Where have all the seminars gone?
Gray Williams
It's Friday, it's 4 pm and yet again there is no-postgraduate seminar.....it seems there is a growing reticence amongst postgraduates (PG) to give seminars despite the best efforts of Tom and Jennifer [and now Neil and Vicky]. Given the fact that we have ~80 students in the Department we should be able to maintain a more stable timetable.
Why should we worry about this? Well, firstly it is a condition of funding for most students (bet you didn't know that, eh?) and your money could simply be stopped if you do not give a seminar (look at your Progress Report forms!)...now I may have your attention! Secondly it is good for you....like all forms of medicine, it may not taste nice but it will help...
How so I hear you ask?...after all, being publicly criticized is no cure... thinking of seminars in this fashion is very negative; there are a number of areas where seminars can help the presenter, the audience and YOU:
- As I have discussed previously (Porcupine! No 6), it is a duty of any scientist to TELL OTHERS about their science. Seminars, like publications, are one of the recognized forms of scientific communication.
- If the science you are conducting is of value then seminars are a good ADVERTISEMENT of this fact. A good seminar can impress the leaders of your field and even potential employers or collaborators; likewise a poor seminar will leave the opposite reaction with the same audience....
- Seminars are an opportunity to REVIEW YOUR WORK, past and proposed, in an objective light and then to present that in an informed and logical way.
- A PG seminar is GOOD PRACTICE for "the real thing", a conference or lecture presentation. Delivering a seminar exposes you to the need for new skills (public speaking, time keeping, handling your visual aids) even BEFORE you give the seminar (preparing the visual aids, trying them out - are they clear, too detailed?). Think how many poor presentations you have seen because the seminar is badly planned - this is simply an insult to the audience -make sure YOU don't do it!
- As a presenter the seminars act as a SOUNDING BOARD for your ideas to be exchanged with those of your colleagues who may have a very different perspective/way of thinking of things. It may come as a surprise that your supervisor does not know all the answers to your problems, but someone else may have a new idea/viewpoint.
- Seminars are a form of PEER-ASSESSMENT- this may be one of the major worries that PGs have - of being "torn apart" in a seminar. I know that many PGs think some members of staff are too tough....this is sad as, believe me, a conference is much tougher. If you are worried about presenting your work to a general audience who knows little of your field then you should be petrified about presenting it to a well informed specialized audience...think on that. Also, when is it better to know of an error....in a viva? at a conference? in a referees report? or in a seminar before you have committed yourself to months of data analysis?
- Seminars are also a 'group' learning process; your colleagues will learn from your successes and mistakes and perhaps you will learn from their seminars. There is simply no excuse not to be a regular attendee of the PG seminars, and as a member of the audience ask questions, get involved in your colleagues work. I am amazed at how many wise people there are after a seminar who didn't voice an opinion during the seminar (usually leaving it to the big Bad Wolf member of staff) but do say - "oh I thought of that" in the pub afterwards....lf you see a mistake it is IMPORTANT to point it out, in a friendly way, otherwise others will think that that technique/analysis is fine and may well copy the method....
So, to end, a few "do's":
- DO give seminars, set yourself a target of a seminar a year (currently we have enough students for 1.5 yrs seminars!) and set a date with the organizers;
- DO practice the seminar and plan it all well before time;
- DO ask questions, help colleagues, point out errors;
- BE INVOLVED; Science is NOT a spectator sport.....
PS: thanks to Mak for the original "From the Bar..." illustration!
P.38
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