Graduate students competed in the College of Graduate Studies Three-minute Thesis competition on February 28, 2018.  Students participate in the annual competition to sharpen their presentation skills and to build the attention of diverse audiences to promote their research. 

First Place winner, Rakshit Shah (pictured above, left), earned the College of Graduate Studies Outstanding Award.  The Applied Biomedical Engineering doctoral student will proceed to the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools 3MT Competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan this month to compete with peers from more than 60 colleges and universities.  Rakshit stated, “The 3MT experience has assisted me to reach a level, where I am able to explain a bigger picture in a simple language. I knew this competition would enhance my intellectual and presentation skills and I look forward to representing CSU at the next level.”

Alex Roth, doctoral candidate in Chemical Engineering (pictured above, right), received the Award of Excellence and views the competion as a great way to get others excited about any type of research.  He shared, “I wanted to be able to convey the work I've performed on cancer cell migration in a way that was palatable to people outside of science. Being able to convey the message of your research to wide audiences is not emphasized during doctoral studies and the 3MT helps fill that oft overlooked hole.”  Both winners receive monetary prizes and will be recognized in the College of Graduate Stuides Awards Program in May.

The 2018 panel of judges included Diane Kolosionek, Head, Research & Liaison Services, Michael Schwartz Library; Vickie Gallagher, Associate Professor, Ahuja College of Business; and Shilpa Kedar, Program Director, Cleveland Foundation. Leading up to the competition, interested students participated in a 3MT training workshop and created their own three-minute thesis video. The students will be able to link their video to email signatures, electronic CV/resumes, and social media to gain maximum exposure.

Completing your thesis or dissertation?  It is not too late to record your own three-minute presentation.  Click here to participate in the videotaping session scheduled for Wednesday, April 18^th. 

The 2018 3MT participants, pictured above, included:

A three-minute thesis (3MT) is the oral communication of a student’s research. Developed by the University of Queensland, the 3MT teaches students to summarize their research in only three minutes using pre-determined guidelines to a panel of judges.