Guidelines.
Here you can find guidelines for presentations and posters.
Flash talks with posters
This type of presentation includes a 3 minute oral presentation and a poster at the poster session. A flash talk is a brief presentation of a research subject or problem. It is not a compressed talk, but a teaser for a poster! The talk should contain a fast and easy-to-understand presentation of the background, results or conclusions (only one of the three). Further discussion with interested listeners should take place at the following poster session.
Similar to the TV commercial inciting people to buy a commodity, the flash talk is a commercial inciting people to visit your poster.
Requirements
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3 minutes flash talk (no questions). The chairperson will terminate your talk when your time is up. Only if requested, will you will be given a warning before your time is up.
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Talks are presented in English.
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PowerPoint presentations or other types of electronic aids, which can run from a PC or MAC, are accepted. PowerPoint will be installed, but for other visual aid programs contact the organizers at least a week ahead of the PhD day, i.e. before the presenter´s workshop.
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The presentation should include a maximum of 2 slides, both containing a footer or header stating your name and the number and title of your poster.
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The presentation should not exceed 60 MB.
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Animations or video clips have to work within PowerPoint and not rely on computers being online or upon additional software.
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If you require audio for your presentation, please contact the organizers at least a week ahead of the PhD day, i.e. before the presenter´s workshop.
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Presentations can be sent to the organizers before the 12th of November using kathryn.turnbull@bio.ku.dk.
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On the 12th of November, presentations will be uploaded from memory sticks in the Lundbeck auditorium in the morning before the official welcoming.
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Presenters should make themselves known to the organizers at latest in the break before their talk.
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Poster at poster session (see guidelines on posters).
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You are more than welcome to use physical props for the presentation (e.g. an enlarged model of a molecule, an animal or anything related to your talk).
Selection criteria
The PhD day committee will select the 6 best abstracts for flash talks. We will attempt to do this in a way that best achieves the broadest representation of BIO (section based) as well as attaining gender neutrality amongst speakers. However, the selection will first and foremost be based on the following criteria in order of priority:
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High academic level
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Formulation and communication skills
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Impact and originality of the project
General guidelines for the flash talk
The three talks in each session will be presented immediately after one another with no time for questions in between. There will be plenty of time for questioning and discussions at the following poster session where flash talk posters will be highlighted.
Remember that you are presenting to a broad audience representing the entire Department of Biology; ranging from ecologist, taxonomist to molecular biologist and bioinformatics. Therefore, try to avoid any specialized terminology and unexplained abbreviations.
Three minutes is a very short time for a presentation, focus only on one problem or question from your research and keep background information to a minimum.
Presenting complicated results in a flash talk is not recommended.
Keep the number of figures and diagrams to a minimum.
Try to keep a clear and steady voice during your presentation, avoid rapid speech and do not repeat yourself. Keep eye contact with the audience.
Rehearsing your talk beforehand is extremely important for flash talks, as the limited time makes improvising and unintended breaks difficult.
A good way of rehearsing your talk and getting specific feedback on your presentation, is to attend the presenter’s workshop about a week ahead of the PhD Day.
Oral presentations
The oral presentation is a relatively brief and precise presentation of 15 minutes duration on your research subject. The form is free but should focus on "delivering the overall message" rather than giving lengthy details on a specific topic. The challenge is to simplify and communicate your topic. You can choose to focus on a method or the conclusion of your research.
Requirements
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10 minutes presentation and 5 minutes of questions. The chairperson will give a notice when there are 2 minutes left and will terminate the talk when the time is up.
-
Talks are presented in English.
-
PowerPoint presentations or other types of electronic aids, which can run from a PC or MAC, are accepted. PowerPoint will be installed, but for other visual aid programs contact the organizers at least a week ahead of the PhD day, i.e.before the presenter´s workshop.
-
The presentation should not exceed 60 MB.
-
Animations or video clips have to work within PowerPoint and not rely on computers being online or upon additional software.
-
If you require audio for your presentation, please contact the organizers at least a week ahead of the PhD day, i.e.before the presenter´s workshop.
-
Presentations can be sent to the organizers before the 12th of November using kathryn.turnbull@bio.ku.dk.
-
On the 12th of November, presentations will be uploaded from memory sticks in the Lundbeck auditorium in the morning before the official welcoming.
-
Presenters should make themselves known to the organizers in the break before their talk.
Selection criteria
The PhD day committee will select the 10 best abstracts for oral presentation. We will attempt to do this in a way that best achieves the broadest representation of BIO (section based) as well as attaining gender neutrality amongst speakers. However, the selection will first and foremost be based on the following criteria in order of priority:
-
High academic level
-
Formulation and communication skills
-
Impact and originality of the project
General guidelines for the oral presentation
Remember that you are presenting to a broad audience representing the entire Department of Biology; ranging from ecologist, taxonomist to molecular biologist and bioinformatics. Therefore, try to avoid any specialized terminology and unexplained abbreviations.
Give a broad introduction introduction and catch listener´s attention with the aims of your project.
It is usually only possible to present an average of about one slide per minute and remember that complicated slides take longer to explain.
Keep the texts in your slides short and concise. Generally, bullet points should be no longer than one line.
Often, figures, photos and diagrams work much better than text - particularly for an audience which is not familiar with your specific research area.
When presenting figures and diagrams, remember that you are speaking to a broad audience that might not know the common lingo/method of your area of research.
Try to keep a clear and steady voice during your presentation, avoid rapid speech and do not repeat yourself. Keep eye contact with the audience.
Rehearse your talk beforehand to make sure that you have enough time for everything you want to say.
A good way of rehearsing your talk and getting specific feedback on your presentation, is to attend the presenter’s workshop about a week ahead of the PhD Day.
Posters
There will be 2 poster sessions, following standard conference procedures, in which the presenter will stand at the poster for at a specific time slot.
Requirements
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Portrait orientation.
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Maximum size of A0.
Selection criteria
The PhD day committee will select the 60 best abstracts for poster presentation. We will attempt to do this in a way that best achieves the broadest representation of BIO (section based). However, the selection will first and foremost be based on the following criteria in order of priority:
-
High academic level
-
Formulation and communication skills
-
Impact and originality of the project
General guidelines for posters presentations
Below are tips and recommendations, but you are not obligated to follow the suggestions, and feel free to be creative.
Tip 1: Simplicity
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Concentrate on the main results of your research.
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Highlight trends and comparisons with simplified charts, graphs, and diagrams.
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Make key points in the legend of the figure or table.
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Use text cautiously and make sure it is easy to understand.
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Avoid overwhelming the audience with too many numbers, words, and complicated graphs.
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Avoid using photos or illustrations as background; at best they will make the poster difficult to read.
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Remember, a lot of people will read or study your poster while you are not there, so make certain the message is clear and simple.
Tip 2: Turn it upside down
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A scientific article follows a certain order of content: Introduction, methods, results and discussion/conclusion. For a poster, you should aim to do the exact opposite.
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Try to highlight your conclusion in the title of the poster, rather than giving a broad introduction to your study area. For example ‘Climate change alters bird migration patterns’ is a more attracting heading than ‘Climate change impact on bird migration’.
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Present your results at the top or middle of the poster. This is the most interesting part and you want to make sure people read it; so don’t hide it away at the bottom.
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Methods do not necessarily need to be on a poster at all (unless this is the actual result that you are focusing on: presenting a new method). If you consider them important for understanding the results, then place them at the bottom of the poster. This way people can read them if they wish.
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Finally, look at your poster and consider what catches your eye. Is it the most important things you want people to read? If not, try to rearrange or vary the font size between the different sections.
Tip 3: Text
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Keep your text in short, concise, legible statements and minimize complete sentences and paragraphs. In fact, outlines of important points often work better than text.
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Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly.
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Use a word processor to prepare your text copy. Set your word processor for 1.5 lines of space between each line of type.
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Text in upper and lower case letters is more readable than all capitals.
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Lettering for subheads and figure captions should be larger than text type, but smaller than the type used for the main heading. This type should also be bold or semi-bold in weight.
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It is recommended that you use 24 to 30 point font size for the title, 20 point font size for author's name and affiliation, and subheads, and 16 to 18 point font size for text material.
Tip 4: Printing
The University of Copenhagen has at least two internal printing facilities, located at the Faculty of Humanities: Grafisk and the IT learning centre at Frederiksberg campus (LIFE).
They print posters in all formats and at a reasonable price. However, in case of in house events they may experience overload so you are encouraged to print your poster in good time. Check the deadline for printing or make arrangement with the printing facility well in advance. Talk to the graphic designers about paper type and prices.
Tip 5: Software and basic formats
We recommend using the Adobe Creative Suite software package, which is by far the best to create posters, but it is also relatively complex. Use InDesign or Illustrator to create posters and Photoshop to manipulate images. However, PowerPoint can be used as well and the advantage, despite the more restricted toolbox, is that it is relatively easy to use.
Remember to set your document to the preferred size and orientation of your poster before you insert images and text boxes! At the PhD day, you can bring posters with the max. format of A0 with a portrait orientation.
Tip 6: Inspiration
The following links are sources of inspiration when planning and designing your poster. You can also search the web for award winning posters and use Google to explore other poster design tips