Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition

Taking part 

The 3MT competition will be held on Wednesday 2 May 2018 and is a great opportunity to focus on the message of your research. It will allow you to consolidate your ideas and crystallise your research discoveries. Communicating your research to a non-specialist audience will challenge you to think in a fresh way about your ideas and develop your presentation skills.

Taking part in the competition will help you to:

•  improve your public speaking skills
• build your confidence
• share your passion for research

How the competition works

Entrants have three minutes to present their thesis to the panel of judges and the audience. The judges are academic staff from the University. The panel of judges choose the winner and the audience choose an ‘audience’s choice’ winner.

• Prizes Judges’ Winner £200
• Judges’ Runner Up £100
• Audience’s Choice Winner £100

Rules

• A single static PowerPoint slide is permitted. No slide transitions, animations or 'movement' of any description are allowed. The slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration.
• No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted.
• No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum and competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified.
• Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
• Presentations are to commence from the stage.
• Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.
• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.

Meet the judges

• Professor Florence Myles, Department of Language and Linguistics.
• Dr Magda Abou-Seada, Essex Business School
• Dr Matthew Grant, Department of History
• Professor Ian Colbeck, School of Biological Sciences

How to get involved

If you would like to take part, you will need to submit a 300 word summary of your research to 3MT@essex.ac.uk. The deadline for submitting your summary is Monday 12 March 2018. The most informative and engaging summaries will be selected and those students will be invited to speak in the University finals. You will be informed of the outcome by Friday 23 March 2018. If you're shortlisted you will be offered additional training prior to the competition to help you prepare your presentation.

Eligibility

To be eligible to enter this competition, you need to:

• be a doctoral student
• have had your registration status confirmed as PhD
• have not yet had your viva at the time of the local competition

Watch the 2017 Judges’ Winner

In May 2017, 15 students from across our University were selected to take part in the competition and shared their enthusiasm and commitment to their research areas.

The winner of the competition was Tuesday Watts, from the Department of Psychology, who has been researching genetically identical twins - where one is gay or bisexual and the other is straight.

Further information

For more information about the competition taking place at the University, please contact 3MT@essex.ac.uk.

• National Three Minute Thesis Competition
• Watch the six finalists from the 2017 national competition