Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a communication competition for researchers in all areas of knowledge, initiated in 2008 by the University of Queensland in Australia. Today, universities all over the world have adopted this model, which helps to develop the communication skills of pre-doctoral researchers.
This competition challenges students to consolidate their hypotheses, objectives and ideas and the validity and importance of the results, and to present them clearly and concisely, using only the resources of public speaking and rhetoric, essential for their future professional careers.
The Doctoral School (EsDUVa) and the Unit of Scientific Culture and Innovation (UCC+i) co-organise the annual 3MT competition at the University of Valladolid (UVa). Aimed at the training of doctoral students, in addition to financial prizes for research, it offers resources and training activities for participants, encouraging the development of their communication and dissemination skills to serve as a bridge between researchers and the general public.
This competition also aims to promote multidisciplinary exchange, encouraging members of the academic community to learn about the different research projects being carried out by doctoral students at the UVA. In this way, the aim is to create meeting places between different areas of knowledge.
The activity has the collaboration of the Social Council of the University of Valladolid.
Doctoral students have three minutes to present their research topic, their objectives, their hypotheses, or their eventual results. The short time available makes it necessary to prepare clear and effective speeches, which convey in a few words the importance of the research topic and are understandable to both an academic jury and a non-specialist audience. It must be done in Spanish.
Good speech construction and oral presentation are the essential part of the competition, where staging must be kept to a minimum.
The competition call with all the detailed information can be found here.
Those enrolled in a UVa doctoral programme in the 2025/2026 academic year are eligible to apply for this call. Those who have won any prize in previous editions of this same competition are not eligible to apply.
- Only a single static PowerPoint slide, without animations or movement, which will be projected from the beginning of the presentation, is allowed.
- The use of additional audiovisual media such as audio or video is not allowed.
- The use of props such as costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment, etc. is not allowed.
- Presentations are limited to 3 minutes and those who exceed the time limit will be automatically disqualified.
- Presentations will be spoken (no poems or songs are allowed).
- A presentation is considered to have started when the presenter begins to speak or move.
- The decision of the jury is final and not subject to appeal.
- Tie-breaking criteria. In each qualifying round, the finalists who have obtained the best evaluation by the jury will be selected. In the event of a tie, the tie-breaking criterion will be decided in favour of the candidate with the lowest dispersion of the jury's evaluations. If a tie occurs, the tie-breaker will be decided by public draw. These criteria will also apply to the local final of the competition.
The jury will take into account aspects of the content of the presentations and the communicative ability of the candidates, regardless of the area of knowledge to which their research topics belong.
1. Content
- Has the presentation facilitated understanding of the context of the research topic and its significance?
- Does the presentation follow a clear logical sequence?
- Have the thesis topic, key findings and the significance of the research been communicated in language suitable for a non-specialist audience?
- Has the candidate avoided scientific jargon, explained terminology and given adequate information or examples to illustrate the arguments?
- Has sufficient time been spent on each element of the speech or has any part of the speech been too long, causing the candidate to have to speed through other parts of the presentation?
2. Communication skills
- Has the speech left the jury or the audience wanting to know more about the research topic regardless of the area of knowledge?
- Has the candidate been careful not to trivialise or generalise his/her research?
- Did the researcher convey enthusiasm for his/her thesis topic?
- Did the candidate have sufficient stage presence, eye contact and vocal range, maintain an appropriate stage position, convey confidence and assurance?
- Was the PowerPoint slide suitable for the presentation, did it enhance the presentation, was it clear, legible and concise?
The registration period will be open from February 9 to February 16, 2026 (both inclusive).
The registration form will be sent by e-mail from the Doctoral School to all students.
Students' allocation to the qualifying rounds will be made by drawn. No changes are possible.
The qualifying rounds will take place the following days:
- Monday 23rd March, 11:30 am, IES Condesa Eylo (Valladolid)
- Wednesday 25th March, 10 a.m., IES Jiménez Lozano (Valladolid)
- Wednesday 25th March, 5 p.m., Espacio Joven Norte (Valladolid)
The final will take place on Wednesday 29th April (in the afternoon) in the Museo Nacional de Escultura (Valladolid).
Finalist students listed in order of presentation (drawn at random):
- Lucía Benito Salamanca (PhD in Biomedical Research) – “Cuando la flexibilidad se rompe”
- Ruth García Cobo (PhD in Economics) – “Being Popular—Ser popular, no en el cole, en la empresa”
- María Isabel Aliste Herrera (PhD in Vision Sciences) – “Somos mayores, ¿y qué?”
- Cristina Antón de la Iglesia (PhD in Business Economics) – “Cuando la comida cuenta”
- Rosa María Cobo Zubia (PhD in Health Sciences Research) – “Constelaciones invisibles. Cada célula cuenta: descubriendo patrones ocultos en la sepsis.”
- Jesús Fernández Sancho (PhD in Physics) – “Nuestra huella en el futuro”
- Manuel Alonso Devesa (PhD in Chemistry) – “Cómo quieres que vaya con una criba...”
- Beatriz Callejo Mateo (PhD in Biomedical Research) – “Las notas que nos mueven”
- Iris Sánchez Sobradillo (PhD in Spanish: Linguistics, Literature and Communication) – “Deja de perseguir unicornios”
- Youssoupha Demba (PhD in Europe and the Atlantic World: Power, Culture and Society) – “¡Otro zalamero más!”
- Celia Sánchez-Girón Coca (PhD in Industrial Engineering) – “Solo en casa”
- Judit Rebeca Acebes Gozalo (PhD in Transdisciplinary Research in Education) – “Conexiones al compás”
First qualifying round. Monday 23rd March, IES Condesa Eylo
- Clara Rodríguez Miguélez
- Ángel Páez Ayala
- Daniel Anegón
- Centre Representative
Second qualifying round. Wednesday 25th March, IES Jiménez Lozano
- Claudia Gutiérrez Llanos
- David Spence
- Eva Llorente
- Centre Representative
Third qualifying round. Wednesday 25th March, Espacio Joven Norte
- Carmen Quintero
- Olaya Hernando
- Jesús Sánchez Ortega
- Centre Representative
Final. Wednesday 29th April, Museo Nacional de Escultura
- To be announced
Students listed in order of participation (by draw):
First round. Monday, March 23rd, IES Condesa Eylo
- Víctor Hernández Andrés (PD Economics) – “¡Me voy de congreso!"
- Beatriz Callejo Mateo (PD Biomedical Research) - "Las notas que nos mueven"
- Alejandro Martín Toribio (PD Health Sciences Research) - "Buscando la pieza maestra: el papel del dolor en la gripe"
- Cristina Antón de la Iglesia (PD Business Economics) - "Cuando la comida cuenta"
- Ruth García Cobo (PD Economics) - "Ser popular, no en el cole, en la empresa"
- Álvaro Frechoso Herrera (PD Europe and the Atlantic World: Power, Culture, and Society) - "¿Qué paso con las mujeres sorianas?"
- María de la Encarnación Coca García (PD Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Systems) - "Poco a poco, el tiempo lo cura todo"
- José Ricardo Morán Cabezas (PD Chemistry) - "Arcos eléctricos, microondas y el secreto de las moléculas"
- Irene Rubio Prieto (PD Transdisciplinary Research in Education) - " Arriba el telón: Preparando a niños con TDL para la gran obra social"
- Juan Coupeau Borderas (PD Law) - "Del mito de lo propio a la era de nadie"
- Youssoupha Demba (PD Europe and the Atlantic World: Power, Culture, and Society) - "¡Otro zalamero más!"
Second round. Wednesday, March 25th, IES Jiménez Lozano
- Rosa Dolores Prieto Utrera (PD Health Sciences Research) - "Cuando la primera ficha cae"
- Félix Lizalde Arroyo (PD Physics) - "Espaguetis a la... ¿nanométrica?"
- María Isabel Aliste Herrera (PD Vision Sciences) - "Somos mayores, ¿Y qué?"
- Domingo Heras Elvira (PD Chemistry: química de Síntesis, Catálisis y Materiales Avanzados) - "Buscando en las alturas"
- Jesús Fernández Sancho (PD Physics) - "Nuestra huella en el futuro"
- Antonio Largo Barrientos (PD Physics) - "¿Cuál es la energía más barata?"
- Alejandro Sáez Pérez (PD Physics) - "Dando Luz al Reciclaje"
- Manuel Alonso Devesa (PD Chemistry) - "Cómo quieres que vaya con una criba..."
- Lucía Benito Salamanca (PD Biomedical Research) - "Cuando la flexibilidad se rompe"
- Beatriz Asuar Gallego (PD Doctorate in Spanish: Linguistics, Literature and Communication) - "¿Y si el realismo no basta para representar la violencia?"
- Fátima Espinosa Casero (PD Economics) - "Más volumen, misma playlist"
Third round. Wednesday, March 25th, Espacio Joven Norte
- Elena Álvarez Olmedo (PD Agri-Food and Biosystems Science and Engineering) - "El valor de lo imperfecto"
- Paula Hoyuelos Manso (PD Physics) - "¿Y si las uvas hablaran?"
- Marina Martínez Miguel (PD Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Systems) - "Ni una gota más, ni una gota menos"
- Alfonso Sánchez Gargallo (PD Doctorate in Spanish: Linguistics, Literature and Communication) - "Los reinos cinematográficos"
- Celia Sánchez-Girón Coca (PD Industrial Engineering) - "Solo en casa"
- Iris Sánchez Sobradillo (PD Doctorate in Spanish: Linguistics, Literature and Communication) - "Deja de perseguir unicornios"
- Rosa María Cobo Zubia (PD Health Sciences Research) - "Constelaciones invisibles. Cada célula cuenta: descubriendo patrones ocultos en la sepsis"
- Irina Rebollo Mato (PD Health Sciences Research) - "El viaje de tu vida"
- Alberto Blanco Rodríguez (PD Industrial Engineering) - "Diseño y optimización de equipos de protección personal para el sector de la defensa mediante el desarrollo de nuevos materiales"
- Adrián Pedrosa Valbuena (PD Industrial Engineering) - "La ciencia oculta en tus viajes"
- Judit Rebeca Acebes Gozalo (PD Transdisciplinary Research in Education) - "Conexiones al compás"
During the final phase, the selected participants will be eligible for the following prizes:
- First prize: €1,000
- Second prize: €600
- Third prize: €300
- Audience prize: €200
And the other finalists will receive an award of €100.
The 3MT competition has a regional phase in which the finalists of the local phases of the competitions held in the universities of the Region of Castilla y León participate.
The regional final is a proposal of the network of Scientific Culture and Innovation Units of the public universities of Castilla y León in the framework of the University-Business Knowledge Transfer Plan (TCUE) 2024-2027, an initiative of the Regional Ministry of Education with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The activity involves the collaboration of the doctoral schools of the participating universities, as well as the Fundación General Universidad de León y Empresa, the Fundación Universidad de Burgos and the Parque Científico Universidad de Valladolid.
The Three Minutes Thesis competition is being adopted in many countries worldwide. You can consult the updated list of universities with 3MT competitions at the following link https://threeminutethesis.uq.edu.au/participating-institutions