2023 FAU Three Minute Thesis Competition
by Sam Trail | Tuesday, Feb 28, 2023
“An 80,000-word thesis would take 9 hours to present…their time limit is 3 minutes.”
The 2023 year brings us to the Florida Atlantic University’s seventh annual Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®) and the first in-person competition since 2019! The 3MT® challenges graduate students from all disciplines present their research to a general audience in 3 minutes or less with a single static slide. The history of the competition began with a major drought in Queensland, Australia in 2008. Residents were encouraged to conserve water by taking short showers, often setting a timer for 3 minutes…then the Dean of the University of Queensland had an idea – the 3MT® was born! It has now blossomed into an international competition taking place at over 900 universities and 85 countries across the globe; it is the ultimate measure of effective science communication.
This year, the FAU Marine Lab was represented by Ph.D. students Madeleine Hagood from Dr. Marianne Porter’s lab with her presentation: “Can’t believe it’s not shark skin?” and Ivana Serra from Dr. Jeanette Wyneken’s lab with her talk: “Turtle life in and with a boney shield – where biomechanics meets behavior.” Ivana won the People’s Choice Award in her preliminary heat and advanced to the championship this past weekend. Way to go, Ivana!
