Presenting your research to a non-academic audience in just three minutes may not be easy, but past participants have seen the benefits first-hand
What can graduate students gain from telling people about their research in non-technical terms, and with a three-minute time limit? More than they might have expected, according to past Three Minute Thesis (3MT) winners!
The competition requires graduate students in research-based programs to communicate what their research is about, and why it matters, in just three minutes.
Those who have taken the challenge have said the experience helped them learn how to communicate their research succinctly, better understand the significance of their work, and apply that knowledge to advance their career prospects.
Since 2017, more than 100 Athabasca University graduate students have taken part in the AU 3MT competition, hosted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS), joining the thousands of others around the world who have taken part in the competition since the inaugural event at the University of Queensland in 2008.
Discover what past winners have said about the experience and learn more about the AU 3MT competition on April 15, 2026.
James Davis, 2025 AU 3MT winner
James Davis, Master of Education student, says the benefits of learning through gaming are being undersold because of a gap in the research evaluating the use of games in teaching.
His 3MT presentation, Gamified Learning is Underrated, explored the criteria for what makes gamification work to motivate people. He said going through the process of preparing for the presentation had an impact on his thesis—especially by helping him to make things more concise and building his confidence.
“As I’ve gone through my program and now through winning the 3MT competition, I’ve learned to trust my own thoughts and believe that what I’m doing and what I know is valuable,” he said.
Dr. Meggan Franks, 2024 AU 3MT winner
Dr. Meggan Franks (Doctor of Business Administration ’24) spent nearly a decade running a volunteer centre at Mississippi State University, which engaged about 7,000 volunteers annually. She saw that some agencies were better at engaging volunteers than others, and she wanted to understand why.
This was the focus of her DBA research, and her winning 3MT presentation, It’s About Engagement, not Management: The Key to Volunteer Retention. She said the process of speaking about her research for a non-technical audience helped her to better understand the practical implications of her work, and how to translate its importance in language that’s accessible to anyone.
“The competition also helped me reflect on the impacts of my research on volunteer managers, which is a core part of the DBA," she said. "Personally, the experience of competing and winning was so rewarding.”
Skyler Todd, 2023 AU 3MT winner
Skyler Todd (Master of Counselling ’23) won the 2023 AU 3MT competition with their presentation, “What are you having?": The lived experiences of gender creative parents.
Todd spent the bulk of their studies learning how to best support gender non-conforming people in counselling. But when Todd became pregnant, they started questioning whether there were proactive practices to better support their child's gender health-meaning living in the gender that feels most comfortable, and freely expressing that gender.
They said winning the competition and advancing to the Western Regionals competition helped them affirm that more people would be willing to listen and learn about their work.
When asked if they had any advice for future student competitors, Todd said "just take the plunge."
"Whether you win or not, it's really useful to be able to plainly summarize your research in three minutes. And it was also really fun to listen to other people's research!"
Karli Jahn, 2022 AU 3MT winner
Karli Jahn won AU's 2022 3MT competition with her presentation, Fat is not a bad word: exploring weight stigma and its effects on treatment outcomes in counselling interventions.
Jahn began her presentation by stating, "What if I told you everything we know about weight and health cannot be backed up by the most recent evidence-based research?"
"If you don't have the curves in the right places, a flat stomach, or don't look borderline starving, you're fat," she said. "I'm trying to use that as a neutral descriptor because I think if we start using it in a way that is broader, we can start making the changes that need to happen."
Jiun-yi Zullo, 2021 AU 3MT winner
Jiun-yi Zullo (Master of Nursing '21) won the 2021 competition with her thesis about emergency nurses' experiences of occupational disappointment-the feeling of disheartenment with career choice. Zullo's work focused on disappointment resulting from prevalent and unaddressed verbal abuse from patients and/or their visitors. It was inspired by her own experiences working as an emergency room nurse in Ontario at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said she was stunned by the win and credited the ongoing support of her thesis supervisor for encouraging her to pursue her research topic. As for the competition itself, she said it was helpful to have an opportunity to present among her peers, rather than in a more intimidating environment with senior researchers.
"I saw it as a way of understanding and connecting with other like-minded students, to see research at other levels and different stages," she said. "When you watch other people present, you're able to take tips about how to improve your own presentation."