Students to compete in OSU’s third 3MT finals
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Oklahoma State University graduate students will present their research for the final round of the university’s third Three Minute Thesis competition April 16.
3MT challenges students to present their research and its significance in less than three minutes and using only one slide. Students are judged on their communication style, comprehension of material and engagement with the audience. The winner receives $1,000 and represents OSU at the regional 3MT competition. The second and third place students win $750 and $500, and the People’s Choice Award winner takes home $1,000.
“This competition is interesting because students have to present their topics quickly and using nontechnical or nonspecific terms,” said Dr. Ken Clinkenbeard, associate dean of the Graduate College and organizer of the competition. “They need to be able to communicate their research to a general audience and quickly.”
There were 130 OSU graduate students who began presenting in March in preliminary competitions organized by individual colleges. Schools participating included the College of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences and the Center for Health Sciences. Eleven students will compete in the finals.
“Going into the finals competition is a bit intimidating,” said Amanda Curtis, winner of the 2014 OSU 3MT competition. “But I got to meet Dave Hunsiker backstage and chat with the other competitors. That made me feel better because they were just as worried as I was.”
The first 3MT was held in 2008 at the University of Queensland in Australia and since then the competition has spread to colleges and universities around the world. In 2013, the winner of OSU’s first 3MT, Ali Asmari, won second place in the regional competition. The next year, OSU sent four finalists to the regional, where Curtis won the People’s Choice Award.
“This competition is growing,” Clinkenbeard said. “When we first went to regionals, we competed with 11 other colleges. But this year, we’ll be competing against 26 other colleges like the University of Mississippi, Florida State University and the University of Virginia. It’s a good competition to have, and it’s helping the students become better communicators.”
The finals, sponsored by Halliburton, will be Thursday, April 16, at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Union Little Theater. Presentations are open to the public who are encouraged to vote for their favorite People’s Choice Award presentation. For more information, visit https://gradcollege.okstate.edu/3MT-Finalists-Presentations.