10th Annual Texas A&M University Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Finals Set

Doctoral and Master’s Students Compete in the Graduate and Professional School’s Annual Research Presentation Competition on Wednesday Evening, November 9 at Rudder Forum

Eleven graduate students – seven doctoral and four master’s -- will compete in Texas A&M’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition finals on November 9. Prizes will be awarded in doctoral and master’s categories, and the overall winner will go on to represent Texas A&M at the southeast regional 3MT competition, held at the Council of Southern Graduate School’s (CSGS) Annual Meeting in March of 2023 in Tampa, Florida. 

Developed by Australia’s University of Queensland, 3MT® gives competitors just three minutes to present a compelling oration on their research and its significance to a non-specialist audience, using just one slide.
 
The competition presents a great opportunity for graduate students to sharpen their research focus, improve their presentation skills, and perfect their elevator pitch for prospective employers and anyone else interested in learning about their research. 

With its inaugural year in 2013, Texas A&M was among the first U.S. institutions to hold a 3MT® competition, and this year marks the 10th annual installment of the event at the university. “Hosting 3MT® was part of the process of making graduate education at Texas A&M more student-centered,” said Karen Butler-Purry, former Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School, who brought the competition to the Texas A&M campus. “It’s a great professional development opportunity for our graduate students and a way to build community among our students, staff and faculty.”  

This year, over 80 students registered to compete in the preliminary round. “The event has really evolved,” said Butler-Purry. “When we started out, it was a small competition that attracted mostly STEM students. It has grown in popularity and expanded to include students from every college in a full spectrum of disciplines.”

Graduate and Professional School Interim Associate Provost and Dean Fuhui Tong plans to keep growing 3MT® at Texas A&M. “3MT® is an excellent showcase for the amazing research Texas A&M’s graduate students are doing.  And since success depends on the competitors’ ability to explain the significance of their research to a general audience, it’s a great way to communicate to the public the connection between the research happening on college campuses and the benefits of that research in the world,” Tong said. 

The 3MT® finals, hosted by the Graduate and Professional School and emceed by Adam Seipp, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, is Wednesday, November 9, in Rudder Forum. The event is free and open to the public and also available via livestream. Registration to attend in person or watch the livestream is required. Visit tx.ag/3MTFinals for info.