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Three Minute Thesis (3MT)

Three Minute Thesis (3MT)

An 80,000 word thesis would take 9 hours to present.

Their time limit... 3 minutes

2023 3MT Competition Details



3MT is an annual competition that challenges Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates to effectively explain their research in three minutes in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. The 3MT competition will be held virtually in 2023.



For more information about the 3MT 2023 competition, including eligibility, judging criteria and competition rules, please visit the UTAS About 3MT website.

You can also view entries from some of our previous contestants and finalists below!


2023 Winners

Winner - UTAS 3MT Final and Peoples Choice

Tara Kelly (IMAS)

It’s a lobster-eat-lobster world

Runner Up - UTAS 3MT Final

Samantha Bramich (Wicking)

Isolated REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder: Prevalence and Profiles in Tasmania


2023 Finalists

Ari Moore (Philosophy & Gender Studies)

Can Connection to Nature Produce Secular Mystical Experiences?

Samantha Bramich (Wicking)

Isolated REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder: Prevalence and profiles in Tasmania

Emilia Hawkey (Psychology)

Writing it right: Confidence in writing is crucial for expressing your message

Lyzette Matthews (Wicking)

Do Renshaw Cells Drive Disease in ALS?

Xinyi Wang (Wicking)

It’s all in hand: a new test for detecting Dementia risk

Shannon Frey (Earth Sciences)

The Ripple Effect

Wan Sin Heng (TIA)

Eating with peace of mind. Say NO to food contamination!

Tara Kelly (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

It's a lobster-eat-lobster world

Kuluni Millaniyage (Architecture and Design)

What makes a good timber flooring species?

Celia van Sprang (TIA)

Peonies - not just a pretty flower


2023 Competitors

Carla Baker (History & Classics)

How did lutruwita (Tasmania) become known as "The Apple Isle"?

Ari Moore (Philosophy & Gender Studies)

Can Connection to Nature Produce Secular Mystical Experiences?

Amara Steven (Economics)

Enchanted Economics: A story. Risk, gender and the magic of the Blue Economy

Samantha Bramich (Wicking)

Isolated REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder: Prevalence and cognitive chatracterics

Kellie-Anne Crameri (Medicine)

Personal electronic healthcare records: What influences consumers to engage with their clinical data online?

Emilia Hawkey (Psychology)

Writing it right: Confidence in writing is crucial for expressing your message

Lyzette Matthews (Wicking)

Do Renshaw Cells Drive Disease in ALS?

Leigh Parker (Medicine)

Altruism in Paramedicine - going above and beyond

Xinyi Wang (Wicking)

It’s all in hand: a new test for detecting Dementia risk

Shannon Frey (Earth Sciences)

The Ripple Effect

Wan Sin Heng (TIA)

Eating with peace of mind. Say NO to food contamination!

Rabbia Idrees (ICT)

IoT Data Quality Management

Tara Kelly (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

It's a lobster-eat-lobster world

Kuluni Millaniyage (Architecture and Design)

What makes a good timber flooring species?

Janneke Scheeres (Biological Sciences)

Mammal Responses to Forestry and Wildfire

Celia van Sprang (TIA)

Peonies - not just a pretty flower

Peter Targett (TIA)

Investigating Collar Rot of Peas

Hanh Vo (Biological Sciences)

How do plants sense low humidity to survive?

Kaylee Rudd (Wicking)

Diagnosis of Dementia Could Be a Click Away


2022 Winners

Winner - UTAS 3MT Final

Stan Drummen (Menzies)

More Exercise, Less Surgery

Runner Up - UTAS 3MT Final

Fergus Edwards (English)

Tom and Ludwig

People’s Choice – UTAS 3MT Final

Elga Skrastins (Sociology and Criminology)

Archival Evidence for the Emergence of Promiscuity as a Mental Disorder in Tasmania


2022 Finalists

Youyin (Alice) Yu (Accounting and Governance)

No pain, no gain! or Double the pain, halve the gain

Prashasti Singh (Ecology and Biodiversity)

Diatom sedimentary ancient DNA: Stepping into the past to save Antarctica's future

Freya Su (Architecture)

Attack of the Black Mould

Andrea Hay (Geomatic Engineering)

The SWOT satellite mission: changing how we see the world

Bibek Khatiwada (Menzies)

Childhood cataract gene hunting


2022 Competitors

Yann Herrera Fuchs (Ecology and Biodiversity)

Understanding the Role of Temperature in Shaping Global Reef Biodiversity

Dinah Amoah (Health Science)

Supporting Young Stroke Survivors Through Engaging Messaging (SYSSTEM)

Hanh Vo (Plant Science)

How Do Plants Sense Drought to Survive?

Hannah Coombe (Medicine)

Investigating the Role of Pericytes in Stroke

Mahsa Pouranayatihosseinabad (Pharmacy)

Maternal antibiotic exposure and the risk of postpartum depression

Lydia Hana (Management)

Is it food waste of could we give it another shot?

Bao Ngoc Tran (Wicking)

Is it possible to prevent bad aging?

Maria Bravo Aguilera (Psychology)

Improving Access to Meaningful Assessment of Cognition for Drug Treatment Services

Yang Dai (Plant Sciences)

Flowering Time Matters

Renny Listyono (Pharmacy)

Effect of High fat diet - induced obesity on neuropathology and functional outcomes following TBI in mice

Chenting Jiang (TIA)

Automatic Predicction of soil water retention function by using Machines learning techniques

Theunis Pieters (Health Science)

Workloads in adolescents athletes: how much is too much?

Muhandiramge Ranasinghe (Chemistry)

How much carcinogens are in wine?

Mars Buttfield-Addison (ICT)

One Eye On The Sky: Space tracking with no interruptions

Simin Salarpour (Physics)

Have you ever been to Mt Pleasant Observatory in Cambridge?

Chitra Sharma (Health Science)

Being active... easier said than done

Kaylee Rudd (Wicking)

Motor Function Changes Precede Cognitive Impairment


2021 Finalists

Yaxing Meng (Menzies)

Controlling childhood blood pressure tackles the heart disease before it tackles you

Katie Marx (English)

Antarctica: Out of Sight, Front of Mind

Kate McMaster (Pharmacy)

Memories and Muscles

Hannah Fair (Wicking)

Reaching the unengaged: Converstations about dementia and risk reduction

Xin Lin (Menzies)

Lifting up the blindfold

Tram Nguyen (Menzies)

Brain repair with magnetci brain stimulation in Multiple Sclerosis

Geethu Baby (Education)

Teacher's Perceptions of the benefits and challenges for using multimodal approached to teach ESL in Indian primary classrooms

Penelope Taylor (Sociology and Crimionlogy)

Turning the lens: Indigenous perspectives on race-relations and on building White capacity for constructive relations in Australia

Chin Chuan Lim (Mathematics)

Voice of the Sky

Noemie Friscourt (IMAS)

Know it by a whisker

Archana Gaikwad (Health Science)

IPF: A Mysterious Killer Disease


2020 Winners

First Prize - UTAS 3MT Final

Kathleen Lim (Menzies Institute for Medical Research)
Breathe Baby, Breathe

Runner Up - UTAS 3MT Final

Layla Creach (IMAS - Oceans and Cryosphere)
Muddy time machine

People's Choice Award - UTAS 3MT Final

Yaxing Meng (Menzies Institute for Medical Research)
When it comes to blood pressure, three is the magic number


2020 Finalists

Nita Novianti (Education)

Navigating the Complexities of Critical Literacy Practices

Penelope Taylor (Sociology & Criminology)

Building Capacity in White Australians for Constructive Race Relations

Seonad Madden (Health Sciences)

A lot on their plate

Myles Moore (Menzies)

Performing under pressure: New warning signs for predicting the risk of a heart attack

Monique Williams (Psychology)

From mind full to mindful: The role of attention in anxiety

Megan Grant (IMAS - Ecology and Biodiversity)

Plastic Polluted Paradise


2019 Winners

Play video: 3MT 2018 Winner – Kate Edwards

Winner - UTAS 3MT Final

Kate Edwards (College of Health and Medicine)
Blood and guts: optimising health and performance in female ultra-endurance athletes

Play video: 3MT 2019 Runner-up – David Moreno

Runner Up - UTAS 3MT Final

Niamh Chapman (College of Health and Medicine)
Stopping a killer in its tracks: a new approach to prevent the leading cause of death

Play video: Peoples choice Tess - Nikitenko

People’s Choice – UTAS 3MT Final

Tess Nikitenko (College of Health and Medicine)
Why can't we just control ourselves?


2019 Finalists

Play video: 2019  – Brianna Atto

Brianna Atto

Play video: Duncan Robinson

Duncan Robinson

Play video: Duran Zhao

Duran Zhao

Play video: Ming Chen

Ming Chen

Play video: Thi Song Van Luong

Thi Song Van Luong

Play video: Thomas Botterill-James

Thomas Botterill-James


2018 Winners

Play video: 3MT 2018 Winner – Glen Bain

First Place and People's Choice

Glen Bain (Natural Sciences)
Fully-fledged restoration ecology

Play video: 3MT 2018 Runner-up – David Moreno

Second Place

David Moreno (IMAS)
The unexpected life of a common shark in an uncommon habitat


2018 Finalists

Play video: 2018 Finalist – Sheryl Hamilton

Sheryl Hamilton (IMAS)
How to stop killing seals in trawl nets

Play video: 2018 Finalist –

Dario Rodriguez-Cubillo (Natural Sciences)
Through burning eyes - Fires of the past, lessons for the future

Play video: 2018 Finalist –

Zhen Zhou (Menzies)
Statins in healthy older adults: Curse or Cure?

Play video: 2018 Finalist –

Olivia Swann (Menzies)
The impact of dietary fibre intake on inflammation and depression

Play video: 2018 Finalist –

Niamh Chapman (Menzies)
Digital Healthcare: Improving the prevention of cardiovascular disease

Play video: 2018 Finalist –

Katie-Jane Brickwood (Health Sciences)
How to keep older adults active: Technology versus Human Interaction

Play video: 2018 Finalist –

Van Thi Tuong Nguyen (Menzies)
The powerhouse of stem cells

Play video: 2018 Finalist –

Shane Morris (Natural Sciences)
Translocations: A story about a kid, a tiger and a possum

2017 Competitors

Play video: Patricia Graham - Gene hunting

First Place
Patricia Graham (Menzies)
Gene hunting: Unravelling the causes of glaucoma blindness

Play video: Lauren Roman - Plastic ingestion in Australian seabirds

Second Place
Lauren Roman (IMAS)
Plastic ingestion in Australian seabirds

Play video: Yan Zhang - Better understanding of progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

People's Choice
Yan Zhang (Menzies)
Better understanding of progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Play video: David Bayliss - What influences how men choose a treatment for their prostate cancer?

David Bayliss (Health)
What influences how men choose a treatment for their prostate cancer?

Play video: Hoang Phan - Sex differences in management and outcomes after stroke

Hoang Phan (Menzies)
Sex differences in management and outcomes after stroke

Play video: Mike Guerzoni - Behind the Candelabra: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Tasmania

Mike Guerzoni (Social Sciences)
Behind the Candelabra: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Tasmania

Play video: Toby Newstead - Leading with virtue

Toby Newstead (TSBE)
Leading with virtue

Play video: Nicole Hellessey - Licence to Krill

Nicole Hellessey (IMAS)
Licence to Krill

Play video: Fera Dewi - Shelf-Life Extension of Atlantic Salmon

Fera Dewi (SET)
Shelf-Life Extension of Atlantic Salmon