Coimbra Group: Three-Minute-Thesis Competition – PhD theses explained in three minutes


Are you a PhD student at the University of Göttingen? Can you present the core message of your doctoral thesis in just three minutes? Can you explain your research to a group of lay people – in English? Then this is something for you!

We are delighted to launch the call for the 2023 Edition of the Coimbra Group Three-Minute-Thesis (CG 3MT) Competition.

Haven’t heard about it so far?

Göttingen’s PhD students already participated three times at the CG 3MT competition and each time they made it to the finals:
  • 2017 Tanvi Butola (second prize in Edinburgh, GAUSS)
  • 2019 Claudia Schmidt (winner in Krakow, GAUSS)
  • 2020 Selina Bruns (runner-up virtually in Montpellier, GFA)
You can find the finalist on the Coimbra Group website.
The final of the 2023 edition will be held at the CG Annual Conference at the University of Cologne, on 31st May - 2nd June 2023. Now it is the turn of the member universities - such as the University of Göttingen - to hold their own competitions and to select their best candidate for the international contest CG 3MT Competition in Cologne.

How does it work?

The Competition here in Göttingen will be held on 7th March 2023 at ZHG 001 starting at 17:00. All contributions will be filmed. The winner video will be made available in a virtual cloud so that the voters of all participating universities can choose the three finalists, who then will present in Cologne between 31st May and 2nd June 2023.

How do you prepare? How do we prepare?

First, we are happy to announce that again we can offer a coaching for all PhD students, who will present on 7th March. In two preparatory sessions, which will take place 21st and 27th February from 12:30 - 14:30, you will be able to discuss your three-minute presentation and to work on your slide design regarding its content and presentation.
You will find out how challenging it is to present your PhD topic in just 3 minutes to a general, non-scientific audience with only one static slide. Competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified.

How to participate?

Now you will probably want to know, where you can apply for the participation.

Please write an email until 13.02.2023 to your respective graduate school
and provide the following information.
  • Name
  • PhD programme
  • Working title of your thesis

Please note:
  1. Participation in coaching and competition will only be possible in accordance with the University’s current regulations for events.
  2. By accepting to participate in the CG 3MT competition, contestants agree to have the videos of their presentations from their institutional live final available on Google Drive (for voters to view them).

If you just want to come as a guest to join this vibrant and cross-disciplinary event, mark it in your schedule. We will update you via the newsletters of the graduate schools, this website and event calendar of the university.