By Jenna Ingalls |Staff writerThe Three Minute Thesis competition is a competition for Ph.D. students to present their research in three minutes or less. The competition originated at the University of Queensland in 2008 and is now in its fourth year at Augusta University.Traditionally, the competition is held at the graduate banquet in the spring but due to COVID-19, the banquet was cancelled. Instead of postponing the competition entirely, the participants competed under social distancing guidelines in a virtual platform.“I felt like we owed it to them to keep it going on,” said Professor Pamela Hayward, who helps coordinate 3MT.Instead of presenting in front of peers and a panel of judges, the participants filmed the presentations, which were then judged.“We were all happy to be able to compete after putting a lot of time and effort into our 3MTs,” said Casey Derella, this year’s first-place and people’s choice winner.To prepare for the competition, participants spent weeks preparing. This included workshops and one-on-one mentoring with Hayward and Professor Darren Browning. Students practiced their presentations together as well.“This is a challenging format,” said Hayward.The key is conciseness and clarity.“Putting up the scientific work in a language that can be easily understood by non-science audience can be the most challenging thing,” said Bhaumik Pandya, this year’s runner-up.“It was challenging and a lot of work, but in the end, the process was worth it,” said Derella.Growing in communication skills and sharing to the general public was one of the many benefits from participating in 3MT, said Derella.“I would strongly encourage other students to participate in the competition," Pandya said. "Whether you win or not, the experience and skills that you will learn will be highly beneficial in your further aspirations."For more information on 3MT at Augusta University, visit AU 3MT. Contact Jenna Ingalls at jeingalls@augsuta.edu.