Benjamin Dratch Wins 2022 3MT Competition

Congratulations to the winner of Laney Graduate School's 2023 Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition and the People's Choice Award, Benjamin Dratch.

Doctoral students spend hours immersed in the intricacies of their research. An 80,000-word thesis would take about nine hours to present. Yet every spring, the 3MT competition, an academic competition developed at the University of Queensland Australia, challenges students to explain that extensive research in only three minutes, using non-specialist language and a single, static presentation slide.

On April 5, LGS held its annual 3MT competition as part of Graduate Student Appreciation Week at The Hatchery. Ten finalists competed for cash prizes and the winning title, which was decided by a panel of four alumni judges. These judges evaluated the students based on the effectiveness of their communication style, overall clarity, and comprehension.

Ben Dratch, a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry, emerged victorious with his presentation on “Consulting with Nature to Develop Chemical Reactions.”

Runner-up Hanna Glenn, is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics, who presented on the topic “How do Physicians Respond to Technological Change?”.

Why three minutes? The idea for 3MT 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 Graduate School, Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson, put two and two together and the idea for the 3MT competition was born.