1. THE TIME LIMIT.... 3 MINUTES! THREE MINUTE THESIS COMPETITION (3MT)
AN 80,000 WORD THESIS WOULD TAKE
9 HOURS TO PRESENT.
THE TIME LIMIT MINUTES!
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic competition
developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia for research students.
TAKE ON THE CHALLENGE AT UMD!
First-Round College-Level Competition – March 2019
Final-Round Campus-Level Competition – April 2019

2. UMD Three-Minute Thesis Competition
College-Level Competition in March
ARHU, BSOS, CMNS, and ENGR will each hold a college competition
Remaining colleges/schools will hold a multi-college competition
Each college competition can name up to 4 winners
Register to compete here.
Campus-Level Competition in April
Winners of college-level competitions advance to the campus-level competition.
4 campus-level 3MT winners will be named
3MT winners may have opportunities to compete in state and international competitions.

3. What are the Rules? Rules
A single static PowerPoint slide is permitted. No slide transitions, animations or 'movement' of any description are allowed. The slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration.
No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted.
No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
Presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum and competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified.
Presentations are to be spoken word (eg. no poems, raps or songs).
Presentations are to commence from the stage.
Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.
The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.

4. What is the criteria? Comprehension & Content
Did the presentation provide an understanding of the background to the research question being addressed and its significance?
Did the presentation clearly describe the key results of the research including conclusions and outcomes?
Did the presentation follow a clear and logical sequence?
Was the thesis topic, key results and research significance and outcomes communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
Did the speaker avoid scientific jargon, explain terminology and provide adequate background information to illustrate points?
Did the presenter spend adequate time on each element of their presentation - or did they elaborate for too long on one aspect or was the presentation rushed?
Engagement & Communication
Did the oration make the audience want to know more?
Was the presenter careful not to trivialise or generalise their research?
Did the presenter convey enthusiasm for their research?
Did the presenter capture and maintain their audience's attention?
Did the speaker have sufficient stage presence, eye contact and vocal range; maintain a steady pace, and have a confident stance?
Did the PowerPoint slide enhance the presentation - was it clear, legible, and concise?

5. Sammy Ramsey, Entomology UMD Graduate School, 1st Prize (2017) Universitas 21, Judge’s Prize (2017) Universitas 21, People’s Choice Prize (2017)

6. The Rhetorical Situation
Rhetorical Situation = the situation that shapes the argument and the potential of the argument
What’s in that situation?
Audience (knowledgeable, academic, cross-disciplinary)
Speaker/author
Purpose
Constraints (word limit, medium, etc.)
The particular moment/exigence
So – that’s what a winning 3MT presentation looks like – let’s dissect it a little and think about what goes in there --

7. The purpose of my research is. . .
Finish that sentence
Why does your research matter?
Why should people care?
What can you attach it to ?
What questions has it answered?
What results can I share?
One reason that we only invite post-candidacy students to enter the competition is that the rules require that you share some of your FINDINGS – so your PURPOSE should

8. 3MT Constraints One slide No animation
The biggest constraint is TIME -- in the details, it also has to be one take, not read, etc.

9. Simple Rules for Success
Change the world
Make me care
Be passionate

10. Simple Rules for Success
Change the world
Start with the big picture, a broad context
Help your audience see that there is a problem (even if the problem isn’t at the top of their list) (create exigence)
THEN explain how you are contributing to a solution

11. Simple Rules for Success
Make me care
The audience needs to relate to the issue in order to follow the delivery
Your audience has a broad capacity for caring—but you have to help develop it
Think about this – within your discipline, this “caring” is covered because you share interests, etc. Here, in an audience beyond your discipline, you need to create that sense of interest, concern, caring

12. Simple Rules for Success
Be passionate
If you aren’t excited, why should I be?
But all of this seems like it means that there are ideas out there that are better suited – climate change, medical breakthroughs, etc. – yes, but no --

14. Amy Marquardt, Material Science Engineering, UMD Graduate School, 1st Prize (2014) Universitas 21, Judge’s Prize (2014) Universitas 21, People’s Choice Prize (2014)

15. Simple Not simplistic, not dumbed down. But the CORE of your idea.
Limited, focused
Often, you have to know the complex idea to make it simple (but not to make it dumb).

16. COMPLEX SIMPLE "It's a normal cognitive glitch," Deffler says.
Overall, misnaming occurs typically within the same semantic social groups, with family members calling other family members by a wrong name belonging to another family member. Our finding that, across studies, most misnamed–named pairs were rated as only somewhat physically similar suggests that misnaming is likely not due to perceived physical similarity between the named and the misnamed. Our data instead suggest that, similar to studies of TOT states and slips of the tongue, misnaming of highly familiar individuals are influenced by both semantic and phonological factors. Potential substitutions for the correct name may be more likely to be used if they share semantic or phonetic properties with the correct name (Dell & Reich, 1981; White, Abrams, & Frame, 2013), which suggests that misnamings can occur at different stages of speech production. A comparison of the effect sizes for semantic similarity and phonetic similarity from the chi-square analysis revealed a larger effect of semantic group that was consistent across all four studies, even though sample characteristics and participant perspective (misnamer or misnamed) varied.
"It's a normal cognitive glitch," Deffler says.
Overall, misnaming occurs typically within the same semantic social groups, with family members calling other family members by a wrong name belonging to another family member. Our finding that, across studies, most misnamed–named pairs were rated as only somewhat physically similar suggests that misnaming is likely not due to perceived physical similarity between the named and the misnamed. Our data instead suggest that, similar to studies of TOT states and slips of the tongue, misnaming of highly familiar individuals are influenced by both semantic and phonological factors. Potential substitutions for the correct name may be more likely to be used if they share semantic or phonetic properties with the correct name (Dell & Reich, 1981; White, Abrams, & Frame, 2013), which suggests that misnamings can occur at different stages of speech production. A comparison of the effect sizes for semantic similarity and phonetic similarity from the chi-square analysis revealed a larger effect of semantic group that was consistent across all four studies, even though sample characteristics and participant perspective (misnamer or misnamed) varied.

17. COMPLEX
SIMPLE
Consistent with Study 1, these results suggest that instances of misnaming are common occurrences that participants can remember and report on; however, the retrospective nature of the survey may influence these findings. Additionally, misnaming between familiar individuals is not random. Rather, the wrong name used tends to be within the same semantic category and is affected by the phonetic similarity between the correct name and the name used.
It's not related to a bad memory or to aging, but rather to how the brain categorizes names. It's like having special folders for family names and friends names stored in the brain. When people used the wrong name, overwhelmingly the name that was used was in the same category, Deffler says. It was in the same folder.
Overall, misnaming occurs typically within the same semantic social groups, with family members calling other family members by a wrong name belonging to another family member. Our finding that, across studies, most misnamed–named pairs were rated as only somewhat physically similar suggests that misnaming is likely not due to perceived physical similarity between the named and the misnamed. Our data instead suggest that, similar to studies of TOT states and slips of the tongue, misnaming of highly familiar individuals are influenced by both semantic and phonological factors. Potential substitutions for the correct name may be more likely to be used if they share semantic or phonetic properties with the correct name (Dell & Reich, 1981; White, Abrams, & Frame, 2013), which suggests that misnamings can occur at different stages of speech production. A comparison of the effect sizes for semantic similarity and phonetic similarity from the chi-square analysis revealed a larger effect of semantic group that was consistent across all four studies, even though sample characteristics and participant perspective (misnamer or misnamed) varied.

18. COMPLEX
SIMPLE
Results and discussion
Participants provided a total of 292 cases of misnaming. Note that here and in the subsequent studies, because of missing data, some frequencies do not sum to the total N, and some percentages may not sum to 100%. Here and throughout the paper, we report all of our results, but mainly discuss those that address our hypotheses. (See Table 1 for the relevant data on the demographics of the misnamer and misnamed, as well as characteristics of the misnaming incidents.) To summarize, misnamers were more often female than male, were almost always older than the misnamed, and saw or spoke to the misnamed regularly. Each reported misnaming was typically experienced every few months, yearly, or rarely, and the misnamed tended to be called a single name only during a misnaming episode. Perceived negative mood did not have an effect on misnaming.
And there was one group who was especially prone to the naming mix-ups.
"Moms, especially moms," Deffler says. "Any mom I talked to says, 'You know, I've definitely done this.'"
Overall, misnaming occurs typically within the same semantic social groups, with family members calling other family members by a wrong name belonging to another family member. Our finding that, across studies, most misnamed–named pairs were rated as only somewhat physically similar suggests that misnaming is likely not due to perceived physical similarity between the named and the misnamed. Our data instead suggest that, similar to studies of TOT states and slips of the tongue, misnaming of highly familiar individuals are influenced by both semantic and phonological factors. Potential substitutions for the correct name may be more likely to be used if they share semantic or phonetic properties with the correct name (Dell & Reich, 1981; White, Abrams, & Frame, 2013), which suggests that misnamings can occur at different stages of speech production. A comparison of the effect sizes for semantic similarity and phonetic similarity from the chi-square analysis revealed a larger effect of semantic group that was consistent across all four studies, even though sample characteristics and participant perspective (misnamer or misnamed) varied.

19. The Unexpected
There’s probably something so familiar to you that you have forgotten it’s interesting
Tell a neighbor the most interesting thing about your research

20. Abstract/Concrete
What in your draft is abstract? Should it and could it be more concrete?
What in your draft is too concrete? Could it and should it be more abstract?

22. WEALTH
LIVESTOCK
BESSIE, MY COW

23. Abstract/Concrete
Effective speakers “climb up and down the ladder of abstraction”
Roy Peter Clark Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer. 

24. The Slide
Persuade with the image: what do you need to explain that your words can’t fully convey
Illustrate
Explain a process
Offer data – graphic representation of results
Offer analysis or causality
Tie things together
But not all of that!

27. Spoken v. Written Prose
You are speaking these presentations. So to compose, don’t just write them, but speak them.
How to write these – one answer is don’t write them – speak them. Because there are differences between how we write and how we speak, and these are definitely spoken, not read, then it makes sense to speak them in your invention stage – not write them – so use the memo recorder on your phone, talk them out to people

28. Creating Cohesion and “flow”
We can help our readers see the connections in a complicated series of ideas by using the “known-new” contract.
The “known-new” contract is a way to explain that, in English, readers expect familiar information (“known”) to come first in a sentence, and then we expect to get “new” information later in the sentence.
Writers connect ideas, and thus create cohesion, by making a chain of “known-new” and recognizing that “new” information becomes the “known” information in a subsequent sentence.

29. The best way to protect your silver is to apply a coating, and currently, museums use a plastic coating that lasts about ten years. At that ten year mark, the coating has to be removed, the silver polished, and a new coating applied. For museums with thousands of silver objects, this creates a nearly constant cycle of damage and recoating. My research is looking to break that cycle by creating a new coating enabled by nanotechnology. I’m looking at replacing the plastic coating with a new, transparent ceramic coating that I apply one atomic layer at a time. This technique is called atomic layer deposition, or ALD. And this atomic level control over the coating thickness allows me to create films that are nearly invisible. In fact, when I did a blind study with art conservators, they were unable to distinguish between a silver knife with an ALD coating and one without.

30. The best way to protect your silver is to apply a coating, and currently, museums use a plastic coating that lasts about ten years. At that ten year mark, the coating has to be removed, the silver polished, and a new coating applied. For museums with thousands of silver objects, this creates a nearly constant cycle of damage and recoating. My research is looking to break that cycle by creating a new coating enabled by nanotechnology. I’m looking at replacing the plastic coating with a new, transparent ceramic coating that I apply one atomic layer at a time. This technique is called atomic layer deposition, or ALD. And this atomic level control over the coating thickness allows me to create films that are nearly invisible. In fact, when I did a blind study with art conservators, they were unable to distinguish between a silver knife with an ALD coating and one without.

31. The best way to protect your silver is to apply a coating, and currently, museums use a plastic coating that lasts about ten years. At that ten year mark, the coating has to be removed, the silver polished, and a new coating applied. For museums with thousands of silver objects, this creates a nearly constant cycle of damage and recoating. My research is looking to break that cycle by creating a new coating enabled by nanotechnology. I’m looking at replacing the plastic coating with a new, transparent ceramic coating that I apply one atomic layer at a time. This technique is called atomic layer deposition, or ALD. And this atomic level control over the coating thickness allows me to create films that are nearly invisible. In fact, when I did a blind study with art conservators, they were unable to distinguish between a silver knife with an ALD coating and one without.

32. The best way to protect your silver is to apply a coating, and currently, museums use a plastic coating that lasts about ten years. At that ten year mark, the coating has to be removed, the silver polished, and a new coating applied. For museums with thousands of silver objects, this creates a nearly constant cycle of damage and recoating. My research is looking to break that cycle by creating a new coating enabled by nanotechnology. I’m looking at replacing the plastic coating with a new, transparent ceramic coating that I apply one atomic layer at a time. This technique is called atomic layer deposition, or ALD. And this atomic level control over the coating thickness allows me to create films that are nearly invisible. In fact, when I did a blind study with art conservators, they were unable to distinguish between a silver knife with an ALD coating and one without.

33. The best way to protect your silver is to apply a coating, and currently, museums use a plastic coating that lasts about ten years. At that ten year mark, the coating has to be removed, the silver polished, and a new coating applied. For museums with thousands of silver objects, this creates a nearly constant cycle of damage and recoating. My research is looking to break that cycle by creating a new coating enabled by nanotechnology. I’m looking at replacing the plastic coating with a new, transparent ceramic coating that I apply one atomic layer at a time. This technique is called atomic layer deposition, or ALD. And this atomic level control over the coating thickness allows me to create films that are nearly invisible. In fact, when I did a blind study with art conservators, they were unable to distinguish between a silver knife with an ALD coating and one without.

34. The best way to protect your silver is to apply a coating, and currently, museums use a plastic coating that lasts about ten years. At that ten year mark, the coating has to be removed, the silver polished, and a new coating applied. For museums with thousands of silver objects, this creates a nearly constant cycle of damage and recoating. My research is looking to break that cycle by creating a new coating enabled by nanotechnology. I’m looking at replacing the plastic coating with a new, transparent ceramic coating that I apply one atomic layer at a time. This technique is called atomic layer deposition, or ALD. And this atomic level control over the coating thickness allows me to create films that are nearly invisible. In fact, when I did a blind study with art conservators, they were unable to distinguish between a silver knife with an ALD coating and one without.

35. The best way to protect your silver is to apply a coating, and currently, museums use a plastic coating that lasts about ten years. At that ten year mark, the coating has to be removed, the silver polished, and a new coating applied. For museums with thousands of silver objects, this creates a nearly constant cycle of damage and recoating. My research is looking to break that cycle by creating a new coating enabled by nanotechnology. I’m looking at replacing the plastic coating with a new, transparent ceramic coating that I apply one atomic layer at a time. This technique is called atomic layer deposition, or ALD. And this atomic level control over the coating thickness allows me to create films that are nearly invisible. In fact, when I did a blind study with art conservators, they were unable to distinguish between a silver knife with an ALD coating and one without.

36. The best way to protect your silver is to apply a coating, and currently, museums use a plastic coating that lasts about ten years. At that ten year mark, the coating has to be removed, the silver polished, and a new coating applied. For museums with thousands of silver objects, this creates a nearly constant cycle of damage and recoating. My research is looking to break that cycle by creating a new coating enabled by nanotechnology. I’m looking at replacing the plastic coating with a new, transparent ceramic coating that I apply one atomic layer at a time. This technique is called atomic layer deposition, or ALD. And this atomic level control over the coating thickness allows me to create films that are nearly invisible. In fact, when I did a blind study with art conservators, they were unable to distinguish between a silver knife with an ALD coating and one without.