The Graduate College Names Two Winners for the 2022 Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition Award

Last Friday, two winners were announced for the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition at the University Final event. Twelve students competed, judged by a panel of seven, with first-place, runner-up, and People’s Choice winners chosen at Friday’s event.

Kayra Tasci, who won first-place and People’s Choice, presented her research on using Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) as a sustainable source of protein in beef cattle feed. An Integrated Agricultural Studies master’s student with a history in agriculture, Kayra emphasized the importance of making her research available and accessible to the public, especially those outside of her field.

“I’ve kind of always been immersed in animal science and that culture,” Kayra said. “At the root of agriculture is farmers and producers that are used to more traditional methods. It’s important to share our research in a way that’s digestible for farmers and producers so that they can learn about what sustainable options are available to them to feed to their livestock.”

Brianna Fogel, the runner-up, presented her research on using ecological niche modeling as a means to protect endangered plant species. A Population and Conservation Biology master’s student, Brianna discussed the challenges of concentrating her research into a three-minute speech.

“It was extremely challenging because this work takes time to do; it’s not something that you just do in one day.” Brianna said, “So, the process of me trying to condense what I’ve done in the past two years into three minutes was hard. It was the challenge of how [to] take this complicated concept and make it understandable to everyone without diluting [the research’s] importance and without taking away the value of the research.”

3MT® is a research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland (UQ) in which graduate students have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their thesis or dissertation research and its significance. 3MT® provides graduate students the opportunity to present their research to a lay audience in an environment that challenges their comfort zones and requires them to think outside the box.

Elias Martinez, Assistant Vice President for University Marketing and judge at the University Final, discussed the importance of competitions like 3MT®, especially in a society that is driven by screen time.

“I believe that 3MT® is important because simple, clear, and concise communication is more important than ever,” Elias said. “We live in a fragmented, always-on communications environment that was created to serve our shrinking attention spans, and the ideas that cut through the noise will be those that write the future. Oftentimes outside of academia the viability of an idea isn’t determined by its quality, but by how it is communicated and understood by others. 3MT® is a fantastic opportunity for students to build and hone those skills.”

Graduate students currently enrolled in a Texas State University research Ph.D. or Ed.D. program and master's students on a thesis track are eligible to compete in 3MT®. To learn more about 3MT® or how to prepare for next year’s competition, please visit our 3MT® webpage.