Three Minute Thesis

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition challenges graduate students to present their thesis or dissertation topic in just three minutes + one slide.

An 80,000 word PhD thesis would take 9 hours to present. Their time limit... 3 minutes.

The Three Minute Thesis competition cultivates students’ academic, presentation and research communication skills, and celebrates exciting graduate research taking place at Boise State.

Winning participants earn the opportunity to move on to the statewide Three Minute Thesis competition, where they compete with graduate students from University of Idaho and Idaho State University.

About the 3MT

Learn more about the competition below!

Participant Information

Participants of the 3MT competition will be judged based on the following:

Communication Style: Was the thesis topic and its significance communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?

Comprehension: Did the presentation help the audience to understand the research?

Engagement: Did the oration make the audience want to know more?

Awards

Participants contend for first, second, and third place awards as determined by a panel of judges from the Boise community. Students are also eligible to win an audience choice award based on audience votes.

First Place: $750
Second Place: $500
Third Place: $250
Audience Choice: $250

3MT at Boise State

The Graduate College would like to congratulate the winners of Boise State’s 2024 3MT Finals and wish them luck at the 2024 Statewide 3MT competition.

First Place: Haley Bridgewater – Biomolecular Sciences, Ph.D.
Second Place: Jianna Gimenez – Master of Public Health
Third Place: Matt Peck – Counselor Education and Supervision, Ph.D.
Audience Choice: Caleb Merritt – Creative Writing, M.F.A.

The 2024 3MT Finals were held on January 24th, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., in the Simplot Ballroom in the SUB.

Congratulations Boise State competitors!

2023 Statewide Three Minute Thesis

On February 7, 2023, graduate students from Boise State, Idaho State, and University of Idaho competed in the Idaho Three Minute Thesis competition to each present their research in three minutes or less. Boise State competitors brought home first and second place!

First Place: Adrian Rodriguez — Master of Public Health

Second Place: Bridget Bittmann — Hydrologic Sciences, M.S.

2023 WAGS Annual Conference

Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) Annual Conference 3MT Competition.

The Three Minute Thesis Competition brings together some of the most significant research being conducted by graduate students today. Graduate students have three minutes and one slide to distill their thesis or dissertation into a compelling pitch for the audience. Boise State Graduate Student Adrian Rodriguez, a member of the Master of Public Health program, took home second place at the 2023 Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS).

Previous 3MT Competitions

History of the 3MT

The Three Minute Thesis competition was developed by the University of Queensland and celebrates the exciting research conducted by graduate students. The first 3MT® competition was held in 2008, and now the competition is held in over 600 universities across more than 65 countries worldwide.

The competition cultivates student’s academic, presentation, and research communication skills, and helps graduate students to effectively explain their research in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

In spring of 2016, the Graduate College hosted the first Boise State University Three Minute Thesis competition.

2024 Award Winners

First Place: Haley Bridgewater – Biomolecular Sciences, Ph.D.
Second Place: Jianna Gimenez – Master of Public Health
Third Place: Matt Peck – Counselor Education and Supervision, Ph.D.
Audience Choice: Caleb Merritt – Creative Writing, M.F.A.

2023 Award Winners

First Place: Adrian Rodriguez – Master of Public Health
Second Place: Bridget Bittmann – Hydrologic Sciences, M.S.
Third Place: Kym Couch – Public Policy and Administration, Ph.D.
Audience Choice: Ashley Leavell – Biology, M.S.

2022 Award Winners

First Place: Dalton Miller – Chemistry, M.S.
Second Place: Jessica Bernardin – Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Ph.D.
Third Place: Jacob Manzi – Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ph.D.
Audience Choice: Rebecca Miller – Materials Science and Engineering, Ph.D.

2021 Award Winners

First Place: Luke Tellers — Hydrologic Sciences, MS
Second Place: Ember Sikorski — Materials Science and Engineering, PhD
Third Place: Sam Haskell — Communication, MA
Audience Choice: Bryan Rosenblatt — Geophysics, MS

2020 Award Winners

First Place: Rachel Phinney – Health Promotion, MHS
Second Place: Lisa Roggenbuck – Visual Arts, MFA
Third Place: Allison Borzoni – English, Rhetoric and Composition, MA
Third Place: Cristina Barber Alvarez-Buylla – Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, PhD
Audience Choice: Sherise Porchia – Counseling, MA

2019 Award Winners

First Place: Alexander Regner – Materials Science and Engineering, MS
Second Place: Roxanne Stone – Interdisciplinary Studies, MS
Third Place: Nick Pollock – Geosciences, PhD
Audience Choice: Vannessa Campfield – Chemistry, MS
Audience Choice: Rezvan Joshaghani – Computer Science, MS

2018 Award Winners

First Place: Sepideh Rastegar – Electrical and Computer Engineering, PhD
Second Place: AuraLea Fain – Kinesiology, MS
Audience Choice: Nikki Cannon – Communication, MA

Previous Competition Videos

View Past Boise State 3MTs