Graduate students, please take out your theses.
See the tens of thousands of words you have typed out and think about the countless hours you have poured into creating this thesis.
Now take that vast amount of research and condense it into a three-minute presentation.
Five master's students and 19 doctoral students recently performed that tough task as part of the University's first Three Minute Thesis competition Thursday, June 27.
While a typical thesis or presentation is presented in a nine-hour period, all 24 competitors were able to share their research with the audience in less than 180 seconds.
"3MT allows the public to see how Auburn's graduate students are addressing real-world problems through their research while also giving the students another platform to hone their presentation skills and showcase their work," said George Flowers, dean of the Auburn Graduate School.
Chemical engineering student Shaima Nahreen won first prize in the doctoral category for her presentation on producing jet fuel from biomass.
"Everyone tries to learn what you are working on in a very short time," Nahreen said. "It is really helpful to be able to explain your research to a general audience in three minutes, so this competition was very interesting to me."
Thomas Reid Nelson, a student in fisheries and allied aquacultures, took home the top prize in the master's student category. Nelson presented his research on using ear stones in breeds of Gulf fish for differentiation purposes.
"This competition was a really neat opportunity to get my research out to a general audience and practice talking to people other than my small group of fish people," Nelson said.
Nelson also won the master's student People's Choice award, which was voted on by members of the audience. Doctoral student Ian Cero won the doctoral student People's Choice award for his presentation titled "Puttin' on a clean shirt to rassle a hog: old problems and new solutions for reliable psychological management."
The competition's runners-up were engineering students Nikhil Jha and Naved Siddiqui.
Students from a wide range of disciplines participated in the inaugural event, which was held inside the Shelby Center. Topics included parasitic wasps, warehouse management, high comfort contact lenses, remedial mathematics and Android apps.
The winners, chosen by a five-person panel of judges from the Graduate School, received cash prizes and plaques. Participants were judged on communication style, comprehension and engagement with the audience.
The Three Minute Thesis competition began in Australia at the University of Queensland. The concept spread across that region of the world, and universities from Australia, Fiji and New Zealand came together for an international competition in 2010.
The 3MT concept, now in 10 different countries, began in the United States two years ago. Auburn became the fourth American school to hold a 3MT contest, joining Purdue University, Emory University and the University of Georgia.
An abstract of each competitor's presentation is available online at bit.ly/AU-3MT.
For more information on the competition around the world, visit ThreeMinuteThesis.org.
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