Graduate School to Host Annual 3 Minute Thesis Competition
The competition challenges students to consolidate and present their ideas and research discoveries to a non-specialist audience. They are given a platform to expand their communication speaking and overall presentation skills.
"The 3MT competition was an enriching experience," said Tayler Hoekstra, Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering and the winner of last year's 3MT. "Being able to convey your work in a way that everyone will understand is incredibly helpful in many situations and allows for conversation to happen more freely around your work."
The competition consists of a preliminary round from 3-5 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the Muenster University Center (MUC 216/216A), followed by finals from 3-5 p.m. on March 4 in Farber Hall inside USD's Old Main.
"The 3MT allows you to understand your own research on a more fundamental level. We all have a lot of jargon to learn when developing our projects, yet being forced to go back and simplify our purposes and goals helps us to realign our thoughts with the end goal of our project in mind," Hoekstra said. "We can get caught up in the day-to-day grind that forces us to think on a higher level; but standing in front of a crowd of people eager to hear about your work and conveying that importance so that all can understand is a powerful thing for those who speak just as much as those who listen.
"The 3MT gives a great platform to see others present their work as well and allows us as researchers who share the same passions and are also eager to share their work with others."
