Graduate Research Forum
The Division of Graduate Studies kicks off the 2024-2025 Academic Year with the Fall term's signature Graduate Research Forum event: the Three-Minute Thesis competition. Join in the fun on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at 3:00 PM. Click for more details.
"Talking to people at the research forum about what I’m working on was a productive way to process my own ideas and reach the next level of clarity." — Christopher
"It was a positive challenge to explain my whole project in brief conversation and to explain it in a way that is accessible to people not in the field." — Annalise
"Preparing for the poster presentation helped me organize my thoughts and clarify my overall project. The forum is the ideal place to share these ideas." — Kathryn
3MT Event Details
The Graduate Research Forum provides an excellent professional development opportunity for graduate students to showcase their research with a broad audience.
Graduate students can apply to participate in a poster, a panel presentation, or as a Three Minute Thesis competitor.
► Poster
► Panels
► 3-Minute Thesis
Poster Presentations
Present and showcase your research through a research poster. Your research poster should concisely summarize your research and provide a starting place for discussion and lively conversation.
Posters are typically a combination of brief text with tables, graphs, and pictures. During the Grad Research Forum, presenters will stand by their posters to discuss and answer questions from the poster judges and attendees. Your research does not need to be complete to present. To participate, submit a 200-word abstract describing your research.
Panel Presentations
Collaborate as a team with fellow graduate students as you expertly present and explain your research as a panel. Your three or four-person team will have 45 minutes to present on a one of the available topics and should include interdisciplinary collaboration between all participants, showcase an application of scholarship in a real-world context, and serve the community most impacted. Presentations are encouraged to address an issue related to one of the following communities or areas:
- 2SLGBTQIAA+ community
- international community
- environment and/or communities most impacted by environmental issues
- disabled or neurodivergent community
- or gender or caregiving communities
3 Minute Thesis
Showcase your research in a fun, succinct way! Known as 3MT, the idea came out of the University of Queensland, Australia, in 2008. Since then, the competition has been adopted by institutions in 85 countries.
You will have 3 minutes, and one slide, to present your academic interests, work or research, even if you have not completely finalized it yet. This is great practice for concise public speaking in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
This competition is taking place on Thursday, November 21, 2024. For more information and to apply as a presenter, click here.
The History of the Graduate Research Forum
The Forum began April 2010 in response to requests from graduate students for more opportunities for interdisciplinary intellectual exchange and networking. This will be the twelfth annual year of the Grad Forum, which regularly showcases the work of more than 100 graduate students representing more than 50 disciplines.
2019
The 2019 event was composed of over 100 student presentations covering a wide variety of research topics including trauma in high school students, gender roles via Instagram, and how socioeconomic adversity affects brain development in children. With the addition of the fast-moving Three Minute Thesis presentations, the event was exciting, educational, and fun.
2018
The 2018 event attracted student presentations covering a range of research topics including stress and coping in humans and related species, ethics in the digital age, and how socioeconomic adversity affects brain development in children. With the addition of the fast-moving Three Minute Thesis presentations, the event was lively, interesting, and fun.
2017
See the event program here.
2016
In 2016 more than 100 graduate students came together to present, network and compete for prizes. The 7th annual Grad Forum was centered around four themes that highlighted graduate student work from multiple disciplines: Crossing Borders, Crossing Cultures, Crossing Frontiers; Breaking New Ground in the Sciences; Challenges for a New Generation of Leaders; and In Our Own Backyard. The event featured 13 interdisciplinary panel sessions, two 5-minute blitz sessions, and a two-hour poster session, followed by a reception at the Barn Light. Twenty-seven graduate students received awards of $250 per person.
Around the O recapped the Grad Forum Poster Session with an article and video showcasing the breadth of research being done by grad students on our campus. And, read student reactions to the 2016 Grad Forum on the Language Teaching Studies Blog.
2015
The 6th annual forum saw more than 150 graduate students come together to present, network and compete for over $14,000 in prizes. Four themes connected the work from multiple disciplines: Science and the Social Good; Academy, Race and (In)Equality: Bridging Research and Practice; Human Rights, Development and Sustainability; and Imaginative Design, Art, and Performance.
UO grad students share fruits of research, creative work
2014
More than 100 UO graduate students came together to present, network and compete for over monetary prizes at the 5th annual Graduate Student Research Forum. Around the O recapped the 2015 Graduate Forum Poster Session with an article and video. Watch the video to sample the breadth of research being done by grad students on our campus.