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By: Samara Moore, Gradlife Ambassador

Do you want to develop the ability to talk effectively about your research to any audience? Are you looking to build your network in a way that will lead to more research opportunities? Have you been actively trying to connect with graduate students outside of your discipline? Have you reached a point in your research where you want to refocus your approach? Are you looking to re-clarify the purpose of your research? Have you found yourself questioning what the potential impact of your work will be?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, I highly encourage you to participate in The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. In fact, this is an incredible opportunity for any research or professional graduate student working on a dissertation, or involved in a major research project.

What is 3MT?

The Three Minute Thesis is a competition that graduate students are eligible to participate in across Canada. In this contest, students are challenged to present their research in an accessible manner, in 3 minutes or less. Participants will have the unique opportunity to share their research to a local, provincial, and national audience! The panel of judges are non-specialists. They will listen to research presentations that span disciplines, from students across various Canadian universities. Attendance to this nation-wide competition is open to the public. The contest will be advertised in communities across the country. People from the general public, as well as those within universities, will be encouraged to attend.

New Change to the 3MT Competition

While the 3MT competition is not new at U of T, there has been a significant change made to the competition this year! In previous years, the competition was only open to PhD students at UofT. Now, the competition has been opened to both PhD and Masters students who are doing a major research project. If you are a Masters student slightly intimidated by the prospect of competing against PhD students – I have encouraging news! Last year’s winner of 3MT Canada was Chidera Nwaroh, a Masters student from the University of Calgary.

Important Dates

As you consider, or begin to prepare, to take part in this incredible competition, I urge you to mark the following key dates on your calendar!

•  Registration for 3MT Opens
  • February 25th, 2019
• Preliminary Heats
  • March 18th to 28th, 2019
•  University-Wide Semi-Finals Competition  
  • April 2nd  and April 3rd, 2019
• University-Wide Competition (University of Toronto 3MT Finals Competition)
  • April 4th, 2019
  • The competition will be held at the Isabel Bader Theatre!
  • Winners of each division will present in the university-wide competition
  • Winners of the final will compete at the provincial competition.

UTM & UTSC Students

If you are a student from UTM or UTSC and curious about where to go to participate in the 3MT heats, you can find the exact locations posted on the SGS website soon. For now, it’s worth noting that all 3MT Heat competitions for graduate students will be held at the St. George Campus.

I Dare You to Challenge Yourself!

The most significant growth in my life has often come when I have been pushed outside of my comfort zone in pursuit of a new challenge. As graduate students, it is so important for us to be able to communicate our research clearly. Graduate school is an excellent environment for us all to develop our professional skills, regardless of our desired career path. I challenge you to take a step in that direction and register for 3MT!

If you require further information about the competition, check out the SGS website or contact Liam O’Leary at liam.oleary@utoronto.ca 

Final Thoughts

When I learned about this competition, the part of it that I was most excited about was the opportunity to engage the broader community. I believe that as students and researchers, it is so important for us to be a part of the communities that we are in, on and off campus. Thinking about ways to make research more accessible and available to the general public has always been an issue that has resonated with me. I hope that you will also keep that in mind, as you make your decision about whether you will decide to participate. You never know who will be encouraged, helped, influenced, or inspired by what you share.

Will you accept the challenge?

 

Samara