Skip Navigation
Falvey Library
Advanced
You are exploring: Home > Blogs

Three Minute Thesis (3MT): “So, what exactly do you do at school?”

Photo courtesy of Isabel Choi.


Your ten-year-old sibling might ask you one morning, “So, what exactly do you do at school?” What if you study thermomechanical and electromagnetic properties of ceramic composites at high temperatures or smooth orthogonal decompositions? What would you say? How would you say it? This is the question graduate students competing in Three Minute Thesis (3MT) are forced to wonder and answer. At Villanova University’s 3MT competition, graduate students had to answer the question, “What do you do?” in three minutes or less. 

Held in The John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, Feb. 24, 13 finalists (master’s and doctoral students at Villanova) presented their research to members of the audience in front of a large slideshow presentation. The stage was setup so that audience members were able to see the three-minute timer. Similar to that of a game show, audience members watched the timer tick down to minutes and then to mere seconds. After each presentation, numerous judges (Villanova faculty) would give feedback before going on to the next contestant.

Towards the end of the event, audience members were able to vote for a “people’s choice” award while the judges calculated the first and second place winners. Before the winners were announced, audience members were able to hear a couple personal comments from the contestants themselves–their process, struggles, and aspirations.

Eliana Uriona took first place for her presentation “Optimizing Biochar Conditions for Heavy Metal Immobilization in Contaminated Soils.” Uriona also earned the people’s choice award. Grace Sutoris, won second place for her presentation “Using Machine Learning to Detect Underlying Heartbeat During CPR.”

Representing Villanova University, Uriona will compete at the Northeast Regional 3MT Competition on Friday, April 28. The virtual competition will be hosted by the University of New Hampshire. Watch Villanova’s 2023 3MT competition here. Be sure to check out Falvey’s blog next year for 2024 3MT announcements.


Isabel Choi ’26, is Communication & Marketing Assistant at Falvey Library.

“Attending the competition definitely inspired me…to see dedicated graduate students present their studies….perhaps graduate research is something I should consider pursuing too!”

 


 


Like

3MT: Villanova Students Share Their Research in Timed Competition

Poster of the 3MT event.


Join us for the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition on Friday, Feb. 18, in the John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts. The main event will take place from 3-5 p.m. and the reception will take place from 5-6 p.m.

What is a 3MT competition? Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a competition for master’s and doctoral students to develop and showcase their research communication skills. Developed by The University of Queensland, 3MT cultivates students’ academic, professional, presentation and research communication skills. To be successful, competitors must effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

A panel of judges will select a first-place winner ($1,000 award), a second-place winner ($500 award), and audience members in attendance will select an audience choice winner ($250 award). In addition, the first-place winner of Villanova’s 3MT competition will be entered into the regional 3MT competition for the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools.

This event, sponsored by the Graduate Programs in CLAS, COE, FCON, VSB, and Falvey Memorial Library, is free and open to the public. For more information about 3MT, please visit the 3MT website.

Grab your tickets to the competition here (there is no cost to attend the event).


 


Like

 


Last Modified: February 10, 2022

Ask Us: Live Chat
Back to Top