2019 3MT Competition

The JHM Professional Development and Career Office hosted the fourth annual Three Minute Thesis Competition April 17, 2019 in Mountcastle Auditorium located on the School of Medicine Campus. Thirty-two doctoral students competed in the preliminary heats and twelve finalists were chosen to present their 3MT talks in the final competition. Read about #JHU3MT in the The Hub.

The 2019 judges had a diverse background of research and communication experience and represented the university’s top leadership, including:

• Dr. Nancy Kass
  Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Pheobe R. Berman Professor of Bioethics and Public Health at JHSPH
• Dr. Denis Wirtz
  Vice Provost for Research and Theophilus Halley Smoot Professor of Engineering Science in the WSE
• Dr. Patricia Davidson
  Dean of the School of Nursing
• Dr. William Egginton
  Director of the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute and Decker Professor in the Humanities
• Dr. Allyson Handley
  President of the JHU Alumni Association
• Sarah Attreed
  2017 JHU and Maryland State 3MT top finalist, PhD Candidate in JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health

Congratulations to all students who participated and the 2019 3MT competition winners:

Winners:

First Place: Eduardo Martinez-Montes, School of Medicine, Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology
The Lazy Librarian

Second Place: Katie Overbey, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Environmental Health and Engineering
Application of Novel Laboratory Methods to Identify Infectious Norovirus in the Environment

Third Place & Alumni Choice: Benjamin Ackerman, Bloomberg School of Public Health Biostatistics
Clinical Trials: How Do Their Results Translate to the Real World?

People’s Choice: Jarrett Venezia, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Why Do Good Macrophages Go Bad?

Finalists:

Tyler Ames, School of Education
Measuring the Promise of Career Education

Sarah Kim, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Biophysics
Opening Doors into Cells

Binu Koirala, School of Nursing
The First Step in Preventing Deaths from Heart Failure in Nepal

Claire Konieczny, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, German and Romance Languages and Literatures
Emblems and Reading in the Renaissance

Celia Litovsky, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Cognitive Science
Why Do Some Stroke Patients Recover Better than Others?

Pramuditha Perera, Whiting School of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Teaching Machines to Say "I'm not sure"

Allen Scheie, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Physics
Quasiparticles in Magnetic Crystals

Derek VanDyke, Whiting School of Engineering, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Biasing the Immune System

Eligibility

Participants must be currently enrolled JHU doctoral students. We encourage students from all years and all disciplines to compete!

Prize Information

Prizes for the JHU 3MT Finals Competition are as follows:

• Winner: $1000
• Second Place: $500
• Third Place: $250
• People’s Choice: $250, in-person vote by audience members
• Alumni Choice Award: $250, virtual vote by audience members viewing the livestream on Facebook. Sponsored by the JHU Alumni Association.
• Remaining finalists will receive $100
• All 3MT finals talks will be professionally recorded and published online.

More Information

Doctoral students interested in participating in 3MT can view all information, rules, and presentation tips in the JHU 3MT Student Handbook.

A selection of videos of award-winning presentations from a variety of universities are available on the 3MT™ website .

A special thank you to the JHU Alumni Association for sponsoring the Alumni Choice Award and the live-stream.

For questions about the JHU competition, please contact Kate Bradford at 410-955-9877 or kate.bradford@jhu.edu.

Rules

A single static PowerPoint slide is permitted (no slide transitions, animations. or movement of any description; the slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration). No additional electronic media (e.g., sound and video files) are permitted. No additional props (e.g., costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted. Presentations are limited to three minutes maximum, and competitors exceeding three minutes are disqualified. Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g., no poems, raps, or songs). Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts his/her presentation through movement or speech. The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.

Judging Criteria

Presentations will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Did the presentation provide an understanding of the background and significance to the research question being addressed while explaining terminology and avoiding jargon?
• Did the presentation clearly describe the impact and/or results of the research, including conclusions and outcomes?
• Did the presentation follow a clear and logical sequence?
• Was the thesis topic, significance, results/impact and outcomes communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
• Did the presenter spend adequate time on each element of their presentation - or did they elaborate for too long on one aspect or was the presentation rushed?

• Did the oration make the audience want to know more?
• Was the presenter careful not to trivialize or generalize their work?
• Did the presenter convey enthusiasm for their research?
• Did the presenter capture and maintain their audience’s attention?
• Did the speaker have sufficient stage presence, eye contact and vocal range; maintain a steady pace, and have a confident stance?
• Did the PowerPoint slide enhance the presentation - was it clear, legible, and concise?