UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Graduate students looking to highlight their scholarly achievements, compete for monetary awards and recognition, and hone their communication skills are now able to register for two upcoming University-wide competitions: Penn State’s 39th annual Graduate Exhibition and the inaugural Three Minute Thesis competition.
Registration for both events is open to all degree-seeking graduate students at any Penn State campus. Penn State community members also are invited to register as a judge for one or both events.
Three Minute Thesis
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Each competitor has three minutes to speak and can use only one presentation slide to effectively explain their research to a general audience. The Graduate School will be hosting the 2024 Three Minute Thesis competition in partnership with the Graduate and Professional Student Association and the Graduate School Alumni Society on March 23.
The competition will have two rounds, an opening round that is a video format and a final round that is in person. To compete, graduate students must upload a video presentation by the Feb. 9 deadline, and be available for the final, in-person round on Saturday, March 23, on the University Park campus. Members of the Penn State community are encouraged to sign up to be judges for the first round of the competition. A small group of invited judges will then participate in judging the final round in person.
Students interested in competing and learning more about the Three Minute Thesis can visit the Graduate School website. Members of the Penn State and State College communities also can learn about judging the competition here.
Graduate Exhibition
The Graduate Exhibition is a showcase of musical performances, cutting-edge research, design projects and visual arts presented by Penn State graduate students from many campuses, taking place on March 22 at the Penn State University Park campus.
The Graduate Exhibition features five categories showcasing research and creative accomplishments:
- The Design Option includes a variety of design products such as a three-dimensional object, a video game, a computer-aided design (CAD), simulations, musical composition or other design object.
- The Performance Option is open to all graduate students who are pursuing graduate degrees in the performing arts and will be held in person this spring.
- The Research Poster Presentation Option has five categories — arts and humanities, engineering, health and life sciences, physical sciences and mathematics, and social and behavioral sciences.
- The Video Option is a short presentation that captures the excitement, importance and value of the student's scholarly work.
- The Visual Arts Option is open to graduate students for whom creating studio work is a required part of their graduate degree program.
Penn State alumni, faculty and the public are encouraged to register as judges. Awards will be given to those students whose presentations are judged best in each category, with students also having the option to also be considered for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award and the Data Visualization Award.
Exhibitors will have the opportunity to showcase their work with alumni, the Penn State community and the State College community on the day of the exhibition. Research poster presentations, visual arts exhibits, and the design option will be presented from 1-4 p.m. in the HUB-Robeson Center, and the exhibition’s Performance Night will be held from 7-9 p.m. in Recital Hall. Exhibits in the visual arts category be on display from March 18 to April 14 in the HUB-Robeson Gallery. Exhibition video presentations will be viewable online from March 18-22.
Students must register by either March 3 or March 10, depending on their exhibition category. Students and members of the Penn State and State College communities interested in participating or judging can learn more about the exhibition, the categories and judging on the Graduate School website.