About | Theme | Eligibility Criteria | Prizes | Timeline | Proposal Submission Form | Proposal Guidelines & Selection Criteria | Preliminary Round | Past Winners | FAQs | Contact
About
UW 3MT® is a professional development competition that celebrates the exciting capstone and research experiences of master’s and doctoral students at the University of Washington from all three campuses. The competition supports graduate students’ capacity to effectively explain their research or capstone project in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a public audience. This event is a partnership between Graduate Student Affairs in The Graduate School and the UW Libraries Research Commons.
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic research communication competition originally developed by the University of Queensland, Australia.
Congratulations to the 2024 Competition Winners
First Place – $1,000 | Sarah Pollack
Detecting Illegal Trade Risk in U.S. Mahogany Imports
Master’s candidate in Quantitative Ecology & Resource Management
College of the Environment
Runner Up – $500 | Niveditha Kalavakonda
Surgical Scene Understanding Towards Human-Centered Collaboration
in Robotic Surgery
Doctoral candidate, Electrical & Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
People’s Choice – $500 | Sherry Gu
The Paperclip is Mightier than the Sword
Master’s candidate in Applied Bioengineering
College of Engineering & UW Medicine
Read about all twelve of the wonderful graduate student presenters for this year’s event.
Theme
The theme for this year’s competition is Impact. Impact can be defined as the positive outcome of a critical intervention, social policy, service provision model, legal framework, or technological innovation. How does your graduate research demonstrate impact for the public good? We’re excited to celebrate the influence our graduate students have on the world.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to submit a proposal for UW 3MT, you must meet the following criteria:
- You are a University of Washington master’s or doctoral student from any UW campus.
- You have a draft of your final project (e.g. capstone, thesis, or dissertation), including findings and conclusions.
- Only one member of a capstone project team may submit a proposal. If the proposal is selected, the same student who submitted the proposal must be the presenter.
- Your degree will be granted during AY 2023-2024.
3MT competitions are intended for graduate students who are ready to present their capstone, thesis, or dissertation work, rather than for works-in-progress. If you are at an earlier stage with your research, we encourage you to submit a proposal to Scholars’ Studio to present your work.
Prizes
At the 3MT Competition on May 23, a panel of external judges will select winners for First Place and a Runner Up. A People’s Choice winner will be voted on by the audience.
Timeline
| Competition Process | Date, Time & Location |
| Proposals are due for the online preliminary round | April 23, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. (PDT) |
| Online preliminary round: Successful presenters will be selected as finalists for competition day. |
Early May 2024 |
| Competition day | Thursday, May 23, 2024 3:00-4:30 p.m. (Doors open at 2:30 pm) Auditorium, Alder Hall UW Seattle campus |
Proposal Guidelines for Online Preliminary Round
The proposal must address the following components:
Capstone or Research Project Summary
In 300 words or less, please describe your capstone or research project for a general reader (without a lot of discipline-specific jargon or technical language).
Your summary:
– Must be concise and coherent
– Does not include a lot of disciplinary jargon
– Is understandable to a general, public audience
Theme: Impact
Impact is the theme for this year’s UW Three Minute Thesis. Briefly (300 words) describe how your capstone or research project demonstrates impact.
Proposal Selection Criteria
Successful proposals for preliminary rounds are based on the following two components:
1. Capstone or Research Project Summary
– Is the capstone or research project summary concise and 300 words or less?
– Does the summary include a lot of disciplinary jargon?
– Is the summary understandable to a general, public audience?
2. Theme: Impact
Does the proposal include how the capstone or research project demonstrate impact in 300 words or less?
Submit Your Proposal
Access the proposal submission form. The deadline is April 23, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. (PDT).
Preliminary Round
If your proposal is selected, you will then have an opportunity to present your capstone or research project in a virtual preliminary round to be held in early May. Successful presenters will be selected to present at the in person 3MT Competition, scheduled for May 23.
Guidance on Preparing Your 3MT Presentation
Review the following tips and resources:
- Preparing for Your 3MT Presentation, University of Queensland
- Tips for Effective Design and Use of the 3MT Slide, Indiana University
- Time to Perfect Your Elevator Pitch, University of Pennsylvania
- How to Write a PhD Elevator Pitch, Academic Positions
- Communication: Two Minutes to Impress, Nature Jobs
Successful presenters will be selected to compete as finalists on competition day, based on the following guidelines:
| Content | The presentation sufficiently described the project topic, significance, and background – as well as key findings, implications, or recommendations. |
| Clarity | The presenter rarely used disciplinary jargon. If terminology was used, they were clearly defined for the lay audience. |
| Oral communication | The presenter had an engaging presence. |
| Visual communication | The presentation slide was clear, legible and concise. One single static PowerPoint slide is allowed. No slide transitions or animations are allowed. No props or additional electronic media (e.g. sound, music, animation, and video files) are permitted. |
| Theme | The presentation clearly and sufficiently described how the project demonstrates the theme of Impact. |
3MT Competition Day
UW 3MT Competition
May 23, 2024, 3:00–4:30 p.m.
Seattle campus
In front of a general audience and an esteemed panel of judges, up to 15 graduate student presenters will each compete by doing three-minute presentations about their capstone or research projects.
Past Winners
2023
- First Place – Mayuree Binjolkar, doctoral student in Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Runner Up – Ekta Samani, doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering
- People’s Choice – Megan Maerz, doctoral student in Molecular Medicine & Mechanisms of Disease
2022
- First Place – Enrique Saldarriaga, doctoral student in Health Economics and Outcomes Research
- Runner Up – Julia Dreifus, doctoral student in Microbiology
- People’s Choice – Douglas Wagoner, master’s student in Public Administration
2021
- First Place – Beth Halsne, doctoral student in Rehabilitation Science & master’s student in Mechanical Engineering
- Runner Up – Jackie Otting, master’s student in Education (Learning Science & Human Development)
- People’s Choice – Arianne Caudal, doctoral student in Biochemistry
2020
- Event canceled due to COVID-19
2019
- First Place – Barbara Rodriguez Droguett, doctoral student in Built Environment
- Runner Up – Junyue Cao, doctoral student in Molecular & Cellular Biology
- People’s Choice – Junyue Cao, doctoral student in Molecular & Cellular Biology
2018
- First Place – Amey Khanolkar, doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering
- Runner Up – Evan Schuster, master’s student in Mechanical Engineering
- People’s Choice – Amey Khanolkar, doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering
2017
- First Place – Molly Grear, doctoral student in Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Runner Up – Gabby Barsh, doctoral student in Molecular & Cellular Biology
- People’s Choice – Zheng Li, doctoral student in Bioengineering
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens on 3MT Competition Day?
UW 3MT Competition
May 23, 2024, 3:00-4:30 p.m. (Doors open at 2:30 p.m.)
Auditorium, Alder Hall, UW Seattle campus
In front of a general audience and a panel of judges, graduate student presenters will each compete by doing three-minute presentations about their capstone or research projects.
Prizes
Presenters will be competing for First Place, Runner Up, and People’s Choice Awards.
Who is eligible to submit a proposal for UW 3MT?
To be eligible to submit a proposal, you must meet the following criteria:
- You are a University of Washington master’s or doctoral student from any UW campus.
- You have a draft of your final project (e.g. capstone, thesis, or dissertation), including findings and conclusions.
- Only one member of a capstone project team may submit a proposal. If the proposal is selected, the same student who submitted the proposal must be the presenter.
- Your degree will be granted during AY 2023-2024.
3MT competitions are intended for graduate students who are ready to present their capstone, thesis, or dissertation work, rather than for works-in-progress. If you are at an earlier stage with your research, we encourage you to submit proposals to Scholars’ Studio to present your work.
What is allowed on my 3MT slide?
One single static PowerPoint slide is permitted.
In preparing the slide, remember that ‘less is more.’ It does not have to include text. Visual cues are very effective in assisting the presenter’s explanation of their research. (No slide transitions, video, or animations are permitted).
Can I use sound or video files?
No additional electronic media (e.g. sound, music, animation, and video files) is permitted during the competition.
Can I have props (a 3D printed model, a soccer ball, a microscope, etc.)?
No.
Is there a dress code?
Business formal or casual is suggested. Costumes are not allowed.
Can I win in more than one category during the competition?
Yes, it is possible to win a place (First or Runner Up) and also win the People’s Choice Award.
Who will be in the audience during the competition?
The audience is often a mix of graduate students, faculty, staff, and University leadership. There will also be supporters of graduate education in attendance, as well as presenters’ family and community members.
Contact
uw3mt@uw.edu