About the 3MT
The Three Minute Thesis is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. It is a celebration of graduate student research that challenges grad students to communicate the key concepts of their research in a compelling presentation of three minutes or less. The Carleton 3MT began in 2013.
Congratulations to our 2024 Carleton University 3MT winners!
First place: Ana Hernandez Martinez de la Riva, Biology, “Where is Jack? How to find rare plants” Video coming after the Ontario 3MT contest in May!
Second place: Bryce Norman, Physics, “Establishing Evidence for the Higgs Boson Decaying to Two Muons at the ATLAS Detector”
Third place: Diksha Kale, Legal Studies, “Monsters of Law – Queer of Color Futurity”
People’s choice: Nadia Abzan, Biomedical Engineering/Biology, “Breath of Life”
See the videos from the rest of our finalists here!
The 2024 Carleton 3MT contest was held on Thursday, March 28, 2024
Richcraft Hall, second floor conference rooms
Semifinals from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Finals from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Judges for the finals:
Clarissa Brocklehurst
Consultant, Water Supply and Sanitation
Former Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, UNICEF
Patrick Lyons
Director, Teaching and Learning
Teaching and Learning Services
Carleton University
Al Hamdani
Executive Vice-President and Chief Business Officer
Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV)
The 2023 Carleton University 3MT is on!
2023 Winners:
1. Georgia Loewen, Human-Computer Interaction, “Video Game Accessibility and Wearable Technology”
2. (and people’s choice) Panashe Kupakuwana, Biology, “A guide on how to live without oxygen”
3. Jennie Siushansian, Communication, “‘I Just Can’t Stand Seeing and Hearing It’: A Critical Examination of Non-Autistic Actors Portraying Autistic Characters On-Screen”
Semfinal 1 contestants:
Semifinal 2 contestants:
This year’s 3MT contest will be held on March 17, 2023 in Richcraft Hall, second floor conference rooms (2220, 2224 and 2228). Our host will be Dr. Onita Basu.
| Semi-Final A | 9:15 to 10:45 a.m. |
| Semi-Final B | 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. |
| Finals (Top 10) | 2:00 to 3:45 p.m. |
Judges for finals:
- John Nelson (Acting Director of the Carleton University Innovation Hub)
- Tim Tierney (City of Ottawa Councillor; Board Member and Ontario Caucus Chair, Canadian Federation of Municipalities)
- Jessie-Lee Wallace (Senior Manager, Communications, University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation, Board Member to HelpAge Canada and Daybreak Housing)
The contest prizes consist of the following: one first place prize of $750, one second place prize of $400, one third place prize of $250, and one “people’s choice” prize of $150. For more information on the contest, see Rules and Eligibility.
All are welcome to attend the 3MT semi-finals and finals. No registration is required to attend as an audience member.
2022 Carleton University 3MT – Top 3 Announced
The results of the 2022 Carleton University 3MT contest from April 6 are in. The top three presentations were:
First Place ($1000 prize): Rebecca Pinto, Mechanical Engineering, “Can solar energy heat Canadian homes year-round?”
Second Place ($500 prize): Jacquie Ballantine, Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies, “Autistic University Students and the Double Empathy Problem”
Third Place ($250 prize): Natasha Kunchur, Biomedical Engineering, “Asthma: The Breath Taking Experience”
People’s Choice Award ($250 prize): Sanghy Ramani, Psychology, “Metformin—can it help people with multiple sclerosis?”
Videos coming soon!
Our 3MT Finals judges were:
- Nada Elnahla, Carleton’s 2020 3MT Winner and Instructor at Sprott School of Business
- Joel Harden, NDP MPP for Ottawa Centre
- Adrian Harewood, Associate Professor and Host of CBC News Ottawa at 6
If you have any questions about the 3MT, please contact david.lafferty@carleton.ca.
3MT Competition Videos
2020 Competition:
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
More details
A panel of judges evaluates each of the presentations.
Participation in the 3MT can be tremendously enriching, both academically and personally. Former participants report that competing in the 3MT helped to build confidence and enhance their academic, presentation, and communication skills. Participants have also enjoyed great research exposure within Carleton, to other departments, and even in media. 3MT participants have been featured in Carleton news stories, departmental websites, YouTube, CBC Radio, and the Ottawa Citizen.
Cash prizes are awarded to the contestants who place 1st ($1000), 2nd ($500), and 3rd ($250) in the finals. The People’s Choice winner receives $250.
You can find out about rules and eligibility. If you have any questions about the 3MT contest, please email David Lafferty.
2019 Competition:
2018 Competition:
Note: The winner of the Carleton University 3MT, Daniella Briotto Faustino, went on to win 2nd place at the provincial championships held on April 19 at York University. Read more by CLICKING HERE.