Registration For Fall 2025 opens in August, please check back for more updates!
2024 3MT Winners and Dr. Laurence Bray (Senior Associate Provost for Graduate Education)
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®)
3MT® is back for Fall 2025!
SAVE THE DATE:
-
Registration opens: TBD
-
Registration closes: TBD
-
Practice Session: TBD
-
Preliminary round: October 10, 2025 - 9am-4pm (time slots to be determined closer to the date)
-
Final round: November 7, 2025 - 9am-4pm (time slots to be determined closer to the date)
*These events will be held in person on the Fairfax campus. No virtual option will be available.
In this research communication competition, PhD students present their doctoral research to a non-specialist audience using only one visual aid—in three minutes.
Communicating the importance of your work in a clear and concise manner to wide audiences is an important skill that can increase the success of job searches, funding proposals, and professional networking. The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is designed to give students a chance to polish these skills as part of an energizing, fun, and challenging academic competition.
What is 3MT®?
3MT® is a research communication competition where PhD students present their doctoral research to a non-specialist audience using only one single visual aid—all in three minutes. This exercise encourages graduate students to think about their research from an outsider’s perspective, hones their presentation skills, and provides a forum for a cross-disciplinary exchange of exciting ideas and information.
How Does 3MT® Work?
There is a preliminary elimination round, then the Top 10 finalists will advance to compete in the final round on Friday, November 8th on the Fairfax Campus.
Registration for 3MT®
The below are eligible to present in the 2025 3MT® competition.
- Doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy by the deadline are eligible to participate.
- MFA students are eligible to participate.
- Doctorate of Nursing students in the final year (3 semesters remaining) of their program are eligible to participate.
I strongly believe in the importance of 3MT and similar opportunities to practice and hone your skill set of communicating to broader audiences. These are vital skills necessary to build a career both in academia and as a practitioner, regardless of your field of study, and it is a difficult challenge that takes much practice. Mason's proximity to the capital offers many opportunities for research students to participate in events like 3MT and local consulting challenges or workshops to build these skills.
- Steven Zhou, PhD, Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2023); D, George Mason’s 3MT First Place Winner in 2023.
2024 3MT Judges
Congratulations to the 2024 Mason 3MT® Winners:
- First Place: Calvin Evans (Musical Arts, DMA), “Quincy Jones-Film Composer
- Second Place: Wai Ling Fong (Education, PhD), “From Crisis to Continuity: The Lasting Impact of Online Faculty Training on Teaching Practices”
- Third Place: Briana Davis (Communication, PhD), “Equitability Not Just Equality: A Critical Examination of Urban Schools, Urban Teachers, and the Teacher-Student Relationship”
- People’s Choice Award: Jade Halawani (Education, PhD), “Teacher Professional Qualification and Development: Experiences of Professionally Unqualified Practicing Teachers as a Case Study Investigation Using Cultural History Activity Theory”
For more 3MT® information contact Michelle Yang, Graduate Program Coordinator for the Graduate Division. Visit Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) website to view winning presentations from around the globe.