Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Research focuses on medical imaging that is used for risk assessments.

• Emily Bowlus-Peck (Communal Trauma and the History of Mental Health Care Systems) , Department of History. Research focuses on mental health hospitals in earlier times and how they influenced future mental health care practices.

• Chih-Han Liu (Clean Car: Novel Configured Catalysts for Catalytic Converter) , Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Research focuses on gasoline vehicle efficiencies.

The UB 3MT competition is co-hosted by the Graduate School and Blackstone LaunchPad at UB. The event is sponsored by the Innovation Hub powered by UB's Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships.

Graduate Student Association

Three Minute Thesis—Register to Enter!

Doctoral students who are currently enrolled at UB, actively engaged in dissertation research and have completed their Application to Candidacy, are eligible to enter the 3MT competition.

The 3MT competition cycle begins with the 3MT preliminary round where registered participants will present their three-minute pitch and one static slide to a panel of judges. All participants will benefit by receiving feedback from audience reactors

The virtual 3MT preliminary rounds will take place, Nov. 15-17, 2021.

Register to Compete in UB’s 3MT Competition

Registration closes Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. Winners of the preliminary round will go on to compete for cash awards in the 3MT final competition on Friday, March 4, 2022.

New 3MT Micro-Credential

Doctoral students intending to participate in the 3MT prelims are encouraged to complete the new 3MT Micro-Credential: Communicating Research to Broad Audiences . This micro-credential was designed to both prepare students to communicate their research to non-specialists and to compete in the 3MT competition, and is open to all graduate students.

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Three Minute Thesis boils down the best of doctoral research

Campus news.

The top competitors in the 3MT competition were, from left, Philip Odonkor (first place), Camila Rosat Consiglio (third place and the People's Choice Award winner) and Naila Sahar (second place). Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

By SALLY JARZAB

Published March 14, 2018 This content is archived.

A typical dissertation might contain more than 50,000 words and would take hours to present. What if you have only three minutes?

Participants in last Friday’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition proved that it is not only possible for graduate students to explain their research in that abbreviated timeframe. It’s interesting and entertaining, too.

Hosted by the Graduate School and Blackstone LaunchPad, 3MT challenged UB doctoral students from any discipline to inform an audience what their research is — and why it matters — for a chance to win monetary prizes. Twelve contestants competed during the afternoon event, held in the Center for the Arts Screening Room before a panel of guest judges charged with selecting first-, second- and third-place winners. Audience members voted for their favorite presentation to determine the People’s Choice Award winner.

The 3MT competition was started at the University of Queensland in Australia in 2008 and has spread to more than 600 universities across more than 59 countries. This was the second year the event has been offered at UB.

Philip Odonkor took the $1,000 top prize for his presentation titled “Is Your House Smarter Than a Mud Hut?” The answer, from the perspective of this PhD student in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is no. During his three minutes onstage, Odonkor explained how his research aims to change that by developing better ways to track people’s energy habits at home. His vision, he said, is the realization of net-zero energy smart buildings.

The polish with which Odonkor and the others delivered their talks was the result of in-depth training provided during workshops offered last fall leading up to the big event. The workshops and a host of other resources were open to those with an eye on a 3MT prize, as well as to any graduate student looking to improve his or her public-speaking skills. Thirty students participated in that first phase. They then had the opportunity to submit video applications to be included among the 12 finalists at the competition.

The practice-makes-perfect approach helped Camila Rosat Consiglio nab the $250 People’s Choice Award for her presentation on how sex hormones play a role in men’s and women’s immune responses, and how those differences could be leveraged when it comes to fighting disease. Rosat Consiglio, who studies immunology in UB’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute Graduate Division, also claimed the third-place judges’ prize of $500.

Second place, a prize of $750, was awarded to Naila Sahar. Her presentation, titled “Who Is a Muslim Woman?” outlined the barrier-breaking research she is conducting as she pursues a PhD in English.

Other contestants were Anne Marie Butler from the Department of Transnational Studies; Alok Deshpande, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering; Joshua Gordon, Epidemiology and Environmental Health; Lynne Klasko-Foster, Community Health and Behavior; Jay Leipheimer, Microbiology and Immunology; Souransu Nandi, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Neeti Narayan, Computer Science and Engineering; James Sackett, Exercise and Nutritional Sciences; and Hao Zhang, Urban and Regional Planning.

Judges were Anthony Chase, theater notable and assistant dean of arts and humanities at SUNY Buffalo State; Laurie Dean Torrell, executive director of Just Buffalo Literary Center; and Anthony Johnson, president and CEO of Empire Genomics and founding partner of Buffalo Biosciences.

Buffalo broadcaster Kevin O’Neill served as master of ceremonies. The UB Gospel Choir performed during the judges’ deliberations. The event was free and open to the public, emphasizing the twin goals of celebrating student research and sharing it with the community at large.

“Most doctoral students spend their days in libraries and laboratories talking to other academics,” said Graham L. Hammill, vice provost for educational affairs and dean of the Graduate School, who, along with President Satish K. Tripathi and Provost Charles F. Zukoski, gave remarks at the event. “If research is to have an impact on the broader world — and we hope it does — it has to be communicated.”

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Gullah Physics: Challenging English Language Hegemony in Science

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Sahar Mariam Mohammadzadeh (Government)

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Stephanie Alderete (Psychology)

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Alex Grayson (Molecular & Cellular Biology)

Comparing Fox and Human Brain Connectivity Patterns

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UB Three Minute Thesis Award

This award recognizes PhD students who have excelled in effectively explaining their research in three minutes, in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland, Australia to celebrate the exciting and innovative research conducted by PhD students.

2021 Honorees

Saber meamardoost.

Chemical and Biological Engineering

Third Place

Azalia Muchransyah

Media Study

First Place

Amanda Seccia

Learning and Instruction

Second Place

Experimental Therapeutics 

People's Choice Award

Find an Honoree

• 12/14/23 Meamardoost, Saber
• 12/14/23 Muchransyah, Azalia
• 12/14/23 Seccia, Amanda
• 12/14/23 Shi, Yuhao

University of Notre Dame

College of science, integrated biomedical sciences, graduate program.

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Graduate students to present research, compete for prize money in annual Three Minute Thesis competition

Published: march 01, 2024, author: erin blasko.

Nine University of Notre Dame graduate students will compete for $4,500 in prize money during the annual Shaheen Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition . The competition will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 28) inside Jordan Auditorium at the Mendoza College of Business on campus. It is open to the public.

Sponsored by the Graduate School , Graduate Student Government and the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development , 3MT is an academic competition that challenges graduate students to explain their research to a broad audience in three minutes or less, offering alumni, industry partners, various campus departments/institutes and the broader community the chance to learn about cutting-edge research at Notre Dame.

“3MT is a fantastic opportunity for graduate students across the University to convey their enthusiasm for their research and its impact on the world,” said Michael Hildreth, associate provost and vice president for graduate studies, professor of physics and astronomy and dean of the Graduate School. “I am always so impressed by the breadth of their studies and the excellence of their work. And, they are all so articulate. Everyone should come out to see this event.”

This year’s finalists are Cynthia Chen (chemical and biomolecular engineering), Liliya Chernysheva (civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences), Henry Downes (economics), Nicholas Herrud (history), Kurt Kohler (biological sciences), Josephine Lechartre (peace studies and political science), Hoon Lee (aerospace and mechanical engineering), Gowthami Mahendran (chemistry and biochemistry), and Amandhi Mathews (biological sciences).

The judges are Monica Arul Jayachandran, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech; Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber; Essaka Joshua, professor of English and former associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Notre Dame; Michael Hildreth, vice president and associate provost, dean of the Graduate School and professor of physics at Notre Dame; and K. Matthew Dames, the Edward H. Arnold Dean of Hesburgh Libraries at Notre Dame.

Originally published by Erin Blasko at news.nd.edu on February 27, 2024 .