Marcus Butler
6 January 2016: When Dr Peter Copeman was asked to coach a Three Minute Thesis (3MT) contestant in 2011, he quickly realised he had stumbled upon a new area of research inquiry.
The senior lecturer with the University's Teaching and Learning Directorate had no previous knowledge of the competition, but his subsequent investigation found that online hints and tips about how to present did not correspond with what he saw from the winning entries.
Now his own three minute pitch about how to create a three minute thesis has proven to be a popular infographic and video on the International Journal for Researcher Development website.
Dr Copeman said preparing and delivering a three minute thesis presentation can take considerable effort, and there is a real art to making it a success.
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Each year, senior lecturer with the University’s teaching and learning centre, Dr Peter Copeman guides PhD and Masters candidates in turning their research into interesting presentations for the 3MT competition. Photo: Michelle McAulay.
"Many researchers and PhD candidates work in highly technical areas, so cutting through the jargon to tell an interesting and informative story for non-specialist audiences is a skill that has to be learned," Dr Copeman said.
His article 'Three Minute Theatre' has become one of the most downloaded International Journal for Researcher Development papers since the journal's inception, and this has led to its being featured by the journal in a separate promotion.
"I targeted my paper at helping higher degree by research students understand the nature of a 3MT presentation as a pitch, and how this differs from normal academic discourse," he said.
"Preparing such a presentation requires contestants to script the research talk as a story with emotional as well as intellectual impact, and to develop a presence through their vocal and physical performance to connect with an audience, and to plan the use of the presentation space for best effect."
The 3MT competition began at the University of Queensland in 2008 and has now expanded to be an annual Trans-Tasman competition. It has also been adopted by other universities around the world. In 2014 Max Halupka, from UC's Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, was a top-ten finalist in the Trans-Tasman competition.
Dr Copeman's article in the International Journal for Researcher Development is available here.
