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Sam Lupton, UWS 3MT winner from 2011, with her thesis on pre-eclampsia
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Register to participate in the Trans-Tasman final
Australian, New Zealand and Fijian universities can register here to participate in the 2013 Trans-Tasman Three Minute Thesis Competition.
Eligibility, rules and criteria
Eligibility
Anyone who is active in a Masters by Research or Doctoral program* (includes all doctorates and MPhil) (including thesis under submission) will be eligible to participate in 3MT. Graduates are not eligible.
Competitors who are eligible on the date of their first presentation in their local competition will be considered eligible for the duration of that year’s competition. So if a competitor graduates before the date of the Trans-Tasman 3MT competition they will still be eligible.
* The degree must be at least two thirds research as required under the Higher Education Support Act 2003.
Each university selects one student as their representative and will fund the student's costs of travel, accommodation and meals to the final.
All competitors will be required to agree to media exposure for their presentation and research.
The Trans-Tasman Three Minute Thesis winner's university will be invited to host the competition in 2014.
Prizes
- Winner: $5000 research travel grant
- Runner-up: $2000 research travel grant
- People's Choice: $1000 research travel grant
Rules
The presentation will be a talk accompanied only by a single static PowerPoint slide. This means that animations and the like are not permitted; additional electronic media such as sound and video files are not permitted; and props such as costumes, instruments or pieces of scientific equipment are not permitted. ‘Talk’ means talk (so no poems, raps or songs).
Presentations are strictly limited to three minutes. Competitors whose talk exceeds three minutes will be disqualified.
The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.
Judging criteria
Presentations will be judged on the basis of three criteria:
1. Communication style: was the thesis topic and significance communicated in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience? For example,
- did the title of the talk give a clear picture of the topic and its importance?
- were all technical or specialist words clearly explained for a non-specialist audience?
- was the communication style clear enough so that any intelligent person could now sum up the topic and its significance?
2. Comprehension: did the presentation help the audience to understand the research? For example,
- did the speaker deliver their presentation at an appropriate pace?
- was there a storyline that helped the audience understand the research problem, its importance and how the research would or did address that problem?
- did the PowerPoint slide help the audience better understand the topic and its significance?
3. Engagement: did the oration make the audience want to know more? For example,
- did the speaker engage the audience with eye contact?
- did the speaker engage interest in the problem being researched?
- would you now like to join this research for further discussion about their work?
Judging panel
The members of the judging panel for the 2013 Australia and New Zealand 3MT™ Competition will be announced closer to the competition date.How to progress to the final
The following chart outlines the progression of students throughout the competition. Please note that the winner of each heat or final is expected to represent their School/Institute/Faculty/University at the next stage of the competition. If the winner is unable to attend the final, the runner-up will proceed to the next round of the competition.
3MT Resources - Participating universities (opens in a new window) – the links below will take you to The University of Queensland’s 3MT site.
| 3MT 2013 Event Management Handbook (opens in a new window) |
Contains information on the competition and promotional materials to help encourage HDR students to participate in the 3MT competition |
| 3MT 2013 Supporting Materials Pack (opens in a new window) |
Includes:
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- 3MT FAQs (opens in a new window)
