3 Minute Thesis
2026 competition launches Wednesday 1 April- watch this space!
An 80,000 word thesis would take 9 hours to present.
Your time limit…3 minutes!
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a National competition for postgraduate research students, run by research organisation Vitae. 3MT® challenges doctoral candidates to present a compelling spoken presentation on their research topic and its significance in just three minutes. The first 3MT® was held at The University of Queensland in Australia in 2008, and has been nationwide in the UK by Vitae since 2014. More information about the history of 3MT® can be found on the Vitae and 3MT® websites.
Information on rules, entry process and judging will be coming soon.
Training courses
Check out our course materials which can support you with writing and performing your presentation. We have the following courses coming up to help you prepare:
- Creating a compelling narrative for your research: Tuesday 22 April 2026, 10.30-12.00, via MS Teams
- Presentation skills for researchers: Wednesday 23 April 2026, 13.00-14.30, via MS Teams
- Communicating your research to different audiences: Tuesday 28 April 2026 10.30-12.00, via MS Teams
Resources are available on the PGR Training & Development Resources SharePoint at: Engagement, Influence & Impact
We also have a blog post from the 2025 3 Minute Thesis winner Anh Ngo, which contains some handy advice and the benefits of doing a 3 Minute Thesis presentation.