Workshop on Scientific Presentations
Please sign up below,(click on the participate/參加者link)
Host: Jeff Chang
I am living in an apartment complex called "Mirada".
Visitors can enter this complex via two obvious entrances (no gate).
Visitor's car can be parked at any available outdoor parking space.
Date: 4pm, 4/26 Sunday
Abstract
Last week I attended a workshop that was very helpful in scientific writing. Therefore, I would like to present some of the tips that I have learned and use real examples to help you improve your presentation skills. This workshop will mostly cover the structure of a scientific paper, but also touch upon powerpoint presentations. This workshop will be interactive and we will work on some examples together.
Pre-workshop assignment
This is not required, but I hope a few of you can submit a paragraph of writing sample (in English) so that we will have some examples to work on during the workshop. It can be anything that you have written in the past. Two examples are given in the attached work document. I hope we can all learn and have fun!
Writing examples:
1. One paragraph of text with at least 3 sentences. It can be an introductory text, a paragraph describing a research method, the results, or whatever you feel is relevant.
Genome sequencing technologies are in high demand for applications such as genome-wide association studies, cancer research, and personalized medicine. However, traditional technology requires hundreds of millions of dollars and several months to sequence one mammalian genome. To lower the cost and time, I developed a new DNA sequencing method called sequencing by denaturation (SBD).
2. Figure legend.
Figure 7. Error rate of SBD. The cumulative average error rate is plotted versus read length under two different noise levels with 0.1ºC sampling frequency. The error rate increases linearly with read length. With a read length of 20 the error rate is 4%. The increase in error rate as a result of 5% added simulation noise is not significant, indicating that SBD is robust against small measurement errors. Solid gray line: 0% noise. Dotted black line: 5% noise.
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Structure: use <=3 levels, and <=5 sections/level
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Writing in context: Think of the reader's interest (introduction-->conclusion) instead of the author's interest (methods-->results). People are more interested in the motivation, the story, and the implication rather than just what was done.
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Linking sentences in a paragraph: A parallel link is when each sentence in a paragraph refers to the same main subject. A serial link is when the subject of each sentence was the objective of its previous sentence. Use these two methods to link your sentences by context after the first topic sentence.
With some examples given during the talk, these tips have become very useful. I would like to hold a mini-workshop with a few friends on using these tips to improve our writings. My own papers and job-search cover letters should be a good start. :)
Comments (1)
P. Betty Shih said
at 12:20 am on Apr 27, 2009
Just want thank Jeff and his wife for graciously hosting today's event, and thank TingFan for the effective organization. Last but not least, kudos to YingJa for an informative and successful presentation!
Betty
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