P6 - The hidden impact of 3MT in career development: Thinking for Research Impact

Addressing research impact permeates many aspects of academic life at all levels, from the periodic Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment through grant applications to career development pathways. As we move towards embedding impact into research design from the start, it is becoming critically important to develop skills to articulate answers to two key questions: (1) what the importance of the research is; and (2) who benefits from it and how.

Using ethnographic experiences and participants feedbacks from the training sessions as data, we argue that 3MT serves a dual purpose in research student development. In addition to fostering engaging communication, the 3MT format calls for clarity in the importance of the research and its beneficiaries, as well as the ability to explain this in a concise yet content-rich way. To strengthen this very valuable aspect, we propose that “impact” should be incorporated into the 3MT criteria.