Introduction

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is widely known by graduate students and research community globally as an eminent research communication competition. It is a truly unique competition for PhD students to explain and present their research within three minutes in language appropriate to the general audience.

First introduced by the University of Queensland in 2008, 3MT has now gained wide popularity and acceptance in many universities worldwide. In Malaysia, the competition was spearheaded by the Council of Malaysian Postgraduate Deans due to widespread interest and enthusiasm among Malaysian universities and students towards the competition. The USM 3MT competition is an annual event organized by the Institute of Postgraduate Studies to motivate and inspire its PhD student to share their research findings to the larger research community while at the same time cultivate cross-disciplinary research culture and invigorating academic atmosphere within the university.

The first 3MT was held at The University of Queensland in 2008 with 160 PHD students competing. Enthusiasm for the 3MT concept grew and its widespread implementation by universities has led to the development of an international competition. The Strong support for 3MT exists in Australia and New Zealand with 44 institutions coming together to participate in the 2013 Trans-Tasman 3MT Competition. The event also hosted special guests from Fiji and Hong Kong. The inaugural International U21 competition was also launched in 2013. The global reach of the competition can be seen by the extent of participation with universities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Vietnam also hosting local 3MT events.

The idea for the 3MT competition came about at a time when the state of Queensland was suffering severe drought. To conserve water, residents were encouraged to time their showers, and many people had a three minute egg timer fixed to the wall in their bathroom. The then Dean of the UQ Graduate School, Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson, put two and two together and the idea for the 3MT competition was born.

The first 3MT competition was held at UQ in 2008 with 160 Research Higher Degree students competing. In 2009 and 2010 the 3MT competition was promoted to other Australian and New Zealand universities and enthusiasm for the concept grew. Due to its adoption in numerous universities, a multi-national event was developed, and the Inaugural Trans-Tasman 3MT competition was held at UQ in 2010. Since 2011, the popularity of the competition has increased and 3MT competitions are now held in over 600 universities and institutions across 65 countries worldwide.

In November 2013, the first Universitas 21 (U21) 3MT competition was held with several universities from around the world competing in a virtual competition.

2016 brought an expansion of the Trans-Tasman 3MT competition to include a select number of Asian universities. The competition is now called the Asia-Pacific 3MT competition.