Rules and Eligibility

Carleton University 3MT Rules

• Participants must fulfill the eligibility criteria and abide by the confidentiality/intellectual property guidelines outlined below. Before the contest, participants will be required to fill out an Availability and Eligibility Form to complete their registration. This form will be provided to participants via email at a later date.
• Participants must have support from their supervisor before committing to participate in the 3MT contest. Supervisor Support Forms will be provided to participants via email at a later date, and will require the signature of their supervisors.
• 3MT presentations must be delivered live and in-person on the contest date.
• Presentations must be based on the participant’s own primary research.
• Each participant is permitted one static PowerPoint slide with text and/or images to accompany his/her 3MT presentation. Slides may not have video, audio, or animated text.
• Presentations must not include costumes, props, music, video, cue cards or laser pointer. Some exceptions for minor elements may be allowed with preapproval.
• Presentations exceeding 3 minutes will be disqualified.
• The contest prizes consist of the following:
  • One (1) first place prize of $500
  • One (1) second place prize of $300
  • One (1) third place prize of $200
• Carleton University reserves the right not to award any of the prizes if there are an insufficient number of eligible presentations or a selected winner is later determined to be disqualified.
• Additional submission guidelines, prizes, contact information, and other contest rules may be posted to the Carleton 3MT website or competitor email list and form part of the contest rules.
• All decisions regarding eligibility, selecting winners, and the interpretation of contest rules will be made at the sole discretion of Carleton University’s Graduate Studies. Carleton University reserves the right to disqualify any submission for violating any of these rules or any University policy. All decisions are final and may not be appealed.

 3MT Eligibility

• Local 3MT rules (like those for the Carleton 3MT) are less strict than those for the regional and national competitions. Winning the Carleton 3MT does not guarantee eligibility for regional or national contests.
• To participate in 3MT you must currently be registered in a Masters (thesis or research project) or PhD program at Carleton University. Note that major research project also includes a documentary or design project. International graduate students are eligible provided they are registered at Carleton University and are in good standing.
• Students registered in degree programs that are strictly course-based are not eligible.
• Participants must have a well-developed research topic, even if their research is still in progress. Each participant must submit a Supervisor Support Form confirming this.
• Students that have successfully defended their thesis, but have not yet convocated are eligible.
• Each participant must consent to have his/her 3MT presentation recorded on video and posted on YouTube and other social media platforms as well as Carleton webpages.
• Students that participated in past 3MT competitions at Carleton University but did not place 1st, 2nd or 3rd are eligible to participate again.
• Presenters must be available to present live and in-person on the date of the contest.
• Additional submission guidelines, prizes, contact information, and other contest rules may be posted to the 3MT website or competitor email list and form part of the contest rules.
• All decisions regarding eligibility, selecting winners, and the interpretation of contest rules will be made at the sole discretion of Carleton University’s Graduate Studies. Carleton University reserves the right to disqualify any submission for violating any of these rules or any University policy. All decisions are final and may not be appealed.

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Guidelines

• The 3MT presentation must represent the thesis research of the presenter only. The presentation of the research will not affect any preexisting rights regarding its use at all times prior to and following the competition except as stated below.
• Due to the nature of the competition, we will not ask judges, reviewers, staff or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements. If your research is being/has been conducted under contract with an outside sponsor, please discuss the related contractual terms of confidentiality and intellectual property with your supervisor before presenting your research project.
• By presenting at the 3MT contest, you agree that your presentation is an original work created by you and that you have all necessary rights and permissions in and to the presentation. You also agree that this presentation does not infringe upon or violate any laws or any third party rights, including, but not limited to, copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights and must not constitute material that would be considered libelous, defamatory, a privacy violation, tortious or a breach of contract.
• Graduate Studies, Carleton University and the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition may make photocopies, photographs, videotapes and/or audiotapes of the presentations or material prepared for use in presentations to be posted on Carleton University websites, social media accounts, and other publications for promotion of the 3MT competition and future 3MT competitions.
• By presenting at the 3MT contest, you grant Carleton University a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license to distribute, publish, edit, alter, adapt, translate, transcribe, and otherwise use your presentation in any manner whatsoever for the purpose of promoting the 3MT competition and/or Graduate Studies, and for other Carleton University non-commercial, scholarly, and academic purposes. You thereby waive any moral rights in your presentation. Carleton University is not obligated to publish videos of the winning presentations or any other presentations.
• All public sessions of the competition are open to the public at large. Any and all of these public sessions may be broadcast to interested persons through media which may include the Internet.
• Any data or information presented or divulged in public sessions by presenters should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and presenters should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged or presented in these sessions. This means if your research includes confidential or culturally sensitive material you should think very carefully about how you can present this information. We advise that you discuss your competition entry with your supervisor(s) before entering the 3MT.

If you have any questions about the rules of the 3MT, please contact david.lafferty@carleton.ca.