3-Minute Thesis Competition
Call for Applications: Yale’s 2025 3-Minute Thesis Competition Register here
Now in its 9th year, Yale’s 3-Minute Thesis Competition challenges Ph.D. students to present their research to the public – in just 3 minutes! Practice your communication skills while making your research visible to a wider audience. Polish a critical skill with support from the Graduate Writing Lab, OCS, and GSAS Professional Development. Pursue a Public Communications Certificate (separate registration process).
Students compete for a $750 1st prize in 5 divisional preliminary rounds. Two winners from each division will compete for a $1000 1st prize in the final on March 28. See presentations of last year’s winners here.
Please submit your application here by February 2 at 11:59 p.m.
3MT Judging Criteria
Cash prizes for winners of the preliminary and final rounds
Prizes Awarded in Each of the 4 Preliminary Division Rounds:
- 1st Prize: $750 & advances to the Final Round (1 per division, total of 5)
- 2nd Prize: $400 & advances to the Final Round (1 per division, total of 5)
- All other participants: $25 gift cards raffled off (5 per division, total of 25)
Prizes Awarded in the Final Round on March 28:
- 1st Prize: $1,000
- 2nd Prize: $500
- 3rd Prize: $300
- Audience Choice (Humanities/Social Sciences): $300
- Audience Choice (STEM): $300
Congratulations to the Winners of the 3MT Preliminary Rounds!
- Lizzy Nand (Microbial Pathogenesis): “Lighting the Way: A New Method to Catch Viruses In the Act”
- Jiawen Zhang (Physiology): “Squirreling through time: Uncovering how squirrels know the seasons”
- Anushka Potdar (Computer Science): “Astronaut-AI Collaboration for Earth-Independent Anomaly Resolution”
- Seoyeon Kim (Chemistry): “Super Glue for Chemistry: Making Bonds to Build a Cheaper, More Efficient Future”
- Susanna Maisto (Chemistry and Environmental Engineering): “Removing ‘forever chemicals’ from water via a simple and green transformation”
- Omar Khalifa (Chemistry and Environmental Engineering): “Shorter and Harder or Longer and Easier: The Journey of an Ion Through a Nanopore”
- Jiwon Yun (Sociology): “Transposing Privilege: Crossing the Racial Boundary in Classical Music”
- Katy Joseline Maldonado Dominguez (American Studies): “Fragmented Selves: Grieving What Could Have Been”
Resources to Enhance Your 3MT Presentation
Workshops and Programs at Yale
Student participants have access to a series of workshops and programs offered jointly by the Office of Career Strategy and the Graduate Writing Lab in the Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning. Where possible, these sessions will be recorded so that 3MT participants can revisit this information throughout the process.
One-on-One Consultations
All participants are encouraged to schedule one-on-one advising appointments with Hyun Ja Shin and Jacob Gonzalez from the Office of Career Strategy. Available appointments can be seen and scheduled via Yale Career Link. Participants can also schedule writing consultations with the Graduate Writing Lab.
PitchVantage Public Speaking Studio at the Graduate Writing Lab
PitchVantage is a program designed to help improve public speaking skills in a variety of different sectors of life. Easily navigating the space between boardroom and lecture hall, this program focuses on different aspects of public presentation, from pacing to pitch, and evaluates performance in real time. For more information and to book time in the GWL’s PitchVantage studio, please visit the online scheduler, select the PitchVantage schedule, and reserve an appointment.
Online Resources
Crafting your research story
- 7 Things to Do When You Have to Give a Short Speech, by Bill Murphy, Jr. Inc.
- Explaining Your Work to Friends and Family, PhD Talk
- What to Do When They Say, “Tell Us About Your Research,” by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick, The Chronicle of Higher Education
- Do You Have Mysterious Dragons in Your Research?, by Joseph Barber, Inside Higher Ed
- How to Give More Persuasive Presentations, Nancy Duarte
- How to Give a Killer Presentation, By Chris Anderson, Harvard Business Review
Designing effective slides
- 10 Tips on How to Make Slides That Communicate Your Idea, from TED’s In-House Expert, by TED Staff
- How to Add Powerful (and Legal) Images to Your Presentations, by David Teten
- Presentation Zen, by Gar Reynolds
- 10 Tips for Designing Presentations That Don’t Suck, by Joshua Johnson
Enhancing your public speaking confidence
- Tips and Techniques for More Confident and Compelling Presentations, by Matt Abrahams
- Conquering Stage Fright, by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America
- 9 Speaking Tips for Non-Native Speakers, by Ryan Avery
- Four Ways to Make Your Research Presentation Stand Out, GradLife blog
Examples of 3-Minute Thesis Talks and TED Talks
- TED Talks You Should Be Watching, from the American Historical Association
- TED Talks by Topic
- “Talk nerdy to me”, TED Talk with Melissa Marshall
- The Most Popular Science TED Talks
- PhD Comics Two-Minute Thesis: PhD Comics challenged graduate students to explain their work in two-minutes – the best have turned into video!
- TED Talks: approximately 3-minute talks on “ideas worth spreading”
- CGS Virtual 3MT Showcase: the virtual event showcased the winners of the 2021 Regional 3MT competitions
- Previous Yale 3MT Presentations: see how other students approached their presentations
- 3MT Competition Winners: winning presentations from around the world presented by the University of Queensland Australia
The 3-Minute Thesis Competition is sponsored by the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and is a collaboration of the offices of the McDougal Graduate Student Center. Yale’s competition is modeled on the 3MT® competition founded by the University of Queensland.