The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Graduate School will host the university’s first Three Minute Thesis – or 3MT – competition on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 10:30 a.m.

Doctoral students from across the campus will gather in the Engineering and Information Technology Building auditorium to orate a three minutes synopsis of their research to a non-expert audience.

The purpose of the 3MT competition is to help students develop academic, presentation, and research communication skills, while learning to consolidate their ideas and concisely explain their research discoveries to individuals who may not be familiar with their fields of expertise.

“This competition has become pretty popular around the U.S., as well as  internationally,” said Abhijit Bhattacharyya, interim vice provost of research and dean of the Graduate School. “This is a chance for graduate students to pitch their research in a very different format as opposed to what they’d do in their academic programs. I think this is a good experience for them to take when they move on to their professional lives, so it’s good preparation.”   

The overall winner of the competition will receive $600 and funding provided by the UA Little Rock Graduate School to participate in the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools competition Feb. 24 in Fayetteville. The second-place winner will receive $400.

For more information, contact Bhattacharyya at axbhattachar@ualr.edu or view the 3MT competitors guide here.