3 Minute Thesis

The Graduate College
7th Annual
Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT)

The 8th Annual 3MT Competition will be held on Friday, November 3, 2023. The competition will begin promptly at 5:00 pm in Glass Hall, Room 101.

The winner of the 3MT competition will represent Missouri State University at the regional competition during the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) annual conference.

What is a three-minute thesis (3MT)?

Oral communication of a student’s research to an educated layperson is often lacking in graduate programs. The University of Queensland developed a program where students summarize their research in 3 minutes or less, using pre-determined guidelines. The format is one where students make a presentation in less than 3 minutes; longer presentations are disqualified. Missouri State University is a participating university in this world-wide competition. For more information please visit the MAGS 3MT website.

Eligibility and process

The competition is open to any MSU graduate student with a research project, thesis, or non-thesis (seminar) project. Departmental competitions to determine those who compete at the college level are encouraged, but colleges determine how their nominees are selected.

Each college dean (or designee) can nominate students to present at the university-wide competition, usually after holding a college-wide competition. Each college can nominate up to four (4) students, ranked. Should we have more than 20 names submitted, the top 20 students will be accepted into the competition. College nominations must be sent to GradCollegeServices@MissouriState.edu by October 20, 2023 no later than 5:00 p.m. The program of presenters will be posted on this webpage.

Graduate students interested in this competition should check with their advisors or college offices as to how and when the college competitions will be conducted.

Each nominated graduate student will provide, ahead of time, one PowerPoint title slide (which can only have student name, graduate program and presentation title – no pictures, images, graphs, etc.) plus one slide to accompany the presentation (no animation allowed). A panel of judges will score the students to determine the winners. Nominees must submit their two (2) slides to GradCollegeServices@MissouriState.edu by October 26, 2023 no later than 5:00 p.m.

Colleges or graduate program directors/coordinators wishing to learn more about how to hold a competition should contact the Graduate College office at 417-836-5335 or email GradCollegeServices@MissouriState.edu.