A key capability for any successful researcher is being able to communicate their research and its impact to all audiences. QUT’s Graduate Research Education & Development (GRE+D) hosts the annual Graduate Research Student Showcase in September each year.
The event is a celebration of QUT’s graduate research student talent with the QUT Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Grand Finals. The 3MT is a research communication competition designed to assist graduate research students to communicate their research and its impact to a general audience.
The showcase is a public event highlighting the research of our finalists to students, staff, and the public.
We support our contestants
We are invested in preparing our students through our Graduate Research Education and Development (GRE+D) framework. With specialized training and coaching in research articulation and public speaking, our students develop skills in communicating their research and its impact to broad audiences.
QUT Three Minute Thesis (3MT®)
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an international competition which cultivates graduate students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. Graduate researchers have just 3 minutes to explain their research and its significance in a compelling speech. 3MT® challenges graduate researchers to consolidate their ideas and research discoveries so they can be presented concisely to a non-specialist audience.
3MT Silver Sponsor 2026
2025 3MT Judge's winner and People's Choice winner
Bimali Koongolla
'My research reveals that light-activated materials can effectively trap and destroy toxic "forever chemicals" in water, transforming a persistent pollution problem into a clean water solution.'
2025 3MT Judge's runner-up
Jacob Dawson
‘I’m using robots and climate science to reinvent brickwork; creating beautiful, climate informed walls that cut bills, fight heat, and transform how we build, helping shape the next era of architecture that’s smarter, bolder, and more creative.’
2025 3MT People's Choice winner
Akash Hettiarachchi
'My research investigates how Collaborative Robots (Cobots) can address diversity barriers in manufacturing by fostering safer and more flexible work environments that attract and retain underrepresented talent in the Industry 4.0 era.'
2025 finalists
Ally Tutkaluk
'My research explores the experiences and challenges of people seeking online support for alcohol and other drugs, working towards a new design resource to assist industry in creative more inclusive digital healthcare products.'
Danielle Villoresi
‘This research reveals how our self-perceptions can drive us toward either compassion or self-focused goals when using social media, providing essential knowledge for transforming online experiences.’
Madhu Perera
‘Enabling home-based supportive care in heart failure: What matters to people with heart failure and their carers?’
Megan Winsen
'Protecting the world’s vulnerable wildlife is harder than you think, which is why I’m combining advanced data collection technologies with artificial intelligence and mathematical modelling, to deliver faster and better information to our decision makers.'
Nidhi Parayil
'Robots that feel their way through crops, lending farmers a helping hand.'
Contact us
Get in touch if you've got questions about our graduate research education program.
For enquiries about our Graduate Research Education and Development (GRE+D) program, email gred@qut.edu.au
For enquiries about graduate research industry engagement, email hdr.intern@qut.edu.au