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JCU Graduate School Three Minute Thesis

5th Annual 3-Minute Thesis, Essay, or Creative Project Competition

Application Now Open |

Application Deadline: Sunday, January 26, 2025

WHO:

  • Open to ALL JCU Graduate Students

WHAT:

  • Research presentation for anyone to learn
  • 3 minutes ONLY
  • 1 PowerPoint Slide

WHY:

  • Sharing YOUR research with JCU on Wednesday, February 19, 2025
  • Competition winner advances to Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) competition April 2-4, 2025 in Indianapolis, IN

For more details, review the "Competition Timeline" and "Competition Guidelines" sections below.

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Application Submission Deadline

  • Sun., January 26, 2025 -

Virtual Preliminary Competition

  • End of January-Early February - The Graduate School will contact all participants to set up a preliminary round presentation

In-Person Final Competition

  • Weds., February 19, 2025 | 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM | Dolan Science Center, Room E130

MAGS Competition 

  • 3MT Winner advances to Ìý- April 2 - 4, 2025 in Indianapolis, IN
  • Graduate students enrolled in any Master's program at ¾«¶«AV may compete.
  • The degree program need not formally require a thesis, but topic must cover an original research project.
  • There will be one preliminary round of virtual judging with top choices selected to advance to final in-person ¾«¶«AV competition.
  • Gift card prize awarded to peer choice award and competition winners.
  • Competition winner advances on to
  • One single static PowerPoint slide permitted, but not required. Slide transitions, animations or ‘movement’ of any description of slide content not allowed.
  • No additional electronic media (e.g., sound and video files) or props (e.g., notecards, scripts, pointers, costumes, instruments, lab equipment) permitted.
  • Presentations limited to 3 minutes; competitors exceeding that are disqualified.
  • Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g., no poems, raps or songs).
  • Presentations are considered to have begun when a presenter begins via movement or speech.
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Developed by , the Three Minute Thesis competition cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. The competition supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

  • Visit the University of Queensland website above for tips on how to craft your presentation and watch example videos from past winners.

The ¾«¶«AV Graduate School hosted its first annual 3-Minute Thesis, Essay, or Creative Project Competition virtually in 2021. The 2022 competition was offered as a hybrid event and can be viewed on the  Channel along with the 2024 event.

Past Winners

2024

Competition Winner: Katherine Porras Brenes

  • Project Title: Bright Does Not Always Mean Toxic: The Case of the Green and Black Poison Frog in Costa Rica

Peer Choice Winner: Sr. Cynthia El Kassis

  • Project Title: Sustainability & Development

2023

Competition & Peer Choice Winner: Katelyn Gobbie

  • Project Title: The Biocrust Canopy Beneath Your Feet

2022

Competition & Peer Choice Winner: Emily Staufer

  • Project Title: Toxic Toads: Characterizing Chemical Defenses in Understudied Poison Frogs

2021

Competition & Peer Choice Winner: Kelsey Garner

  • Project Title: Assessment of Differential Behavioral Syndromes in Genetically Distinct Clades of Eastern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus)