3MT Contest

About 3MT®

“Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ) which challenges research higher degree students to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance in just three minutes in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

3MT is not an exercise in trivialising or ‘dumbing-down’ research but forces students to consolidate their ideas and crystallise their research discoveries.”

History

The first 3MT was held at UQ in 2008 with 160 PhD students competing. In 2009 and 2010 the 3MT competition was promoted to other Australian
and New Zealand universities and enthusiasm for the concept grew. Due to its adoption in numerous universities, a multi-national event was developed, and the Inaugural Trans-Tasman 3MT competition was held at UQ in 2010.
Since 2011 the popularity of the competition has increased and 3MT competitions are now held in at least 170 universities across more than 17 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.

Rules for Competition

The 3MT EUSIPCO competition will be performed according to the following basic rules:

• Eligibility: any PhD student.
• PhD students are not eligible for the competition if their thesis is supervised or co-supervised by a member of the EURASIP Board of Directors (BoD), the EUSIPCO organizing committee, or anyone involved in the selection process at any stage.
• The competition will be announced in both EUSIPCO and EURASIP web pages.
• Every participant is required to submit a video of 3 minutes and 1 page summary of his PhD, following the same template downloadable on the website of the EUSIPCO conference.
• Out of all the submissions a maximum of 10 finalists will be invited to present during EUSIPCO. The selection of the finalists will be carried out by the 3MT Committee.
• The finalists will receive complimentary registration to attend EUSIPCO (please note that such free registration cannot be used to cover accepted papers).
• Acceptance of participation will be based on the submitted video, completing the registration and attendance confirmation.
• The final contest will take place during EUSIPCO. The video of the winners will be posted on EURASIP video channel.
• Video submission requirements: all the video formats are accepted. The name of the video file should have the same name of the participant and should not exceed 3 minutes of duration.
• A single static PDF slide is permitted for both video presentation and live competition. No slide transitions, animations, or movement of any kind are allowed. The slide must be presented from the beginning of the oration.
• The static slide can be slightly refined after submitting the video and before the final competition, but the title must remain unchanged.
• No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted.
• No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum and competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified.
• Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
• Presentations will be made in person on the stage.
  Presentations will be considered to have started when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.
• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.

Prize

The jury will select a “Jury Prize,” and the audience will choose a “People’s Choice Award” in the 3MT thesis competition. Additionally, two runner-up winners will be recognized. Both the overall winner and the “People’s Choice Award” recipient will each receive a prize of €500. The candidates who place second and third will receive award certificates.

Contact

Director for Technical Programs and Membership