The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a competition that celebrates the exciting research conducted by Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates. The 3MT was developed by The University of Queensland (UQ) and is now a prestigious international event run by universities all over the world.
The 3MT challenges HDR candidates to present their research to a non-specialist audience in a clear and engaging way in under three minutes, with only one slide to support their presentation. 3MT cultivates HDR candidates’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills.
Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a research communications competition that celebrates the exciting research being conducted by PhD students globally. The competition challenges competitors to explain their research to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes.
The first 3MT competition was held at The University of Queensland in 2008 and there were 160 competitors. Now, 3MT is held in more than 900 institutions and 85 countries across the world.
RMIT participates in 3MT each year and our winner represents us at the 3MT Asia-Pacific finals hosted by The University of Queensland.
Why compete?
June | Sign up for your local college heat. Your college will send you information. |
July / August | Heat rounds are held in colleges. |
20 August | RMIT Final at Kaleide Theatre. |
22 September | Asia-Pacific Semi-Final (Virtual Showcase). |
3 October | Asia-Pacific Final (with finalists announced). |
15 October | Asia-Pacific Final (Virtual Event). |
Develop your skills at these workshops:
Date: Tuesday 1 July 2025
Duration: 1 hour
Location: Online (MS Teams)
At this session you will learn how to:
Note: Registration is via the Research Plus platform. You will need to log in with your RMIT ID and password to access.
Date: Tuesday 8 July
Duration: 1.5 hours
Location: Melbourne City campus and online via Microsoft Teams
At this workshop you will learn how to:
Note: Registration is via the Research Plus platform. You will need to log in with your RMIT ID and password to access.
To be eligible to compete, you must:
For full competition rules and judging criteria, please see the following resources on the University of Queensland website:
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RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.
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