Three Minute Thesis

An 80,000 word PhD thesis would take 9 hours to present. The time limit... 3 minutes.

Founded by the University of Queensland in 2008, the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic competition that cultivates students’ presentation and science communication skills. The competition challenges them to describe their research within three minutes to a general audience.

The 2023 3MT® Competition at CU Boulder is now finished. Applications to participate in the 2024 competition will open in the fall of 2023.

For more information, contact Hailey Herman.

3MT® Professional Development Trainings & Workshops

Applicants have the opportunity and are expected to participate in trainings and workshops leading up to the preliminary rounds and a final competition. These workshops include topics such as:

• Communicating your research in three minutes
• The art of storytelling
• Communicating complex topics: avoiding jargon; ABT framework
• Finding your presentation voice
• Improv comedy techniques 

The 2023 3MT® Final Competition was held on February 2, 2023

Congratulations to the 2023 winners!

• Winner: Rob Streeter
• Runner-up: Alexandra (Lexi) Deal
• People's Choice: Lydia Wagenknecht