Florida Atlantic University has announced the winners of the 7th annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition.
Hosted by the Graduate College, this year was the first live and in-person ‘s 3MT® Competition since the pandemic. It was held at the Boca Raton Campus Student Union with students, faculty, and the public in attendance.
Developed by the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2008, the idea for 3MT came about at a time when the state of Queensland was suffering severe drought. To conserve water, residents were encouraged to time their showers, and many people had a three minute egg timer fixed to the wall in their bathroom. The then Dean of the Graduate School, Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson, put two and two together and the idea for the 3MT competition was born.
Since 2011 the popularity of the competition has increased, 3MT competitions are now held in over 900 universities across more than 85 countries worldwide.
In November 2013, the first Universitas 21 (U21) 3MT competition was held with several universities from around the world competing in a virtual competition. The 3MT® competition challenges graduate students around the world to pitch their research in only 3 minutes to a live audience.
FAU’s 3MT® is a venue for graduate students from various disciplines to interact with one another and discuss their research and its implications. The competition provides an opportunity for undergraduates, alumni, industry partners, various on-campus departments, institutions and the community to gain exposure to high-level, cutting-edge research at FAU.
The goal of the 3MT® competition is for FAU graduate students from all colleges and departments to cultivate the ability to explain their research, including both breadth and significance, in a language appropriate to an audience containing both specialists and non-specialists in three minutes or less. The 3MT® competition provides FAU graduate students with the opportunity to sharpen their professional development skills, reignite their passion for discovery, promote preeminent research, and foster community.
- Skills development for research candidates
Participating in 3MT develops academic, presentation and research communication skills, while developing research candidates’ ability to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. - Building research culture in universities
3MT provides a valuable opportunity for HDR candidates to come together (live or virtually), get to know one another and talk about their research. It also provides a supportive environment in which schools, institutes and universities can provide presentation skills training. - Building external relations for the university
3MT winners may go on to represent their university at national and international 3MT competitions which provides an excellent networking and professional development opportunity. Previous 3MT finalists have benefited from invitations to a variety of other networking events following their participation in the competition.
At FAU’s annual competition, over $30,000 in scholarship prizes are awarded annually to winners from both the Preliminary Rounds and the Championship. Distinguished FAU community members serve judges and a public vote determines the People’s Choice winners. FAU’s 3MT® Championship Award is generously sponsored through the Dr. Eric H. Shaw 3MT® Championship Award Endowment Fund.
William D. Kalies, Ph.D.
A panel of distinguished FAU community members determined the 2023 first-place, runner-up, and second runner-up championship winners. This year’s FAU 2023 3MT® Heat & Championship judging panel included: Dr. Stacy Volnick, President, Florida Atlantic University, Dr. Michele Hawkins, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Larry Faerman, Vice President for Student Affairs and Nikki Cabus, Chief Executive Officer, South Florida Tech Hub. More than 200 online votes submitted by public viewers named the People’s Choice Award winner.
“Conducting research is a critical component of graduate education, and being able to effectively communicate the significance of that research to a broad audience is a valuable skill,” says William D. Kalies, Ph.D., interim dean of the Graduate College.
“The graduate students at Florida Atlantic perform impactful research, and the Graduate College is honored to support this annual competition and provide a platform for students to gain experience presenting their research to the public while having the opportunity to earn scholarships.”
A total of 51 graduate students pitched their research projects to a live audience with 19 of them awarded scholarship prizes in the championship round. The championship winners of the 2023 3MT® competition are:
Pictured left to right: William Kalies, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College; Ingrid Santillan Barragan, graduate student, College of Engineering and Computer Science; Hayley Knapp, graduate student, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science; and Eric H. Shaw, Ph.D.
FAU championship winner and recipient of the Dr. Eric H. Shaw 3MT® Championship Endowment Award* (tie)
The two (We had a tie!) championship winners and recipients of the $2,500 Dr. Eric H. Shaw 3MT® Championship Award also will represent FAU at the Conference of Florida Graduate Schools at the University of Miami from April 17 to 19 and present their 3MT® research. For more information on FAU’s 3MT® competition or to see all submissions and heat winners, click here.