Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is back in 2020! Present your research to a general audience and compete for the first prize of $3000. The only catch? You have to explain your entire thesis in three minutes or less! 

3MT is a great chance to improve your presentation skills, not to mention the opportunity to gain some recognition for your work and to compete for prizes. The highest- ranked PhD winner at VUW will also be entered into the Asia-Pacific finals, run by the University of Queensland. 

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition will be held in a slightly different format. Instead of doing your talk in person, talks will be pre-recorded and submitted as a video. But don’t worry if you’ve never done this before, we’ve enlisted the help of Student Learning who are offering participants help with how to make and edit a three-minute video recording, and how to present a top- notch talk. 

What are the prizes?

1st prize: $3000 
2nd prize: $1000 
3rd prize: $500 
Highest ranked PhD submission: entry to the Asia-Pacific Grand Final 
Masters/Honours Prize: $250 
Wellington International Prize: $250
People’s Choice Award: $100 VicBooks voucher 
Heats: winner $200, runner-up $50 

How do I enter? 

All currently enrolled VUW  postgraduate students can enter. If you would like to participate, please fill out our Expression of Interest form. Registering your interest will put you on our 3MT mailing list, and we’ll give you all the info you need about the competition, including ideas from Student Learning about preparing your talk. 

Feel free to fill out the Expression of Interest form even if you’re unsure about entering the competition – you’ll be under no obligation to submit a talk. 

The final submission date for talks is 3rd August 2020, 5pm. Judging for the heats and final will take place throughout August, with the winners of the final being announced on 28th August 2020. The form to submit your talk will be available soon. 

Where can I find more information? 

You can find out more about 3MT on our website: https://www.vuwpgsa.ac.nz/3mt-2020 

You can also read more about 3MT, including the details for this year’s competition, from the University of Queensland: https://threeminutethesis.uq.edu.au/ 

We look forward to hearing your talks soon!