Presenting three years of PhD research in just three minutes — impossible? Not for the contestants of Ma Thèse en 180 secondes (My Thesis in 180 Seconds')! In front of an audience of school pupils, research professionals, and the simply curious, they must combine conciseness and oral communication skills to appeal to a diverse audience. Inspired by the Three minute thesis (3MT®) competition created by the University of Queensland in Australia, the concept was taken up in 2012 in Quebec by the Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas) and has since spread throughout the French-speaking world. The competition has now been running for over ten years in France
The six winners of the Nantes round have another three minutes to convince the regional final juries in order to reach the national final. In addition to becoming one of the must-see events in science communication, the event offers a broad overview of the research carried out in Nantes' research laboratories, particularly those at Centrale Nantes.
For Centrale Nantes PhD students, registration for the 2026 session opens on 22 September 2025: https://amethis.doctorat.org/amethis-client/formation/gestion/formation/3146
I discovered the competition during my engineering studies and immediately wanted to take part when I started my PhD. It is both a stimulating and rewarding exercise. In three minutes, you have to convey months or even years of research to a non-specialist audience. It allowed me to take a step back from my subject and ask myself the right questions: why am I doing this? What is the point of it? I wanted to take up the challenge! Above all, I'm interested in popularising science: doing research is all well and good, but if you don't tell anyone about it, what's the point? My thesis involves developing transition scenarios for the decarbonisation of maritime transport by 2030. Working on the decarbonisation of maritime transport seems obvious to me, but you have to be able to explain it clearly. It's very different from a conference or a lecture: you have to be precise, impactful, make sure everyone understands, and know how to adapt your message. It's a rewarding experience: seeing that others are interested in your subject, getting out of the lab and the thesis bubble a little. It also allows you to develop your oral skills, your ability to explain things in layman's terms, to get up on stage, and it's a real asset to put on your CV. All this in a great atmosphere, with high-quality training!
I have been following the MT180 sessions on YouTube for a very long time, and I really wanted to try my hand at popularising science. When the opportunity to take part in the competition arose, I didn't hesitate! The format seemed like a real challenge: finding the right hooks, making my thesis topic understandable to everyone, and above all, feeling comfortable in front of so many people! On the day itself, despite the stress, we all had a lot of fun on stage, and I highly recommend the experience.
I work on data from cancer patients to predict their response to treatment using computational methods. I found this exercise very enjoyable and fun. We rarely have the opportunity to talk about our subject to the general public. This format forces you to be clear and concise, and helps you to better understand your own thesis. The competition taught me how to structure my thoughts, clarify and simplify my ideas, and capture an audience's attention. The doctoral school's training courses were really useful, especially for scientific conferences! On a personal level, I met lots of other doctoral students outside my lab, from other disciplines, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. It was the first time I had been on stage in front of so many people, but once I got started, it was great. The words just came naturally; I just wanted to convey all this work to the audience. On a personal level, I met lots of other PhD students outside my lab, from other disciplines, who do science differently! This experience helped me better understand why I'm doing this thesis. It's never a waste of time! It always gives you a couple of sentences to say when someone asks you to present what you're doing in your thesis. And now I have my pitch ready for future job interviews! My advice for future participants? Plan ahead, have someone proofread your text, and have fun! That's how you'll enjoy yourself the most on stage.
It was a wonderful experience as a supervisor to see my doctoral student present her thesis in such an entertaining way, knowing that it's a complex and technical subject! It's a significant exercise in popularisation, you have to be able to take a step back from your subject and step outside the bubble you create for yourself when writing a thesis. I also really enjoyed the event as a member of the audience, and I was very happy to see someone talk about this subject in this way. It was surprising to realise that you can summarise everything you've done over three years in three minutes, and I was very proud to support her on the day of her presentation.
I chose to do a PhD with the aim of becoming a lecturer and researcher. I defended it in December 2024. My work focused on the buoyancy movements of a buoy and their influence on the wake of a floating wind turbine. I discovered the competition in the list of doctoral school courses. A post-doc advised me to sign up. I had no idea it was a national, or even international, competition! I found it to be a challenging exercise, completely different from the usual thesis setting. At first, you're faced with a blank page: you have three minutes to say everything... But you have to choose what to keep, what to leave out, what to simplify. In the end, I hardly mentioned the core of my thesis, and that's what made the speech more understandable.
