On Friday, March 29th, the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences hosted GW’s first-ever three-minute thesis competition. The contest challenged CCAS doctoral students to present their research concisely and colloquially to an audience who may not be familiar with their academic field.

After the rules of the contest were explained to the audience, students gave their three-minute presentations, followed by deliberation by the judges. The judges were comprised of CCAS faculty members – Eric Grynaviski, an associate professor of political science, Harald Griesshammer, an associate professor of physics, and Heidi Bardot, an associate professor of art therapy. The judges scored competitors on comprehensiveness of their presentation and audience engagement. Judges awarded first, second and third-place prizes of $1,000, $750 and $500.

Melissa Busskohl, CCAS director of graduate studies and student services said, “we just wanted something like a fun competition for our Ph.D. students to celebrate their research.”