Seminar course – Requirement for Graduation (all students)

1) 530 seminars

2) For PhD students, a mandatory talk on their thesis upon the point of graduation.

3) BMB seminar series

Mandatory adj., adv. Obligatory, required.

Biochemistry 530

45-50 minutes

will be scheduled as part of the BMB seminar series (on Monday’s at 3:00 pm).

arranged once defense date chosen

select date with your supervisor then tell Doris (she will arrange the room and notice).

Attendance is mandatory for all students (all years).

participation and attendance (mandatory for all grad students, all years)

a 25 minutes presentation followed by 5 minutes of questions

Both speakers should arrive at 12:00 to ensure their presentations are working properly.

evaluation of each talk (form-based; turned in at the end of each 530 session).

Term 1: 3rd year PhD students (compete for Zbarsky award) and 3rd year MSc students, then 4th year students

Term 2: 2nd year students, then 1st year students.

1. First and Second Year seminars

2. Evaluation of BIOC 530 and BMB seminar speakers

65%

35%

Course evaluation

• For BMB seminars, provide your name, year of study, date and seminar title (presenter) at the top of the page.

• For each speaker, write a single paragraph of up to 250 words (230-270). 10%

• Focus on the scientific content of the seminar, not the style of the speaker.

• In 2-3 sentences identify the problem the speaker is addressing and summarize the key message(s) or conclusion(s) that the speaker delivered.

• In 1 – 2 sentences, summarize the new information that you learned from the seminar.

• For BIOC 530, fill out evaluation form and hand it in at the end of each session.

• Put your name on it (ensures you are credited for your attendance).

• Provide constructive critique only.

• Comments collated by grad secretary and passed onto speaker in anonymous fashion.

• Questions, including one of each seminar speaker the week following your 530 seminar.

• Primarily based on presentation quality (as opposed to the science).

15%

10%

Overall organization

Introduction – 5-10 minutes. Sell your topic. What is the system? Why is this worth studying? What do we know so far? What questions are you going to address?

Results – 10-15 minutes. Explain the experiments/results in detail! Don’t overestimate your audience. They are unlikely familiar with your area. Better to explain one or 2 experiments well than several superficially. What have you learned (both from positive and negative results)?

Future Goals – 5 minutes. Where will the work go from here? Why is it important?

Tips for an effective Seminar

PRACTICE WITH YOUR LAB BEFORE HAND TO IMPROVE FLUENCY AND TIMING.

Individual slides

Keep slides simple and focused on one or 2 points.

Use visuals when possible (i.e., not too many words!)

Reference others work appropriately (Authors et al., Journal, Volume, Page, Year).

Check font size/color on big screen.

Speaking style

Avoid reading. Rote memorization also sometimes doesn’t work as you can get lost.

Look at audience as much as possible (above their eyes).

The best 3rd year BIOC 530 seminar as judged by grad student body

Only students who have attended all seminars (from evaluation sheets) will have a valid vote.

Professor Sid Zbarsky - first member of Dept of Biochemistry (1950).

Honorarium courtesy of Zbarsky family and department reception

SH Zbarsky Scholarship

Recent winners:2011-2012 Kristina McBurney (Howe)2010-2011 Genevieve Desjardins (McIntosh) 2004-2005 Mark Wilke (Strynadka)2009-2010 Justin Lee (Cullis) 2003-2004 Eduardo Vottero (Mauk)2008-2009 Kush Dalal (Duong) 2002-2003 Mike Johnson/Winco Wu (Cullis/Molday)2007-2008 Christopher Jang (Jan) 2001-2002 Daniel Lim (Strynadka)2006-2007 Michael Gretes (Strynadka) 2000-2001 Michael Page (MacGillivray)2005-2006 Jennifer Cox (Overall) 1999-2000 Natalie Rundle (Roberge)