A crowning achievement for any graduate student is to put their knowledge and professional communication skills to the test in the annual Three-Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition. 3MT® challenges graduate students to condense their graduate body of work into a clear and engaging three-minute presentation supported by only one static overhead slide.

2021 3MT Competition

Registration for this year’s 3-Minute Thesis competition is open!

This is the perfect opportunity to sharpen your public speaking skills while also sharing your research with those outside of your field. Not to mention there are cash prizes (up to $750)!

Mark your calendars for the following dates:

The CGLL will be holding a Workshop and Kickoff Event on Wednesday, October 5th. Register by 4:30 on this date in order to be entered into a prize drawing!

Registration ends on Friday, October 8th.

The Preliminary Rounds will be held October 18-21st.

Final Round will take place November 12th.

preparing for success

3MT® is a key element in preparing graduate students to communicate for success in their chosen career pursuits. Students who take on 3MT® also have an opportunity to participate in personal coaching and instruction on public presentations through the Center for Graduate Life.

About the Competition

Originating at the University of Queensland, Australia, the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a professional international research communication competition that celebrates the discoveries made by graduate student researchers while helping students develop important academic, presentation, and research communication skills.

The 3MT® competition, open to current master's thesis and doctoral dissertation students, consists of a preliminary round where students deliver their condensed research presentation before a group of non-specialist judges. From that competition, 10 finalists are selected to compete in the final round where a panel of high profile public personalities and community leaders will select a runner-up and a first place winner. A People's Choice Award also is presented based on a vote by the audience.

3MT® participants have an opportunity to receive cash prizes and travel funding to represent UNC Charlotte at the Conference of Southern Graduate School’s annual meeting.

2019 Event

Some of UNC Charlotte's best students competed on November 15, 2019 for cash prizes and an opportunity to attend the regional competition at the Conference of Southern Graduate School’s (CSGS) Annual Meeting in 2020.

Abhishek Shibu, Ph.D. in Nanoscale Science, took both the 1st Place and People’s Choice awards in this year’s 3-Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition for his presentation, “Let There Be 'BLUE' Light!”. His research is focused on creating a new class of blue-emitting materials to make displays more energy efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly.

Taking 2nd Place in this year’s 3MT® was Nicole Stott, Ph.D. in Biology, Cellular and Molecular Biology for her presentation, "Lung Cancer Progression." Mukulika Bose, Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, received the 3rd Place award for her presentation on "Targeting Pancreatic Cancer with a Specific Antibody."

Judges for the 2019 3MT Final Round were NC State Senator Mujtaba Mohammed; WFAE's Tommy Tomlinson; Katherine Mooring, Senior Vice President, Charlotte Arts & Science Council; and Bobby Arnold, Global Vice President for Concentrix.