2025 3MT Competition
Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an internationally recognized competition that challenges Ph.D students to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance in just 3 minutes, in language that anyone can understand. 3MT is not an exercise in trivializing or ‘dumbing-down’ research but requires students to consolidate their ideas, crystallize their research discoveries and capture the imagination of their audience.
Who's Eligible to Compete?
All CMU Ph.D Students regardless of year in program. Whether it's your first year or last year, Come one - come all!
Why Compete?
3MT offers CMU doctoral candidates of any level the opportunity to gain early career recognition, connect with the campus community, and win prizes of up to $3,000. It's a great way to practice sharing your research with a non specialist audience and get listeners excited about your area of study. Students get to hear from fellow Ph.D. students across campus, which can spark interdisciplinary collaboration. They also get to present before staff, faculty, and alumni from a wide range of departments, as well as an extensive alumni network. Preliminary round winners receive $250 cash.
What Happens Next?
Start practicing! All 3MT registrants will be scheduled to compete in preliminary rounds between January and February.
Then What?
Winners of preliminary rounds go on to compete in-person in the CMU 3MT Championship, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm EST. Finalists will compete for an additional $500-$3,000 in cash prizes in the Three Minute Thesis Championship. Prizes are given for 1st ($3,000), 2nd ($2,000), and 3rd ($1,000) as well as the live audience-votes for People's Choice ($500) and virtual-vote for the Alumni Award ($750).
