Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) Competition
An 80,000 word PhD thesis would take 9 hours to present.
Your time limit… 3 minutes.
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition celebrates the exciting research conducted by Graduate students at ECU. Developed by The University of Queensland, 3MT cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. The competition supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
Why Participate?
Skills development for research candidates
Participating in 3MT develops academic, presentation and research communication skills, while developing research candidates’ ability to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
Building research culture in universities
3MT provides a valuable opportunity for candidates to come together (live or virtually), get to know one another and talk about their research. It also provides a supportive environment in which schools, institutes and universities can provide presentation skills training.
Building external relations for the university
3MT winners may go on to represent their university at regional, national and international 3MT competitions which provides an excellent networking and professional development opportunity. Previous 3MT finalists have benefited from invitations to a variety of other networking events following their participation in the competition.
East Carolina University is proud to host our 13th Annual Three Minute Thesis competition in Fall 2026 and hope that you will join us for this exciting event.
2026 Schedule
September 10th 12:00-1:00pm Lunch & Learn: 3MT Information Session
September 30th 5:00pm Deadline to register for 2026 3MT Competition
October 1st 12:00-1:00pm Lunch & Learn: Putting your Slide Together
October 6th 12:00-1:00pm Lunch & Learn: Public Speaking Tips
October 13th 12:00-1:00pm Rehearsal Session
October 14th 12:00-1:00pm Rehearsal Session
October 15th 12:00-1:00pm Rehearsal Session
October 19th 12:00-1:00pm Rehearsal Session
*Important Note: Each competitor is required to attend at least one Rehearsal Session!
October 23rd 10:00am Virtual Preliminary Rounds
November 13th 10:00am In-person Final Round, ECU Main Campus Student Center Ballroom A
Questions? Reach out to Susan Eckert (eckerts25@ecu.edu) for more information about this event.
A special thank you to all of our participants, staff, sponsors, and volunteers who help make this event possible!
Read more about the 2025 Competition
2025 Competition Winners
Grand Champion – Elody Bensch, Biomedical Science (middle)
First Runner-up – Maeve Schumacher, Psychology (left)
People’s Choice – Daniel Stevens, Educational Leadership (right)
2025 Departmental Cup Winner
Department of Kinesiology
A special THANK YOU to our judges!!
Front Row (L-R): Katrina Arnold, Beth Byrd, Brandie Fintchre, Regan Crowley, Abigail Lind
Second Row: Chris Tomasic, Cat Jordan, Eric Rivenbark, William Dye
Third Row: Amanda Miller, Sharon Justice, Anthony Enoch, Greg Hedgepeth
Fourth Row: Charlie Justice, Neil Dorsey, Kia Hewett, Craig Marshall
Not pictured: Troy Dreyfus