2023 MAGS Three Minute Thesis Competition

Nominate a student now for the 2023 MAGS 3MT competition to be held March 31, 2023 in Chicago, IL. Feb 24, 2023 is the deadline to nominate a student. Placeholder nominations will be due March 10, 2023.
Download the 2023 MAGS 3MT Flyer here.

What is a three-minute thesis (3MT®)? To encourage students to effectively explain their research in three minutes in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience, the University of Queensland developed the 3-Minute Thesis® competition. MAGS hosts the CGS-affiliate midwestern region competition where students summarize their research in three minutes using pre-determined guidelines. A panel of judges scores each presentation to determine the top two awardees. MAGS members in the audience select the People’s Choice Award. The first place winner has the opportunity to represent MAGS at the national CGS competition, with the nominating institution’s support.

MAGS is sponsoring a 3MT® competition to be held during the 2023 Annual Meeting, scheduled for March 29-31, in Chicago, IL. Student participants must be nominated by member institutions according to the specified deadlines. Participants will compete on the final day of the meeting; awardees will be selected and announced at that time. If the MAGS meeting moves to a virtual platform, the competition will also be held virtually (details for participants would be posted at that time).

Institutional Guidelines:

Only MAGS member institutions, in good standing, are eligible to compete.

  • The institution must hold its own 3MT® competition. Institutions may not nominate a student who did not compete in a local competition.
  • The institution must register their competition with the University of Queensland.
  • Students enrolled in either Master’s or Ph.D. programs may compete. A student’s program of study must contain an original research project. The degree program need not formally require a thesis or dissertation, however the presentation topic must cover the original research project.
  • One nominee per institution is allowed. Nominations include the nomination or place holder form and power point slide (if choosing to use one).
  • Participants must be an enrolled student at some point during the academic year, including the previous summer, in which the MAGS competition is held.

Nomination of a Student Competitor:

    Only the official who supervises graduate education (e.g. graduate dean, director) may nominate a student for competition.
    Nominate a student as follows:
  1. Complete and submit the 2023 MAGS 3MT® Nomination Form (Google Form) by the deadline
  2. If the institution has not held the 3MT® competition by the deadline, please check “Yes” to the question, “Is this a Placeholder Nomination?” and follow the instructions on the nomination form. The name of the participant will need to be sent to 3mt@mags-net.org by a specified date.

Competition Rules:

  • One single static PowerPoint slide is permitted, but not required. Slide transitions, animations or ‘movement’ of any description of the slide content is not allowed.
  • No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted.
  • No additional props (e.g. notecards, scripts, pointers, costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
  • Presentations are limited to 3:00 minutes maximum and competitors exceeding 3:00 minutes are disqualified.
  • Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
  • Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter begins through movement or speech.
  • Participants will be broken into groups for judging purposes.
  • There will be one preliminary round of judging with the top 2 choices selected from each group to advance to the final round of judging.
  • The top 2 choices from each group will present again in the final round. At least one judge from each group will then review/rate those presentations to determine the top 2 awardees. MAGS members will vote on the People’s Choice award from this group.
  • The decision of the judging panel is final.

Judging Criteria:

  • Competitors will be evaluated and ranked by a judging panel guided by the Judging Matrix.

Questions? Contact: 3mt@mags-net.org
3MT is a registered trademark of the University of Queensland.

MAGS 2022 3MT Competition, April 8, 2022, Milwaukee, WI

    Left to right: 2nd Place – Desire Ortiz Torres, University of Illinois Chicago; 1st Place – Tabitha DiBacco, Western Michigan University; People’s Choice – Mehreen Iftikhar, Kansas State University

    MAGS 2021 3MT Competition Awardees (Virtual, Spring 2021)

    1st Place – Ali Rassi, University of Oklahoma

    “From Bench-top to the Operating Rooms: 3D Printed Implants”

    2nd Place – Vishakh Iyer, Indiana University

    ““Weeding” Out the Opioid Epidemic”

    3rd Place – Sai Siva Kare, University of Illinois Chicago

    “Gift of Vision”

    MAGS 2020 3MT Competition Awardees (Virtual, Fall 2020)

    1st Place – Megan LaFollette, Purdue University

    2nd Place – Varadha Balaji Venkadakrishnan, Cleveland State University

    “PKN1 is an alternative target in advanced prostate cancer”

    3rd Place – Amber Urban, Ball State University

    “Menstruation: How we tell the story”

    MAGS 2019 3MT Competition, March 22, 2019, St. Louis

    Left to right: 2nd Place – Monica Arul, University of Notre Dame; 1st Place – Chris Omni, Kansas State University; People’s Choice – Teng Keng Vang, Miami University; MAGS 3MT Committee Chair, Nicole Lounsbery, South Dakota State University