The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an international competition designed to help doctoral students improve their ability to communicate complex research to a general audience. At Mizzou, 3MT® goes beyond the competition, offering a complete professional development experience, including a storytelling workshop, practice sessions with feedback, and culminates in a public speaking competition with cash prizes for professional development funds. Open to all doctoral students in research-based programs.
Judging & Prizes
Official 3MT® Judging Criteria
Criterion 1: Comprehension & Content
- Did the presentation provide an understanding of the background to the research question being addressed and its significance?
- Did the presentation clearly describe the key results of the research including conclusions and outcomes?
- Did the presentation follow a clear and logical sequence?
- Was the thesis topic, key results, research significance, and outcomes communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
- Did the speaker avoid scientific jargon, explain terminology, and provide adequate background information to illustrate points?
- Did the presenter spend adequate time on each element of their presentation – or did they elaborate for too long on one aspect or was the presentation rushed?
Criterion 2: Engagement & Communication
- Did the oration make the audience want to know more?
- Was the presenter careful not to trivialize or generalize their research?
- Did the presenter convey enthusiasm for their research?
- Did the presenter capture and maintain their audience’s attention?
- Did the speaker have sufficient stage presence, eye contact and vocal range; maintain a steady pace, and have a confident stance?
- Did the PowerPoint slide enhance the presentation – was it clear, legible, and concise?
Judging Panel
Judges from diverse backgrounds, including community members and higher education professionals, will evaluate the presentations. Judges adhere to the official scoring criteria and are committed to the spirit of the 3MT competition.
Prizes
- First Place: $500 in professional development funds and a plaque. The winner will represent Mizzou at a regional 3MT® competition, with travel expenses covered by the University.
- Runner-up: $300 in professional development funds and a plaque.
- People’s Choice: $200 in professional development funds and a plaque. The public is invited to vote for this award.
Learning Outcomes
The Mizzou 3MT® program aims to equip graduate students with effective public speaking skills. Through storytelling training, presentation seminars, and practice sessions, participants will:
- Capture and retain the attention of a large audience.
- Use voice inflection, body language, and gestures effectively.
- Create educational visual aids that enhance presentations.
- Deliver memorable messages.
- Articulate the societal impact of their research.
Benefits of Public Speaking
Mastering public speaking sets you apart in the job market, with verbal communication skills highly valued by employers across sectors. This skill is useful in job interviews, conference presentations, classroom instruction, and pitching innovations to potential investors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are all doctoral students eligible?
To be eligible, you must be actively pursing a research-based doctoral (PhD or EdD) degree.
Why do I need my advisor’s signature on the Consent Form?
In some disciplines, research findings must be embargoed until the study is published. This is especially true of students working in classified labs. We need to make certain that your advisor is aware, and approves, of your participation in this event.
What is the dress code?
Dress is either business casual or business attire. No jeans, please! Here’s why: Mizzou 3MT® is a key professional development event for research-based degree candidates. Because of the significance, it is most appropriate for participants to dress as a professional – no different than attending a disciplinary conference or job interview. Another consideration: professional attire can potentially enhance your stage presence, especially because all of our judges are professionals too.
If cost for professional attire is prohibitive, Truman’s Closet is service for Mizzou students who wish to borrow business attire for special events and job interviews.
Do I have to use a slide as part of my presentation?
Yes, because the effectiveness of your visual is part of the judging criterion. Remember that the slide is static: No slide transitions, animations or ‘movement’ of any description are allowed. Also, the slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration. Deadline: Submit your slide as a pdf file to mizzou3mt@missouri.edu by the published deadline. Note: If you move forward in the competition, you must use the same slide (i.e., you cannot modify your slide during the Mizzou competition.)
Do the judges “favor” presentations by STEM students over those in the social sciences or humanities?
Not at all! The competition is open to all research-based degree programs. The judges follow the official scoring criteria when making their decisions. No preference is given to one discipline over another.
Will you have separate rounds for life sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, etc.?
At Mizzou 3MT, everyone competes together. In the future, if the competition grows substantially, we may offer disciplinary preliminaries.
Why are people from higher education on the judging panel?
As you know, our intent with Mizzou 3MT is to select a winner who can best describe research to a lay (public) audience. Thus, we make every attempt to find people in the local community (outside of higher education) to serve as judges. This proved to be a challenge, so we also invited faculty and administrators from inside higher education to serve as judges. That said, all judges are volunteers (not paid) and they do their best to follow the scoring criteria. Be assured that they are committed to spirit and intent of the Mizzou 3MT competition.
Will I get to see the judges’ comments?
No, for several reasons. Foremost, Mizzou 3MT® is a professional development, public speaking program that culminates with a competition event. The training sessions (e.g., storytelling) we offer in the months prior to the event are designed for you to practice and receive constructive feedback in order to improve your public speaking skills. The second consideration is our volunteer judges, many of whom prefer to keep their comments confidential.
Remember that the results of any judged competition is based on subjective opinion. A 3 minute presentation that resonates with one judge may not appeal as much to second or third judge.
Tip: Please seek feedback on your slide, content, and presentation style before the competition. In the past, many of the finalists took advantage of the storytelling training and/or practice session. Their success proves it pays to practice!
Past Competitions
2024 Competition
Xiuhan Chen (left); Emily Kneel (center); Arshdeep Singh (right)
Winners
🥇 1st Place: Arshdeep Singh, Food & Hospitality Systems
🥈 2nd Place: Emily Knebel, Area Pathobiology
👏 People’s Choice: Xiuhan Chen, Statistics, Measurement, and Evaluation in Education
Other Contestants
- Ahmad Alhonainy
- Arshdeep Singh
- Brian Thomas
- Eric Partridge
- Emily Knebel
- Heba Abdelnaby
- Ruth Opoku
- Meet Parikh
- Xiuhan Chen
2023 Competition
Jacob Thomas (left); Varsha Bhaskaran (center); Peggy Birikorang (right)
Winners
🥇 1st Place: Jacob Thomas, Health & Rehabilitation Science
🥈 2nd Place: Varsha Bhaskaran, Natural Resources
👏 People’s Choice: Peggy Birikorang, Biochemistry
Other Contestants
- Jenny Gutierrez, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Michael Owusu Ansah, Agriculture & Applied Economics
- Nanan Nuraini, Interdisciplinary Neuroscience
- Kate Nyarko, Chemistry
2023 Contestants
Judges
- Dr. Sarah Traub, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for MU Extension & Engagement
- Dr. Praveen Edara, Interim Dean for MU College of Engineering
- Katelynn McIlwain, Managing Editor for KBIA-FM
Emcees
- Kacey Lynch, Theatre
- Irene, Gasarah, Theatre
2019 Winners
Amir Mofrad (left); Clarissa Steele (center); Majid Mufaqam Syed Abdul (right)
Majid Abdul’s speech, titled Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Role of Sugars, earned him the first place title in Mizzou’s 2019 3 Minute Thesis Competition. Majid is a doctoral candidate in the Nutrition Sciences program. Clarissa Steele, doctoral candidate in Management, came in second place with her speech titled Taking Care of Business. Amir Mofrad, doctoral candidate in Chemical Engineering won the People’s Choice Award with his speech titled Exploring Computational Materials Science.
Other 3MT Contestants:
- Bitty Balducci, Marketing
- Lauren Borkowski, Biomedical Sciences
- Parijat Ghosh, Rural Sociology
- Nathan Katz, Sociology
- Jason McKinney, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
- Amir Mofrad, Chemical Engineering
- Meredith Shaw, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
- Lisa Shepard, Physics
- Haejung Shin, Communication
- Clarissa Steele, Management
- Levi Storks, Biological Sciences
- Majid Mufaqam Syed Abdul, Nutrition Sciences
- Al Willsey, Philosophy
Judges for the evening were: Dr. Gavin King, Associate Professor, Physics and Biochemistry; Dr. Susan Renoe, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, Extension, & Engagement; Eric Stann, Research News Strategist, MU News Bureau
Emcees for the evening were Kasey Lynch & Blake Willoughby, Theatre.
2018 Winners
Clarissa Steele (left); Megan Haney (center); Li Lee (right)
Electrical Nerve Stimulation: Improving Voice after Injury was the title Megan Haney chose to introduce her speech, which earned her the title of 2018 Mizzou 3 Minute Thesis winner. Megan was a doctoral candidate in Pathobiology Area Program. Second place winner was Clarissa Steele, Business Administration. Audience members voted Li Lee from Biomedical Imaging the People’s Choice winner.
Contestants in the Mizzou 3MT® 2018 competition
Other 3MT contestants:
Ghazwan Alwan, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Michael, Appenteng, Chemistry
Glenn Baker, Psychological Sciences
Josh Bramlett, Communication
Mary Decker, Special Education
Megan Haney, Area Pathobiology
Briana Kille, Psychological Sciences
Li Lee, Biomedical Imagine
Tareq Lehmidi, Pathobiology Area
Rayne Lim, Biomedical Sciences
Deanna Maynard, Special Education
Aditi Mishra, Biological Sciences
Marco Navarro, Biological Sciences
Tunde Ojewola, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
Joel Reed, Communication
Clarissa Steele, Business Administration
Anna Valiavska, Organizational Communication
Sangkwon Woo, Anthropology
Nasibeh, Zanjirani Farahani, Industrial Engineering & Manufacturing Systems
Judges for the evening were Dr. Jeni Hart, Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Vice Provost for Advanced Studies; Dr. Susan Renoe, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, Extension, and Engagement; and Dr. Sheila Grant, Associate Vice Chancellor of Research and Strategic Initiatives.
Emcees for the evening were Kate Busselle and Blake Willoughby, Theatre
2017 Winners
Freddie Jennings (left) and Susheel Bhanu Busi (right)
Can You Avoid a Colonoscopy? Using Bacteria to Detect and Treat Colon Cancer
That was the message delivered by the 2017 Mizzou 3 Minute Thesis winner Susheel Bhanu Busi, a doctoral candidate in Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapeutics. Audience members also voted Susheel as the People’s Choice winner! Second place was awarded to Freddie Jennings, a doctoral candidate in Communication.
Other 3MT contestants:
- Nettie Brock, Communication. A Thousand TV Shows. Mentor: Dr. Ben Warner.
- Ryan Dibala, Natural Resources. Trees Providing Forage for Livestock. Mentor: Dr. Shibu Jose.
- Anna Perinchery, Biological Sciences. You are what you eat! Mentor: Dr. Elizabeth King.
- Zach Rubin, Sociology. Lifestyle and Activism: The Key Ingredients. Mentor: Dr. Victoria Johnson.
- Lisa Groshong, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources. Climate change doesn’t care. Mentor: Dr. Sonja Wilhelm Stanis.
- Liga Wuri, Animal Science. Vitrification for Fertility Preservation. Mentor: Dr. Yuksel Agca.
- Alex Howe, Philosophy. Citizenship Goes to the Dogs. Mentor: Dr. Peter Vallentyne.
Judges for the evening were Provost Garnett Stokes; Dr. Jeni Hart, Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Vice Provost for Advanced Studies; and Dr. Keven McDonald, UM System Chief Diversity Officer & MU Vice Chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity.
MC for the evening was Rachel Bauer, doctoral candidate in Theatre.
2016 Winners
First place winner was Jacqueline Gamboa (middle); second place Dr. Michael K. Fink (right), and People’s Choice Megan Sheridan (left).
2015 Winners
Thirty doctoral candidates participated in the first annual Mizzou Three Minutes Thesis competition. First place winner was Arianna Soldati (middle); second place Jessica M. Anderson (right) and People’s Choice Lincoln Sheets, MD (left).
About 3MT® worldwide
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia. The exercise challenges doctoral* candidates to present a compelling oration on their thesis (dissertation) topic and its significance in just three minutes.
3MT® develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of research students’ capacity to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
View 3MT® presentations
To view winning presentations from around the world, go to the 3MT® Showcase on the official UQ site.