Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a competition for doctoral students to develop and showcase their research communication skills. 3MT challenges research degree students to present a compelling story on their dissertation or thesis and its significance in just three minutes, in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

The first 3MT was held at The University of Queensland (UQ) in 2008 with 160 graduate students competing. Enthusiasm for the 3MT concept grew and its adoption by numerous universities led to the development of an international competition in 2010. Today students in over 85 countries take part in their own regional and national events.

Cornell’s annual 3MT competition is held in the spring. Finalists are chosen from preliminary rounds. First and second place winners are chosen by judges. Audience members vote on the People’s Choice Award.

Read about past Cornell 3MT competitions:

• 2024: Physics Ph.D. candidate wins Three Minute Thesis competition
• 2023: Computer science and statistics Ph.D. candidates win Three Minute Thesis competition
• 2022: Asian literature, religion, and culture Ph.D. candidate wins Three Minute Thesis competition
• 2021: Biochemistry, molecular and cell biology Ph.D. candidate wins Three Minute Thesis competition
• 2019: Plant breeding student wins Three Minute Thesis contest