The text "Congratulations to the Three Minute Thesis winners!" is on a dark blue background. Also against the background are photos of five different students speaking onstage with accompanying captions: Joshua Perlmutter, Mathematics, First Place - Sciences; Taylor Harmon, Anthropology & WGS, First Place - Humanities/Social Sciences/Arts; Jin Zhao, Computer Science, People's Choice; Trent Quist, BCBP, Runner-Up - Sciences; and Kwame Gayle, Sociology, Runner-Up - Humanities/Social Sciences/Arts.
The 2025 3MT Winners

Photo Credit: Gaelen Morse

Three Minute Thesis Competition

The annual Brandeis Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition challenges students to effectively explain their research to a broad audience in just three minutes while using one slide. Hone your public speaking skills, connect with other GSAS students, and potentially win up to $1,000! 

Why Participate in 3MT?

In addition to winning prizes, students participate in 3MT to:

  • Hone presentation skills
  • Practice expressing research concisely for networking and job interviews (for academia and beyond)
  • Figure out their research story, which is important for completing their dissertations and for their future job searches
  • Add 3MT to their resume or CV, which shows important communication skills that employers are looking for in applications
  • Meet other graduate students across disciplines at Brandeis
  • Share their work and its impact with a wider audience

Past 3MT participants say...

“You have to push yourself pretty hard to be able to condense your research down. But being able to then present my research to my family and have them say, ‘We finally understand what you’re doing,’ where they can understand the importance of it…that was huge.”--Victoria Khaghani, (MA, Anthropology), Social Sciences, Humanities and Creative Arts Winner ‘24

“3MT was a major factor in getting multiple interviews and ultimately landing my current job, even though I had less experience than other candidates. They told me that I was a natural storyteller and that they wanted me to lead their analysts in developing data presentation skills, among other goals. I had no idea how much 3MT would shape my job search or help me secure a leadership role.”--Liz Mahon (PhD Psychology), Winner ‘23

“During an internship interview I was asked to explain my research in one minute each to three different ‘pretend’ audiences: as if I was speaking to a fellow scientist, a family member/friend, and a potential investor. Preparing for 3MT prepared me to do each of these one-minute summaries as I had already practiced thinking about how to explain my research in a manner that was approachable to non-scientists and being clear on what the point/impact of my research was.”--Camille Sullivan (PhD Molecular and Cell Biology), Finalist ‘25

“Throughout the job search, 3MT was definitely instrumental. For most interviews, you need to give an elevator pitch of your research, so having that down was very useful. I’ve also found it useful in research – the core of my argument in my dissertation became very clear to me after thinking about it for so long and needing to compress it into three minutes, so that helps whenever I’m writing and need to communicate my argument succinctly. My experience with 3MT really improved my ability to articulate my contribution to the field and how I am innovating.”--Emiliano Gutierrez Popoca (PhD English), Winner ‘22

“After going through the 3MT writing process, I no longer get nervous about the inevitable ‘What kind of math do you study?’ question now that I have a succinct and refined answer.”--Joshua Perlmutter (PhD Math), Winner ‘25

“What made this experience meaningful wasn’t just writing the script or presenting on stage. It was the process of finding language that makes complex work feel human. My favorite part was watching other researchers from wildly different fields do the same, and realizing that passion, not jargon, is what brings ideas to life.”--Jin Zhao (PhD Computer Science), People's Choice Award Winner ‘25


Articles About Brandeis 3MT Competition

More Information on 3MT at Brandeis