Can you present your thesis in three minutes?

The Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE) is hosting Stanford’s inaugural 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition this spring. Applications open Dec. 2 and close Jan. 19.

“This is an exciting opportunity for our graduate students to step into the spotlight and showcase their research in a fun and dynamic way,” said Stacey Bent, vice provost for graduate education and postdoctoral affairs. “Now more than ever, we need to find ways to communicate our scholarly knowledge across all areas of study, and especially to lay audiences. By expressing their complex research in clear, compelling narratives, they are developing critical skills that will serve them well into the future. We can’t wait to see the creativity and passion our graduate students bring to the stage.”

The 3MT competition cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills and helps students hone the ability to effectively explain their work to a lay audience – a tool that will serve them in future research, teaching, and beyond.

The first place winner will receive $5,000; second place receives $3,000; third place receives $1,000; and people’s choice receives $500.

The competition will be held in front of an audience on April 17 and emceed by President Jonathan Levin. Judges include Provost Jenny Martinez; Condoleezza Rice, the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution; Martin Shell, vice president and chief external relations officer; and Howard Wolf, vice president for alumni affairs and president of the Stanford Alumni Association.

The presentations, which are spoken-word only (no additional audio is permitted and a single static slide is allowed), will be judged on criteria including how clearly the research is explained, how accessible and engaging the presentation is for a nonspecialist audience, and how well it conveys the researcher’s enthusiasm for their subject matter.

The competition is open to all current Stanford graduate students who have successfully advanced to candidacy by the start of the fall quarter. Presentations must be based on original dissertation research, showcase new knowledge, and include research results.

To enter the competition, graduate students must submit a video of their presentation of no longer than three minutes. The initial submissions will be judged against other submissions in the same disciplinary cluster. Ten finalists will be selected by Feb. 17. Finalists must be available to present in the final competition on April 17.

The finalists will receive one-on-one coaching for communicating their scholarship and a chance to receive a professionally cut video of their talk.

Tiffany Lieuw, VPGE’s director of technology and communication, said the 3MT competition, which originated at the University of Queensland, presents a unique way for graduate students to elevate their scholarship alongside other disciplines.

“What graduate students are studying can be very niche, and this is a great opportunity to connect with scholars from across the seven schools and really define your research,” Lieuw said. “Especially for the finalists, you get a lot of professional development opportunities to hone your craft in a way that’s explainable and accessible to a general audience.”

The competition is open to the public and will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. April 17 in the Traitel Building’s Hauck Auditorium. It will be followed by a reception and award ceremony. Those interested in competing can register to attend an informational workshop at noon on Dec. 3 or Jan. 16.

For more information, contact 3minutethesis@stanford.edu