About 3MT
Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic competition that challenges HDR candidates to describe their research in a language that can be understood by a non-specialist audience, within just three minutes.
Throughout the competition, participants develop their presentation and communication skills, honing their ability to explain their research in a brief and engaging manner.
Held annually at universities worldwide, there are over 50 events held across Australia, New Zealand and Asia before the competition culminates in an Asia Pacific 3MT Final.
Congratulations to our 2024 Griffith 3MT winners
Queensland College of Art and Design PhD candidate Sienna van Rossum's presentation, 'Making contact with images: a return to the art of looking' was named overall winner. Sienna looks to encourage new ways in which we can better understand images and not take what we see at face value. Salvador Cantellano, from the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research and Climate Action Beacon, was awarded the runner-up and People's Choice award for his presentation 'Reshaping the world through documentary cinema.'
3MT Student Experience
Three Minute Thesis (3MT) challenges HDR candidates to describe their research in a language that can be understood by a non-specialist audience, within just three minutes. Discover how our PhD cadidates describe the experience.
Want to get involved?
Contact the Griffith 3MT planning team for enquiries about next year's competition.
2024 3MT registration now open
Register for your academic area heat now to go in the running to represent Griffith at the Asia Pacific 3MT Final:
Caitlyn Fields
School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science & Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research
Arts, Education and Law
Degrees of change: higher education and political attitudes
Emmanuel Makinde
School of Environment and Science & Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery
Griffith Sciences
Mitochondrial modulators: the defenders
Johnnel Smith
Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management
Griffith Business School
Crisis on the high seas!
Nicola Rahman
School of Medicine and Dentistry
Griffith Health
Co-designing a vaping cessation program: helping a new generation of vapers to quit
Kathryn Ambrose
School of Education and Professional Studies & Autism Centre of Excellence
Arts, Education and Law
How does anxiety impact the social and academic outcomes of autistic children?
Jessica Strickland
School of Environment and Science & Australian Rivers Institute
Griffith Sciences
Detecting Irukandji jellyfish at Ningaloo using environmental DNA
Lisa Smith
Department of Business Strategy and Innovation
Griffith Business School
Leading employee well-being
Shimul Ferdousi
School of Psychology
Griffith Health
Buying into body ideals: Instagram advertising and adolescent girls’ body image and clothing purchase intentions
Katie Turlington
School of Environment and Science & Australian Rivers Institute
Griffith Sciences
The heartbeat of freshwater streams
Steve Griffiths
School of Education and Professional Studies & Griffith Institute for Educational Research
Arts, Education and Law
Instructor visibility and familiarity in video lessons
Krishanthan Gnanapragasam
Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics
Griffith Business School
Where have all the fish gone? The crisis of overfishing
Maria Shilova
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Griffith Health
Scar Wars: using lasers to treat scars in children
Competition overview
All entrants must first compete within their respective academic area competition. The top three competitors from each academic area will then advance to the Griffith final. This year, finalists will present in-person at both their respective academic area competitions and at the Griffith final.
In 2024, the Griffith final will be held on Tuesday 20 August 2024. A judging panel will determine the overall winner and the runner-up, while the People's Choice winner will be determined via an electronic voting process during the final event. Winners will be announced at the conclusion of the event.
Following the Griffith final, our overall winner will receive detailed feedback from our judging panel prior to competing in the 2024 Virtual Asia Pacific 3MT Competition, which will be hosted by UQ in October.
The academic area heats and finals have competitor categories enabling all research-intensive candidates to compete in Griffith's 3MT competition.
Finalists who progress to the Griffith final must be active PhD or Professional Doctorate (Research) candidates who have successfully passed their confirmation milestone (including candidates whose thesis is under submission) by the date of their first presentation in an academic area heat. Graduates are not eligible to compete.
Every researcher should know how to present a clear, concise and engaging description of their thesis or research project. The competition will help you to:
- Promote your research to a diverse audience.
- Clarify your argument(s).
- Network with fellow researchers.
- Develop a pitch understandable to those outside your field, industry, private or government partners.
2024 Griffith final prizes
- Winner: $1,500
- Runner-up: $750
- People's choice: $500
2024 Asia-Pacific 3MT competition prizes
- Winner: $5,000 research grant
- Runner-up: $2,000 research grant
- People’s Choice: $1,000 research grant
- Presentations are limited to three minutes and competitors exceeding three minutes are disqualified.
- Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through speech.
- Presentations must be two PowerPoint slides meeting the following criteria:
- A 3MT title slide.
- A single static 3MT entry slide. No slide transitions, animations or movement) and is to be presented from the beginning of the oration.
- The presentation audio must be continuous – no breaks.
- No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment and animated backgrounds) are permitted within the presentation.
- Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
- No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted within the presentation.
- The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.
For more details, check out the 3MT competitor guide on the UQ website.
Comprehension and content
- Presentation provided clear motivation, background and significance to the research question
- Presentation clearly described the research strategy/design and the results/findings of the research
- Presentation clearly described the conclusions, outcomes and impact of the research
Engagement and communication
- The oration was delivered clearly, and the language was appropriate for a non-specialist audience
- The PowerPoint slide was well-defined and enhanced the presentation
- The presenter conveyed enthusiasm for their research and captured and maintained the audience’s attention
3MT Training: Get ready to compete
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2022 Griffith 3MT winners
2022 Griffith 3MT winner Shaun Ziegenfusz
Shaun Ziegenfusz from the School of Health Sciences and Social Work won the 2022 3MT competition for his presentation, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD): The Hidden Disability in Australian Classrooms.
2022 Griffith 3MT runner up Jacqui Cuny
Jacqui Cuny from the Queensland Conservatorium was named runner up in the 2022 Griffith 3MT final for her presentation, Searching for synergy… Finding the X factor.
2022 Griffith 3MT people’s choice Tori Seydel
Tori Seydel from the Department of Marketing was awarded the People’s Choice award at the 2022 Griffith 3MT final for her presentation, Let’s Get Koala-fied.
Join the University community online for the Griffith 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Final.
- Date: Friday 3 September
- Time: 2.00 – 3.15 pm
- Location: Live online
Join us for this live, online event, to be inspired by incredible research projects, vote for your favourite presentation and find out who will represent Griffith at the Asia-Pacific 3MT Final later this year.
Griffith’s 3MT Finalists
Elise Imray Papineau | Radical compassion and doing it together: Exploring grassroots activist cultures and praxes through feminist care ethics |
Amy Kirkegaard | An apple a day brings quality into play |
Ida Stevia Diget | Using Google Translate for COVID-19 messages: The 'tissue' issue |
Laura Mccosker | Homelessness in the time of COVID |
Ziwei Zhou | Profiling the fruit flavour in Carica papaya L |
Melissa Hill | Brain traffic |
Joseph Nolan | Building better relationships |
Julie Ballangarry | Is the education system broken? |
Danielle Lee | Game is on! Fungi vs Antifungals |
Murooj Yousef | Social media advertising effectiveness in changing behaviour |
2021 Finalist Presentations
Be inspired by the incredible research of our 2021 3MT Finalists.
Elise Imray Papineau
Radical compassion and doing it together: Exploring grassroots activist cultures and praxes through feminist care ethics.
Ida Stevia Diget
Using Google Translate for COVID-19 messages: The 'tissue' issue.
2021 Griffith 3MT winner Amy Kirkegaard
Amy Kirkegaard won the 2021 3MT competition by illustrating her thesis using a photo mosaic of an apple made of up numerous portrait photos of individual people in a presentation called: An apple a day brings quality into play.
Laura McCosker
Homelessness in the time of COVID.
Ziwei Zhou
Profiling the fruit flavour Paw Paw.
Melissa Hill
Brain Traffic.
Joseph Nolan
Building better relationships.
Julie Ballangarry
Is the education system broken?
Danielle Lee
Game is on! Fungi vs Antifungals.
Murooj Yousef
Social media advertising effectiveness in changing behaviour.
Virtual Wildcard Round - Vote now
The following eight competitors have been nominated by their Academic Group, to compete for two places in the Griffith Final. The top two wildcard competitors will be selected through a combination of feedback from a panel of expert judges and your votes.
Voting is now open — watch the below competitor videos and cast your vote by ticking the checkbox on the image thumbnail. Once the tick appears, your vote it registered.
Voting closes 3 pm Thursday 19 August, and the outcome of the Wildcard Round will be announced on Friday 20 August.
Please note: you can vote for more than one video, however the platform will only tally a single vote per video.
Previous winners
2023 Griffith 3MT winner Krish Gnanapragasam
Krish Gnanapragasam's from Griffith Business School presentation, 'Where have all the fish gone? The crisis of overfishing' was named overall winner and People's Choice award-winner at the 2023 Griffith 3MT Final.
2022 Griffith 3MT winner Shaun Ziegenfusz
Shaun Ziegenfusz from the School of Health Sciences and Social Work won the 2022 3MT competition for his presentation, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD): The Hidden Disability in Australian Classrooms.
2021 Griffith 3MT winner Amy Kirkegaard
Amy Kirkegaard won the 2021 3MT competition by illustrating her thesis using a photo mosaic of an apple made of up numerous portrait photos of individual people in a presentation called: An apple a day brings quality into play.
2020 Griffith 3MT winner Clare Burns
Clare Burns has spent several years interviewing business and finance leaders as she investigates Australia’s growing corporate greed culture in her 3MT presentation titled: ‘Corporate Sustainability: Holding up a mirror to greedy finance culture’ was engaging, well-crafted, accessible and understandable.
2019 Griffith 3MT winner Peta Zivec
Peta Zivec won the 2019 3MT Griffith Final with her presentation: Understanding pathways of revegetating abandoned farming lands in a changing climate.
2018 Griffith 3MT winner Simone Howells
Speech Pathologist Simone Howells' research into the individual and family impacts of the swallowing condition dysphagia have led to the launch of a cookbook containing meal recipes for people living with the condition.
2017 Griffith 3MT winner Heidi Walkden
Heidi Walkden took out the grand prize at the 2017 Three Minute Thesis Griffith Final for asking: does breathing kill?
2016 Griffith 3MT winner Susan Chapman
Susan Chapman was the winner of the 2016 Griffith 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Final, taking home $1,000 for her brilliant performance of her thesis 'Arts immersion: an exciting way forward in education.'
2015 Griffith 3MT winner Courtney Williams
Griffith's 2015 winner Courtney Williams shares her experience with competing in the 3MT and how it has benefited her as an early career researcher. Her winning presentation was titled 'Prescribing music for surgery'.
2014 Griffith 3MT winner Leah Coutts
Winner of the 2014 Griffith final and top 10 national finalist of the Three Minute Thesis competition, Leah was a PhD Candidate at the Queensland Conservatorium. Her presentation was titled 'I should be able to play already!'.
Contact us
Learn more about participating in group heats for the 2025 3MT competition.