UCF’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition

Three Minute Thesis (3MT) features master’s and doctoral students communicating their research in just three minutes with only one PowerPoint slide. Participants are judged on the ability to effectively convey the importance of their research in an engaging way to a non-specialist audience.

First developed in 2008 by the University of Queensland in Australia, the popularity of the competition has increased and 3MT competitions are now held in over 600 universities across more than 59 countries worldwide.

For questions about this event, please email [email protected].

2022 Winners

Doctoral

Event Winner: Sambadi Majumder

Runner Up: Itunu Ilesanmi

People’s Choice: Shahrzad Mahdavi

Master’s

Event Winner: Trevor Colaneri

Runner Up: Halley Spencer

People’s Choice: Kayla Cayasso

NEW! Master’s Level 3MT

Starting in Fall 2022, UCF 3MT will feature a master’s level event in addition to the doctoral event. All master’s students currently enrolled in thesis hours are invited to apply. The master’s level event will occur before the doctoral event on the same day. See the event eligibility below for more information.

Eligibility

Participants must be currently enrolled UCF doctoral or master’s students actively engaged in research through dissertation or thesis hours and in good academic standing. A competitive candidate should have a well-conceived project (ideally their dissertation or thesis research), compelling data collected, and a novel story to share. The work presented must have been conducted at UCF for the student’s current degree program.

The number of finalists chosen for the event on November 14, 2022, will depend on the submissions made. Master’s and doctoral students will compete separately. The first-place winner and runner-up will be chosen by an adjudicating panel. Scholarships will be provided to winners at both the master’s and doctoral levels.

Rules

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) are permitted
Presentations are limited to three minutes (plus a 10-second buffer) and competitors exceeding three minutes will be disqualified
Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g., no poems, rapping, or songs)
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

Communication style: Was the thesis topic and its significance communicated in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience?
Comprehension: Did the presentation help the audience understand the research?
Engagement: Did the presentation make the audience want to know more?

Past Events

Congratulations to the winners of Fall 2021 3MT winners held on November 17, 2021:

Event Winner: Boniesta Melani
Runner Up: Chuck Didier
People’s Choice: Sara Belligoni

Fall 2021 Event Finalists

Thank you to the 10 doctoral students finalists who presented at the Fall 2021 3MT event!

Sara Belligoni, Security Studies PhD
Ariege (Gigi) Bizanti, Biomedical Sciences PhD
Chuck Didier, Biomedical Sciences PhD
Sumana Ghosh, Electrical Engineering PhD
Kaitlin Huffman, Chemistry PhD
Boniesta Melani, Education PhD, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Track
Amirfarhad Nilizadeh, Computer Science PhD
Melanie Soderstrom, Criminal Justice PhD
Sreeram Sundaresh, Electrical Engineering PhD
Michael Getachew Tadesse, Civil Engineering PhD