3-Minute Pitch Contest & Communication Training

Got research you're proud of? Here's your chance to share it — and walk away a sharper communicator for it. Present your science in a 3-minute pitch session at the Quantum Talents Symposium and compete for a travel grant to the conference, workshop, or meeting of your choice.

Why it's worth your time:

• Become a better communicator. Learn from an expert how to turn your research into a clear, compelling story — a skill that pays off at conferences, poster sessions, in teaching, job interviews, funding pitches, and beyond.
• Get a front-row seat to MCQST science. Discover the breadth of research happening across the cluster, hear what your peers are working on, and pick up fresh perspectives for your own work.
• Win one of three travel awards. A jury will select the top three pitches, each earning a travel grant.
• Expand your network. Network and make new connections at the Symposium Dinner on 27 October.

Curious why three minutes matters?

Physics Today has written on the benefits of the short-format research talk: "Speak easy: The educational benefits of a three-minute research talk"; DOI: 10.1063/pt.027813af44

Important dates

22 September, 13:30-15:00 | INPUT WEBINAR (90 min, online, whole group) - open to the entire MCQST community.

Taking something complex and finding its three-minute shape. This session covers both the craft and the science behind it, so speakers understand not just what to do, but why it works.

• How the brain takes in new information: why too many unknowns at once causes an audience to disengage, and how to introduce one new idea at a time
• The science of memory: why openings and closings are what audiences actually remember, and how to use both deliberately
• Show, don't tell: turning an abstract description into one concrete, physical image
• Finding the essence: cutting away everything non-essential, and using metaphor to build on what the audience already knows instead of starting from zero
• Structuring for a mixed audience: making a talk land across different subfields, not just for specialists
• Fifteen minutes to work alone on a first attempt, then time to try it out live in small peer groups

5-9 October (optional) | SMALL-GROUP COACHING (90 min, online, groups of 3-4)

You can make use of this offer to already start shaping your pitch and gain first feedback on it.

Each speaker gets 3 to 5 minutes to run their pitch and receive feedback from the trainer and two peers. Participants sign up for a session themselves via a shared scheduling link. For speakers presenting at the symposium only.

13 October, 9:00-17:00 | IN-PERSON DAY (location TBA)

Speaking from the whole self, not only the intellect: Head, Heart, and Hara.

• Warm-up: voice, body, and mindset work to access clarity (head), genuine connection (heart), and grounded, gut-level presence (hara)
• Voice: stretching vocal range, articulate from the first word, landing weight on the words that carry meaning
• Presence: taking space, working in a more theatrical, stage-like setting
• Round 1: each speaker delivers their flash talk live, followed by oral feedback from peers and the trainer.
• Round 2, the second chance: speakers try again, incorporating the feedback. Instead of verbal feedback, peers and the trainer write feedback focused on the speaker's strengths. This round is recorded.
• Closing circle: harvesting what participants learned, and where to go from here

26 October, 13:30-14:30 | 3-Minute Pitch at the Quantum Talents Symposium

Present your research at the Quantum Talents Symposium on 26.10. You are invited to join the entire symposium and dinner on 27.10.

Ready to level up your science communication?

We've secured Dyane Neiman from Moving Speaker as trainer — bringing extensive experience coaching researchers to find the core of their work and turn something complex into a clear story for a specific audience. A genuinely essential skill, in science and beyond. Training will be held in English.

Attending the training is mandatory to take part in the 3-minute pitch session.

Please note that participation in the trainings on 22 September and 13 October is mandatory for entering the contest. The contest is aimed primarily at PhD students and early-career postdocs at MCQST. Master's students in QST who are already actively researching in an MCQST group may also join, depending on availability. The webinar on 22 September is open to all members of MCQST community.