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This annual event, which challenges graduate students to distill their nine-hour thesis to just three minutes, returns to campus this spring

The��Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final competition, an annual event hosted by the Graduate School that showcases the creativity, communication skills and research excellence of CU Boulder graduate students, will take place on Jan. 29, 2026, from 4 to 6 p.m., in the University Memorial Center’s Glenn Miller Ballroom.

Finalists for this event, which is free and open to the public, will be announced on Dec. 10.��

The 3MT competition began in 2008 when the state of Queensland, Australia, suffered from a severe drought. To conserve water, residents were encouraged to time their showers, and many people had a three-minute egg timer fixed to the wall in their bathroom. The then-Dean of the University of Queensland Graduate School, Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson, challenged graduate students to present their research in the same amount of time, launching what would become a global academic tradition.

At CU Boulder, 3MT competitors are tasked with delivering a compelling, jargon-free explanation of their thesis in just three minutes using a single static slide. To prepare, participants attend storytelling, writing, presentation and improv-based workshops before entering a preliminary round that will feature more than 20 students on Dec. 3 and 4.

From there, an average of 10 finalists will go onto the final competition, where they will be evaluated on comprehension, content, engagement and communication by a panel of judges.

The first-place winner of the competition will receive $1,500 in prize money and will have the chance to compete at the state and regional competitions as the ��������’s representative. The runner-up and the People’s Choice winner, voted on by the live audience, will also receive funding.

Recordings of past competitions, including of��last year’s winner, Aoife Henry of electrical, computer and energy engineering whose presentation was “Directing Wind Turbines with Foresight: The Shepherd and the Sheepdog Find a Crystal Ball,” are��available on the Graduate School website.

More information about the competition is available on the��3MT web page.