UK GradResearch Live!
- About UK GradResearch Live!
- Timeline
- Tracks & Prizes
- Rules & Submission
- About 3MT
- Congratulations to our 2022 Winners
- Videos of Previous Winners
- Additional Resources
About UK GradResearch Live!
Sponsored by The Graduate School and The Graduate Student Congress
Communicating research succinctly and engagingly, especially to general audiences, is a critical but rare skill that can give you a boost in the competitive job market inside and outside academia. An effective way to develop this skill is participation in the Three-Minute Thesis, or 3MT, which is very different than other academic exercises in research distillation, such as pitches and lightening talks. Developed in 2008 by the University of Queensland in Australia and now practiced at universities around the globe, the 3MT challenges researchers to tell an appealing story to a non-specialist audience in three minutes or less. Accompanying the narration is a single static graphic to enhance the audience’s understanding.
Timeline
GradResearch Live! is held toward the end of every fall semester so that the first and second place winners of the 3MT Track (see Tracks & Prizes below) can go on to compete in regional 3MT competitions in the spring semesters. Below is a timeline of activities related to this event. Participants are required to submit a video for the preliminaries, and we will select the top submissions to compete in our live event.
Introductory Workshop:
Communicating Your Research to a Public Audience
Friday, October 6
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Zoom Link: https://uky.zoom.us/j/83701802822
This workshop is open to all graduate and professional students and Postdocs. It focuses on public scholarship in general, but there will be a dedicated section at the end which will discuss tailoring the information specifically for the 3MT rules of GradResearch Live!
Preliminary Submission:
Wednesday, October 25th by 8:00 a.m.
Please see Submission section below for more details.
Final Event:
Wednesday, November 8
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
UKFCU Esports Theater in The Cornerstone
Family and friends are welcome to attend!
Tracks & Prizes
- Early-Research or pre-3MT (master’s and doctoral; students in proposal stage or with preliminary findings)
- 1st place: $500
- 2nd place: $250
- 3rd place: $150
- People’s Choice: $150
- Late-Research or Standard 3MT (master’s and doctoral; students with results/conclusions)
- 1st place: $750 (and advancement to regional competition)
- 2nd place: $500
- 3rd place: $250
- People’s Choice: $250
- Postdoctoral 3MT (must be classified at UK as a postdoctoral fellow/scholar)
- 1st place: $500
- 2nd place: $250
- 3rd place: $150
- People’s Choice: $150
Rules & Submission
Click here for tips and tricks on how to begin planning your GradResearch Live! presentation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PW8ACzcPSPbdGHQhRLVQfWIXrcG12wGT/copy
Participants are required to submit a video recording for the preliminary round, and we will select the top submissions to compete in-person during our live event.
Below are the official rules of the competition. Please read and follow all rules before submitting your video.
- The competition is limited to currently enrolled masters and doctoral students, or postdocs, at the University of Kentucky who have not previously won a campus-wide 3MT competition. (Postdocs are only eligible to compete in the postdoc track.)
- Finalists must present live in the Esports Theater on Thursday, November 10th, 2022, without the aid of notecards or cheat-sheets
- No additional sound or video is permitted in the presentation.
- No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment, etc.) are permitted.
- Presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum; competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified. (A timer will be displayed at the finals.)
- Presentations are to be spoken-word prose (e.g. no poetry, raps, or songs).
- Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.
- The decision of the judges is final.
Please use the form below to submit a PDF of your slide (PDFs ONLY please) and your video recording. There is a 100MB limit on the recordings, so if your file is larger than that, please contact Chad Gilpin (chadwick.gilpin@uky.edu) to arrange for another transfer method.
Submission Form: https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dcXqZJHv5QdiXRk
About 3MT
UK GradResearch Live! was born out of the The University of Queensland’s 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, a research presentation initiative that challenges graduate students to effectively communicate their research to a general audience, with a single slide, in three minutes or less. Click here to learn more about the history of 3MT.
The Graduate School and Graduate Student Congress have hosted 3MT competitions at The University of Kentucky since 2013, and our participants have found them an excellent way to practice their communication and presentation skills while sharing their research with their peers.
This year we’re rebranding and expanding the competition to reach a larger audience across campus and throughout the local community with a public showcase, numerous prizes, and a reception. Keep reading to learn more about UK GradResearch Live!
Congratulations to our 2022 Winners
3MT Track (Late Stage Research)
- First Place: Feitong Lei
- Second Place: Kathryn Mattingly-Flynn
- Third Place: Erica Jacquay
- People's Choice: Emily Naser-Hall
Pre-3MT Track (Early Stage Research)
- First Place: Courtney Martin
- Second Place: Kasey Vigil
- Third Place: Jordan Parker
- People's Choice: Jordan Parker
Postdoctoral Track
- First Place: Abdullah Al Masud
- Second Place: Alec Tewsley-Booth
- People's Choice: Abdullah Al Masud
Videos of Previous Winners
2022
Pre-3MT
First Place: Courtney Martin
Second Place: Kasey Vigil
Third Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Jordan Parker
3MT
First Place: Feitong Lei
Second Place: Kathryn Mattingly-Flynn
Third Place: Erica Jacquay
People's Choice Award Winner: Emily Naser-Hall
Postdoctoral Track
First Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Abdullah Al Masud
Second Place: Alec Tewsley-Booth
2021
Pre-3MT
First Place: Amanda Slone, Communication, "A Communicable Vaccine for Misinformation"
Second Place:
Third Place:
People's Choice Award Winner:
3MT
Second Place
Third Place:
People's Choice Award Winner:
Postdoc
Second Place
Third Place:
People's Choice Award Winner:
2020
Note: Competition moved online due to COVID-19.
Pre-3MT
Second Place: Carrie Bohmer, Educational & Counseling Psychology, "A Cliterature Review"
People’s Choice Award Winner: Fahmida Rahman, Civil Engineering, "Effect of Speed on the Crashes of Rural Two-Lane Highways"
3MT
First Place: Jonghee Lee-Caldararo, Geography, "Sleepless in Seoul"
Second Place: Kristen Witt, Education Sciences/STEM, "Kids NEED Daily Science Instruction: A STEM Specialist Can Make That Happen"
Third Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Kanthi Nuti, Chemistry, "Understanding the Therapeutic Design in Treatment of Various Diseases"
Postdoc Track
First Place: Steven McBride, Plant & Soil Science, "Harnessing Gasses to Increase Agricultural Production"
Second Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Alfadhl Alkhaled, Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering, "Non-Destructive Methods of Codling Moth-Infested Apples"
2019
Pre-3MT
Second Place: Zakary Clements, Counseling Psychology, "Positive Transgender Identity"
3MT
First Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Natalie Malone, Educational, School, & Counseling Psychology, "Can a Meditation Help Heal Racial Trauma?"
Second Place: Carli Loss, Orthodontics, "Suzie's Smile"
Third Place: Julia Schulz, Pharmaceutical Sciences, "The Terminator in the Brain"
Postdoc
First Place: Sathya Velmurugan, Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences, "Diabetes, Heart, and a Tale of Two Ions"
Second Place: Oliver Voecking, Biology, "Eye Am Legend"
2018
Graduate Research Showcase
Second Place: Chi Peng, Clinical & Translational Science, "Are Anti-HIV Drugs Affecting Platelet Function?"
3MT
First Place: Anna Bedsole, English, "Gothic Heroines and #MeToo"
Second Place: Daniel Chavez, Business Administration, "Hypothetical Bias: Do Real Questions Give Real Answers?"
Third Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Melissa Cantor, Animal & Food Sciences, "The Sick Calf Detector"
Postdoc Research Showcase
First Place: Jong Hyun Kim, Chemistry, "Looking for Potent Anticancer Drug"
Second Place: Kathryn Everson, Biology, "Systematics and Species Discovery in Madagascar's Tenrecs"
2017
Second Place: Kai Zhang, Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences, "Designing a Drug for Alcoholic Brain Disease"
Third Place: Soroosh Torabi, Mechanical Engineering, "3D Micro-Scale Chip: A Game Changing Strategy to Fight Cancer"
People's Choice Award Winner:
2016
First Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Carleigh Fedorka, Veterinary Science, "The Dirty Broodmare... Cleaned Up"
Second Place: Andrew Welleford, Anatomy & Neurobiology, "Nerve Support Cells: The Key to Stopping Parkinson's Disease?"
Third Place: Jessica Richard, Agricultural Economics, "Dairy Margin Protection Program"
2015
First Place: Sydney Crawley, Entomology, "Think Like a Bed Bug: Elucidating Behavior to Enhance Control"
Second Place: Katie McKenna, Microbiology, "Role of Spleen in B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)"
Third Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Shayan Mohammadmoradi, Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences, "Your Gut Bacteria Can Make You Obese"
Spring 2014
First Place & People's Choice Winner: Olufunmilola Akinola, Nutritional Sciences
Second Place (TIE): Gary Gregg, Plant & Soil Sciences AND Kayla Johnson, Educational Policy Studies & Evaluation
Fall 2014
Master's Students
First Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Shayan Mohammadmoradi, Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences, "Cholesterol Lowering Effects of Probiotics"
Second Place: Gary Gregg, Plant & Soil Sciences
Third Place: Laura Higley, Classics
Doctoral Students
First Place & People's Choice Award Winner: Jianing Li, Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences, "Peanut Allergy, Not Just Peanuts"
Second Place: Carolyn Crowdus Meyer, Anatomy & Neurobiology
2013
First Place: Danielle Lyons, Physiology
Second Place: Stephanie Richman, Psychology
Third Place: Oreoluwa Adedoyin, Pharmaceutical Sciences
People's Choice Award: Jennifer Tullmann, Musicology
Additional Resources
Below are some different resources related to UK GradResearch Live! and Three Minute Thesis. For specific questions, please contact Morris Grubbs.
- 7 Steps to Effective Communication (PPT)
- Videos of previous winners from various universities
- Click here for "UK at the Half" radio interview with graduate students about the 3MT®, which aired Jan. 28, 2014.