Graduate students to compete in Three Minute Thesis competition

LAWRENCE – In less time than it takes to get through most television commercial breaks, University of Kansas graduate students will explain their cutting-edge research in a unique competition called the Three Minute Thesis, or 3MT.

The 2022 3MT marks the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic that the competition will take place in person. Both the preliminary heats and finals will take place in the Burge Union on the KU Lawrence campus.

The preliminary heats will take place at 2 p.m. Nov. 1 in Forums A, B and C and feature approximately 40 KU graduate students, with the finals to follow at 2 p.m. Nov. 9 in Forum C. KU’s competition is part of a global event that highlights graduate student research by challenging students to explain their work effectively and engagingly to nonexperts.

“The 3MT competition cultivates graduate students’ presentation and communication skills when talking about their academic and research work,” said Jennifer Roberts, vice provost for academic affairs and graduate studies. “It pushes students to identify and focus on the most significant parts of their research, and the competition provides the audience a unique chance to consume groundbreaking research in a variety of fields.”

Jacob Immel, the first-place winner of the 2021 competition, said condensing his research into such a short presentation was more challenging than expected. But it was something that has since proved beneficial to Immel while navigating graduate studies.

“It taught me to focus each of my projects on supporting the main theme of my dissertation,” Immel said. “I recommend every graduate student participate in the 3MT competition at KU to improve their communication skills and to find creative ways to explain complex ideas in simple terms.”

The judges of the competition are professionals but not experts in the research fields presented. The 10 students who advance from the initial heats Nov. 1 will compete in finals Nov. 9. All members of the KU and Lawrence communities are welcome to attend these free events.

“It was amazing that people who are outside my field and have no prior knowledge of my research could listen to a three-minute talk and have a good conversation with me about what I do,” said Ayotunde Ikujuni, who earned second place and the People’s Choice Award in the 2021 competition.

The top presenters will have the option to participate in a professional head-and-shoulder portrait session and have their research spotlighted on the Office of Graduate Studies’ social media channels.

Judges will select a first-place winner who will receive a $500 reward and a second-place winner who will receive $250. A People’s Choice winner will be voted on by the audience and receive $125. The first-place presenter will serve as KU’s representative at the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools 3MT Competition, which will take place March 29-31, 2023, in Chicago, with expenses paid by the graduate studies office.

The 3MT academic research communication competition was developed by the University of Queensland in Australia and was first held in 2008. 3MT competitions have been held at more than 900 universities in more than 85 countries worldwide.

For more information, contact the Office Graduate Studies at graduate@ku.edu.