The competition was first held at Texas Tech in the spring and is judged on students’ ability to concisely present their research in three minutes or less.
The Texas Tech University Graduate School once again will celebrate the research of its students with a Three Minute Thesis competition on Wednesday (Oct. 19). The competition is designed to cultivate graduate students' academic, presentation and research communication skills by allowing them to explain their thesis or dissertation to a non-specialist audience in three minutes or less.
Three heats will be held, with the winners of each heat competing in the finals at 1 p.m. in the Canyon Room of the Student Union Building. The final presentations, which are free and open to the public, will feature a judging panel including anchor Jeff Klotzman of Fox 34 News and meteorologist Ron Roberts of KAMC-TV.
Klotzman and Roberts also served as judges in the spring competition. Doctoral candidate and environmental toxicology student Evelyn Reátegui-Zirena won first place in that competition along with the People's Choice Award for her presentation on her research regarding toxicology and the effects of human contamination on aquatic environments.
All currently enrolled master's thesis and doctoral dissertation students are eligible to participate in the competition. Participants are evaluated on their ability to provide judges with a clear understanding of their research topic and its background, significance and outcomes, as well as the engagement and enthusiasm of their presentation.
The winner will be announced Wednesday afternoon and will receive a prize of $300, with prizes of $200, $100 and $100 being awarded to the second place, third place and people's choice winners, respectively.
More information is available at the Three Minute Thesis website.
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