John Reynolds, a PhD student in Computer Science, competed in the finals of the Three Minute Thesis Competition, held on Wednesday as part of UT’s Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week. Although Reynolds did not win with his presentation, entitled “Exploring Natural Patterns,” reaching the finals is a great achievement in communicating his research to a general public.

The 3MT competition cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills.

It challenges master’s and doctoral students to communicate their unique thesis or dissertation to an audience unfamiliar with the subject. Competitors have three minutes to explain their research using only one slide or photo.  Presenting in a 3MT competition increases their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.