Biochemistry Seminar (SIBC 684 & 658)

Course Guidelines

1. Each student presents a scientific paper in each semester (a total of two papers).
2. For each seminar, an advisor will be assigned to assist the student in preparing the presentation. Please choose three faculty members (from the list below) whom you wish to have as an advisor and rank them according to your preference. Your choice of seminar advisors will be accommodated as much as possible.

3. The class attention must be at least 80% of the course schedule otherwise the “Incomplete (I)” grading will be given. Any student who cannot attend the seminar must formally inform the course coordinator for a permission in advance if possible. Points will be deducted for an absence without leave.

4. Students must attend the seminar on time. Three late attentions (15 minutes or later) will be counted as one absence.

5. For each seminar, one student is assigned as a seminar speaker and another student is assigned as a discussant. The discussant moderates the seminar to make it smooth and interesting. At the beginning of the seminar, the discussant introduces the speaker (e.g. about the academic background, the topic of the seminar, etc) and, at the end of the presentation, participates in the discussion by asking questions and also encouraging the fellow students to do so.

6. The duration of the seminar is about 1.0 – 1.5 hour; 40-45 min for presentation and 20-30 min for discussion. The speaker has to strictly follow this rule by preparing and practicing the presentation to fit the allotted time. Presenting the seminar for too long or too short will affect the final grading.

Intstructions for the speaker
7. The speaker has to meet with the seminar advisor at least 3-4 weeks before the seminar to choose the paper to be presented. It is recommended that the seminar presentation should be completely prepared at least one week before the schedule so that the speaker can practice it with the advisor, receive some feedback on the talk or slides, and then make appropriate changes. The discussant and other students are also encouraged to attend the practice talk to give some feedback.

8. The speaker provides the pdf file or a hard copy of the paper to the course coordinator within one week before the seminar (preferred by e-mail) so that the paper can be distributed to the audience to read. All students are required to read the paper in order to fully participate in the seminar discussion.

9. If there is a change of schedule or any further information concerning the seminar, it will be announced via e-mails in advance. So the students should check their mails regularly.

Course evaluation
10. The final grading of the course is based on the following:

– Seminar presentation accounts for 70% of the student’s final grade as follows:

a) The overall presentation (e.g. how well the speaker presents the paper in a clear and orderly manner with an appropriate amount of information to make the paper easily and clearly understood by the audience), the quality and content of the slides, and the ability to answer the questions account for 60% of the final grade.

b) The presentation duration (10%). The speaker must learn to give the presentation to fit the allotted time, i.e., 40 – 45 min. Scoring on this part is as follows: Talk < 30 min = 0, 30 -35 min = 3, 35 – 40 min = 7, 40 – 45 min = 10, 45 – 50 = 7 min, 50 – 55 min = 3, > 55 min = 0.

– Seminar participation and discussion (25%). It is based on the student participation during the seminar discussion by asking questions or giving comments on the paper. The questions or comments that reflect the student’s insight or critical thinking about the paper get a higher score than simple what-is-questions.

– Roles as a discussant (5%). The discussant should make the seminar more interesting by asking questions, giving some comments, and stimulating the fellow students to participate or ask questions during the discussion.

Some tips about preparing a seminar presentation

Try to define the important points of the paper as follows:
a) Background – relevant rationale and research questions
b) Objectives
c) Results

• c.1 – Result 1
  rationale- (purpose, why and how to do the experiments)
  results –
• c.2 – Result 2
  rationale- (purpose, why and how to do the experiments)
  results –
• c.3 – Result 3

d) Discussion
e) Summary

• Use fonts with appropriate sizes and colors that are clearly visible to the audience (e.g. Arial or Tahoma, 20 pt, black).
• The figures should also be made or modified to have appropriate sizes so that the content of the figures can be seen clearly.
• The speaker should check the slides for the visibility and clarity during the practice session and make the changes accordingly.
• Remember! Present the paper in a clear and orderly manner. Try to make the content easier and more understandable to the audience.