Faculty of Medicine / University of Toronto  

Please take the time to read and familiarize yourselves with the following guidelines, particularly parts 6 and 8, which describe important changes:

The primary goal of the MBP Student Seminar Series is to provide practical experience and guidance in the clear, concise oral communication of research results to an audience of educated, though not specialist peers. This is an essential skill for anyone intending to seek a career in scientific research. The emphasis is different from a group-meeting or conference style talk to a specialist audience, but rather on the skills that are important ultimately for job talks or teaching situations.

A secondary, important goal of the series is to give each student a broad knowledge of all aspects of research undertaken at the OCI and other downtown laboratories. At any oral examination, a student can be asked to demonstrate some familiarity with research in the Department not related to their own area. Attendance at the Student Seminars is the major means of acquiring this familiarity.

A good, interactive audience is essential to the success of this series. Please make a point of attending the seminars and, especially students, ASK QUESTIONS.

Post-docs and technicians are welcome to take part. However it is extremely rude and disruptive for any number of people to enter late and/or leave early. Please remain for the entire session (two to three speakers).

It is very important to get regular attendance from a significant number of faculty members in order to get consistent, fair evaluations. Please make it a point to attend and interact with colleagues whenever possible. The Downtown and Uptown Seminar series have currently evidence that the mark a student receives in this course correlated with the attendance record of the supervisor.

Concise abstracts (~ 250 words) should be provided similar to an abstract for a poster at a scientific conference. The names of the supervisor and supervisory committee should be included on the abstract. Speakers should Email abstracts to Daphne Sears (dsears@uhnres.utoronto.ca) on the Friday before a Wednesday seminar. ***Please note that abstracts received after the deadline will NOT be circulated***

First year MSc students will give a practice seminar and have been allotted 20 minutes to speak. This seminar will not be graded. On January 6th 2010 a training session will be provided for the 1st year students.

Following the seminars, the faculty members remain in the seminar room for a brief evaluation period and to provide direct feedback to the presenters. 2nd year MSc and PhD students will receive a mark providing the base for the grade on their transcript. Hence, good faculty participation, comprising in and out of stream members, is important. 

The course coordinator (Dr. Lilge) or designate will meet with each student to discuss the feedback from the faculty, and the peer evaluations, if desired. Arrangements for this meeting should be made within 4 weeks after the talk.

For information on the preparation of seminars please consult the guidelines posted on the MBP website: http://medbio.utoronto.ca/students/semguide.html

On the week following your presentation, please pick up the cookies from the MBP Dept Office and bring them to the seminar room before 4 p.m.