3 CHEM Graduate Students to give a Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Presentation

Congratulations to Erin McDuffie, Katelyn Long, and Katherine Primm on their qualification for the final round of the Graduate School’s inaugural Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition! Erin will be speaking on the topic “The Role of Sources and Seasons in the Battle Against Persistently Poor Air Quality,” Katelyn on “Kinetic Differences between Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Alkyl Thiols in Thiol-Ene Reactions,” and Katherine on “The Martian Surface and Water Vapor: A Love–Hate Relationship.”

The final round of the competition will be held on Tuesday, February 20, from 3-5 PM in the Glenn Miller Ballroom in the UMC. The event is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow the competition. Come and show your support for Erin, Katelyn, and Katherine!

3MT, founded by the University of Queensland in 2008, is an academic competition that cultivates graduate students’ presentation and research communication skills and challenges them to describe their research within three minutes to a general audience. Competitors are allowed one PowerPoint slide, but no other resources or props. Today, over 600 universities hold 3MT competitions across 63 countries.

Judges for the Feb. 20 competition, selected from CU Boulder and the community, include Russ Moore, provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs; Marcia Yonemoto, professor of history and director of the CU Graduate Teacher Program; Jim Williams, retired dean of the CU libraries; and Marty Coffin Evans, president of the Boulder Rotary Club. Prof. Bud Coleman, of CU Boulder’s Department of Theatre and Dance, will be the master of ceremonies.

The first-place winner will receive a cash prize of $1,500 and the opportunity to represent the University at the Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) competition on March 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Graduate School will provide the funding for this trip. The runner-up will receive $750 in research funds, and the People’s Choice winner will receive $500 in research funds. All winners will receive a video of their 3MT presentation.

For more information about the Three Minute Thesis Competition, please visit this link.