Why You Should Participate in 3MT®

Jill Huerta, Director of The Center for Graduate Life

It’s that 3MT-time-of-year again!  For those of you who don’t already know, 3 Minute Thesis is an international graduate student communication competition that originated at the University of Queensland, Australia. Hundreds of universities, including UNC Charlotte, hold local competitions. Here are the rules: you get 3 minutes and one static slide (no animation, no sound effects) to explain your research to a lay audience. There are preliminary rounds (October 28 and 29), with the top ten competitors moving on to the final round on November 15. Here is a video of last year’s final round.

If you have research, here are 5 reasons why you should register to participate in 3MT®:

1. You need to get good at this. Whether you are planning a career in academia or industry, you WILL be called upon to make presentations. The best way to get good at presenting is to practice, practice, practice, especially with feedback. That’s why I’m going to send all participants a video clip of their preliminary round presentations. You can review this with your advisor or mentor and use it as a tool for improvement. If it’s already awesome, you can post it on your LinkedIn!

2. Participating in 3MT® will help you better understand your own research. Learning to clearly explain your research and articulate why it matters in three minutes or less will clarify your own thinking about your topic. 

3.Participating in 3MT® looks great on your resume/CV.  It demonstrates that you can communicate technical information to a diverse audience -- a skill that is highly desirable to employers. 3MT will also provide you with compelling stories to tell at your interviews.

4. There’s prize money: $500 for first place, $300 for second, and $200 for third. There’s also a People’s Choice Certificate in which audience members vote for their favorite presenter--no prize money for this one, but it comes with bragging rights. The first-place winner will also get an all-expense-paid trip to Birmingham, Alabama to attend the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools annual meeting and compete at the regional level.

5. “But Jill, this scares me.” Best reason of all! In order to grow, you need to stretch yourself to do the things that scare you. Why not stretch yourself while you’re here, at grad school, in a safe environment? Besides, the preliminary rounds aren’t that scary. It’s just you and a handful of people, mainly fellow competitors who are just as nervous as you are. And I’ll be there to make you feel welcome, cheer you on, and congratulate you for choosing personal growth over fear. I know you can do it!

Also, look for upcoming information on our Poster 2.0 competition that we’ll hold in tandem with 3MT finals!