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You have three minutes and one power point slide to explain your life's work to people with no background in your field. What do you do?

At the University of Toronto, organizers of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition have some advice for doctoral students hoping to represent U of T at the upcoming provincial competition: keep it short but don't dumb it down. Jump straight to the interesting part – don't bore listeners with background information. A dynamic metaphor goes a long way. 

"The 3MT gives our graduate students the unique opportunity to present their innovative  research to  the broader university community as well as the general public,” said Brian Corman, dean of graduate studies and vice-provost of graduate education.

Started in 2008 at the University of Queensland The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition is now held at universities around the world. Participants have three minutes or less to present their doctoral research in an engaging and accessible way.

“Students taking part in the 3MT gain valuable experience in distilling complex ideas, their research discoveries and their impact into a 3 minute talk aimed at a non-specialist audience," Corman said. "This provides them with the opportunity to develop valuable communications and public speaking skill sets.”

The University will be defending its title in the province-wide competition at McMaster University in Hamilton next month. Last year, Jasdeep Saggar, a UofT PhD student in medical biophysics, claimed the provincial championship trophy and $1000 for her presentation on hypoxia-activated pro-drugs and Abraham Heifets, a PhD student in computer science, claimed second prize with his provocative presentation on how to make better medicines with technology. (.)

"My participation in the Three Minute Thesis competition was nothing short of exhilarating; representing the University of Toronto at the provincial level is an honour and truly humbling." Saggar said. "Embrace the challenge and this will be your moment to shine.”

The School of Graduate Studies held divisional heats on March 18th, 20th and 21st, with campus finals on March 26th to choose one student to represent the University at the provincial finals. Approximately 60 doctoral students from across all four SGS divisions – humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, and life sciences –competed for the honour.

“The 3MT competition allows the University of Toronto the opportunity to showcase the significant research being conducted on a daily basis by our graduate students," said Corman. "We’re looking  forward to defending our title at provincial finals at McMaster University in April.” 

The competition has proved so popular, undergraduate students at the University have organized their own version, with a panel of judges including Professor Mark Kingwell. (.)