Penn Three Minute Thesis (3MT)
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Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a competition for doctoral and research students to develop and showcase their research communication skills through brief, 3-minute presentations.
Penn's annual 3MT competition is sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for Education, with co-sponsorship and support from Career Services, the Graduate Student Center, and GAPSA.
Penn 3MT is a University-sponsored speaking competition designed to showcase graduate student research in three-minute talks to a general audience. This is a terrific opportunity for graduate students engaged in substantive original research to develop communication skills and share their work with faculty, students, and staff from across the University.
2025 Competition Timeline
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3MT Information Sessions: October 2024 & January 2025
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Research Communications Workshops: October 2024 & February 2025 (optional)
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Practice and Feedback Sessions: February 2025 (optional)
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First Round Submission Deadline: Saturday, March 1, 2025
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Finalists announced: March 10-11, 2025
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Finalist Feedback Sessions: March 10-April 3, 2025
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Live Competition: Friday, April 4, 2025, 2:00-4:30 PM
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NEAGS Competition: Friday, April 25, 2025, 3:00-5:00 PM
In addition to bragging rights, a prize of $1000 will be awarded to the first-place winner and $500 to both the second-place and audience choice winners. Winners will also have the opportunity to participate in regional and national 3 Minute Thesis competitions!
To enter, students must register below and submit an abstract or video of their three-minute talk to Penn 3MT (details below) by the First Round Submission Deadline. Up to 10 finalists will be chosen from those first-round submissions to compete in the campus-wide, Live Competition on the date above.
The 3MT competition will teach you how to communicate effectively to specialists and non-specialists alike, preparing you to present your research at scholarly conferences and to take part in both academic and professional job markets.
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Professional Development: Penn 3MT is a great opportunity for graduate students to practice sharing their original research to general audiences. Participants have the opportunity to attend workshops and receive group and one-on-one coaching to develop oratorical skills, dynamic deliveries, and compelling content when presenting their academic research.
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Networking: 3MT participants will have an opportunity to meet and engage with new faculty, staff, and students from across the University.
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Impact: Participants have the opportunity to make the importance and relevance of their research visible to a non-specialist audience. Participants can elect to have their presentation shared online, promoting both your own work and the value of graduate student research to a much wider audience.
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Prizes: Everyone who submits a video will receive prizes from GAPSA and the Grad Center! Please register at the blue button at the top of the page if you plan on submitting a video so we can collect your contact information. Judges will select a first-place ($1000) and second-place ($500) winner at the live competition. There will also be an audience choice ($500) winner.
Active, full-time PhD and Professional Doctoral students with a dissertation requirement. Graduates are not eligible.
Please Note: Students enrolled in any of the following programs are not eligible to enter the 3MT Competition:
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Professional Masters
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Professional Doctorate without a dissertation requirement
Entries from all disciplines are welcome and encouraged.
In cases of presentation of a collaborative research project, the presenter’s contribution to the project must be salient and clearly specified.
If you are unsure of your eligibility or would like more information about 3MT, please contact gradcenter@upenn.edu. You can also check the Graduate Catalog for your Penn School to see if your program is listed under the PhD and Research Master's Programs or if your professional doctorate requires a dissertation.
We are also looking for faculty judges for the live competition. If you are interested in being a judge, please contact us!
To enter, you must submit a slide and either a 1-page abstract of your talk or a 3-minute draft video geared toward a lay audience.
Please register at the blue button at the top of the page if you are interested in participating. Be sure to read through the Rules and Guidelines also before submitting your videos!
Competition Process
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Students may submit their slide and abstract/video anytime before the First Round Submission Deadline for feedback. You can also request a 1:1 session during this time for immediate feedback or to go over your presentation with the Associate Director of Student Programs.
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Research Communications Workshops offered by the Graduate Student Center will occur during the Fall and Spring semesters. See our Events page for details.
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Student videos submitted by the First Round Submission Deadline are reviewed by a panel of staff for compliance with the eligibility requirements.
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Up to 10 Finalists are selected for the live competition at least one-month before the Live Competition date.
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A campus-wide competition between the finalists will be held on the Live Competition date. A reception will be held after the competition.
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On the basis of these presentations, winners will be selected by the panel of judges and a “people’s choice” by audience members.
Judging and Selection
A panel of non-specialist faculty and staff judges will evaluate student presentations. Presentations will be evaluated based on clarity, comprehension, content, engagement, and communication.
Everyone who submits a video will receive a gift for participating! Please fill out the interest form above if you plan on submitting a video so we can collect your contact information. Judges will select a first ($1000) and second-place ($500) winner at the live competition. There will also be an audience choice ($500) winner.
All decisions of the judging panel are final.
Abstract submission:
- Your abstract should be submitted using the button below. Please register at the blue button at the top of the page if you are interested in participating.
- All abstract files should be named: "Title_of_Talk.pdf" or "Title_of_talk.docx". Please do not include your name or any other identifying information in the name of the abstract file.
- At the beginning of your abstract, please state your full name, graduate program, and the title of your presentation. The space it takes to do this will not be counted in your document submission.
Video submission:
- Your video should be submitted using the button below. Please register at the blue button at the top of the page if you are interested in participating.
- All video files should be named: “Title_of_talk.mp4” or “Title_of_talk.mov”. Please do not include your name or any other identifying information in the name of the video file.
- You do not need to include your slide in your video. A video of you speaking is enough. You will upload your slide alongside your video.
- At the beginning of your video, please state your full name, graduate program, and the title of your presentation. The time it takes to do this will not be counted against the three minutes to present your research.
- You will not be judged on your skills as a videographer, and you do not need to use professional video equipment. The judges just need to be able to see and hear you clearly. You can record yourself using the Panopto interface in Canvas. You can also record yourself in Zoom. You may ask a friend or colleague for help creating your video, or you can get assistance and borrow equipment from the Vitale Digital Media Lab. You can also follow these tips for recording a presentation in Zoom. Here is one demonstrated on a Mac.
Slide submission:
- Your slide should be submitted using the button below. Please register at the blue button at the top of the page if you are interested in participating.
- Presenters may use a single image or static PowerPoint slide (no Prezi or other presentation formats) to enhance their presentation.
- Students must create their slides themselves – they cannot ask someone else to design the slides. Use of PowerPoint templates is allowed.
- Slides can include visual elements (charts, visualizations, photos, clip art, etc.) created by someone other than the student, as long as the slide credits the original creator.
- Embedded audio, animations, and/or video clips (including but not limited to .gif, .avi, .mp4, .mp3, and .wmv file types) are NOT permitted.
- Powerpoint slides should be named "Title_of_talk.ppt". Please do not include your name or any other identifying information in the name of the PowerPoint file.
Powerpoint slides and abstracts/videos can be emailed to gradcenter_at_upenn.edu. If the files are too large to email, include a link to the file that can be downloaded.
Length and Timing of Live Presentations: Presentations should be a maximum of three (3) minutes in length, commencing from the moment the speaker starts the presentation through movement or speech.
- The presentation begins at the moment the speaker engages with the audience (if they start with a hand clap, a gesture, or any other such engagement, prior to speaking, the clock begins at that time; if there is no such engagement the clock starts when the student begins speaking).
- If the speaker continues past three minutes, points will be deducted from the final score, beginning with one point at 3:03, and one point every two additional seconds thereafter.
- No props of any kind are permitted, and notes cannot be used during the presentation.
Want some help getting started? In need of Inspiration? Check out the resources below!
3MT® Resources
- Three-Minute Thesis Showcase: Watch winning 3MT presentations from around the world.
- Three Tips to Help You Prepare a Winning Presentation
- 3MT: The Three Most Common Mistakes
- Sample 3MT Coaching Session
Past Penn 3MT® Competitions and Workshops
Research Communications Workshops
Additional Resources
- Penn Grad Blog: Communicate Your Research to Anyone
- Nature MasterClass: Effective Science Communication (PennKey login required)
- Alda Center for Communicating Science Creating Connections Workbook
- XKCD Simple Writer
- Dejargonizer
- Readable
- TED Talks: Short talks on “ideas worth spreading.”
- PhD Comics Two-Minute Thesis Competition
- Berkeley Grad Slam Competition
Have questions? Need more info? Fill out our contact form and our staff will get back to you!
