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3MT 2026

2026 Cornell Graduate School Three Minute Thesis Competition

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an international competition to help graduate students develop and showcase their research communication skills. The annual university-wide competition hosted by Cornell Graduate School challenges research-degree students to present their dissertation as a compelling story in just three minutes, with one slide, in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Cornell Graduate School will host its live final round of the 2026 3MT competition in-person on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. 

Preliminary Round Competition

  • All competitors must submit a recorded presentation of their talk by 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, February 23, 2026 in order to compete in the Preliminary Round.
  • All enrolled graduate research degree students at the research stage (with at least some results to share) are eligible. Past competitors who did not place, and are still enrolled as graduate research degree students this year are welcome to enter the competition again.
  • Registration will open in January 2026.

Final Round Competition

  • The 2026 final round competition will be held in person on March 18, 2026. 
  • At the live competition, First Place, Second Place and People’s Choice awards will be selected by judges and audience members.
  • The First Place winner will be eligible to represent Cornell in any additional Ivy League or northeast regional competitions held in 2026. 

Fill out the interest form to receive updates on the 2026 competition. If you should have questions or concerns regarding the 3MT Competition, please email us at: grad3mt@cornell.edu.