Graduate & Professional Studies

Compete in the Three Minute Thesis Competition

The Graduate School will host its seventh annual Three Minute Thesis competition on Friday, Feb. 21, at 4 p.m. in the Weasler Auditorium. This is a valuable opportunity for Marquette graduate students to perfect their presentation skills by developing and delivering a pitch for their research project in three minutes or less. 

A panel of judges will assess contestants for a preliminary round in mid-February, and finalists will be judged at the 3MT finals by a panel of scholars and leaders from the community on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Register online by Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 5 p.m.   

Winners will receive a grand prize of $500 and represent Marquette on April 4 in the regional Three Minute Thesis competition at the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools’ annual meeting at Keystone Crossing in Indianapolis, Indiana. All winners will be invited to the Marquette suite at Fiserv Forum for the Milwaukee Bucks game against the Orlando Magic on Saturday, March 8, at 7 p.m. 

The Three Minute Thesis is a global research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland in Australia. The competition is open to all master’s and doctoral students enrolled in a program that contains an original research project. The degree program does not need to require a thesis or dissertation, but the presentation topic must cover the original research project. 

Learning how to develop and deliver a research pitch to a lay audience is an important skill all researchers should know. Developing these skills allows the researcher to effectively communicate the significance and impact of the research to a broader public, potentially leading to increased understanding, support of the research, funding opportunities, and wider societal applications of the findings.