School Notes: Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
January/February 2021

Yale’s 3-Minute Thesis Competition

What can you do in three minutes?  If you’re a Yale graduate student, you could give the perfect elevator pitch of your dissertation research and come away with a small prize, a healthy modicum of recognition, and a valuable skill you are guaranteed to use in your career.

The 3-Minute Thesis competition challenges Yale PhD students to clearly and compellingly describe their thesis to a broad audience in less time than it takes to tidy your desktop or catch up on the news. By preparing a successful and succinct presentation, students develop a key professional skill that is just as critical for academic conferences and job talks as it is for a job search outside of the academy.  

It’s an excellent opportunity for students to refine their public speaking skills and become eligible to earn a certificate in public communication, a new qualification offered by the PoorvuCenter for Teaching and Learning.

Due to the pandemic, this year’s 3-Minute Thesis Competition hosted by Yale’s Office of Career Strategy migrated to a new, online format. The April 2020 finalists recorded their presentations, giving the Yale community an opportunity to view them and vote on their favorites. You can view the presentations on Yale’s Office of Career Strategy YouTube channel (search: Yale Career Strategy). Winners names are posted on gsas.yale.edu.