CID Summer 2005 Convening: Developing Researchers and Scholars

Topic 3: Sharing findings and communicating results

University of Minnesota - Graduate Program in Neuroscience

This Snapshot describes how the doctoral program in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience helps teach students to share findings and communicate results.

Conducting an investigation has little meaning until the results of the investigation are shared with others. This serves the dual purposes of putting the work up for scrutiny and assessment by knowledgeable peers, and of advancing knowledge and understanding. Orally communicating findings effectively is as important as writing well. Preliminary work can be puzzled over with close colleagues. More polished work is shared at regional and national meetings through poster sessions and paper presentations. "Final work" is published in journal articles, chapters, and books.

Summary Description

The Graduate Program in Neuroscience is a large, multidisciplinary program consisting of over 100 faculty members from 25 departments and eight colleges of the univesity. Fifty-five students are currently training in the program. A critical goal of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota is to provide students training in oral and written presentation of research results. Experiences in oral presentation develop from the first week at the Itasca Neuroscience "Boot Camp" when students report what did and did not work in the daily lab sessions to the third year, when each graduate student makes their first 30 minute Colloquium presentation to 100 faculty and student colleagues in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. Training and experience in the written presentation of research results includes keeping a personal lab notebook in the Itasca course, writing a research proposal and an independent review in first year core courses, writing assignments in the Career Skills course, and the preparation of a thesis proposal in the third year that can form the basis of an application for a NRSA predoctoral fellowship. These activities occur within the context of the core courses of the first two years, in preparation for the Oral Preliminary Examination and in the Program's community events, the weekly Neuroscience Colloquium, and the yearly Neuroscience Retreat.

Training activities in oral and written presentation of research results

Tools and Resources

Provide access to tools and resources your program uses to develop researchers and scholars.

- Guidelines for discussing research papers in Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience

- Independent project review paper for Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience

- Tips for discussing research papers in Developmental Neurobiology

- Guidelines for term paper in Developmental Neurobiology

- Schedule of 2004 Neuroscience Colloquium Series

- Feedback form for Colloquium presentations

- Syllabus for Writing Skills sessions in Career Skills course

Cell/Molec-Neurosci-Research Paper Discussion

Cell/Molec-Neurosci-Independent Project

Devel Neurosci-Tips for Discussion

Devel Neurosci Term Paper

2004-Colloquium series

Colloquium Feedback Form

Career Skills-Writing.doc

Goals for Students

1. A student should be able to describe and critically analyze the rationale, results, and significance of the contents of a research paper.

2. A student should be able to write a research paper organized in the format of major research journals.

3. A student should be able to orally present the rationale, hypothesis and results of a research project in a Powerpoint presentation.

4. A student should be able to respond to questions following an oral presentation.

5. A student who completes a PhD in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience should be able to write a proposal that defines a scientific question, presents a hypothesis to test as a possible answer to the question, and describes experiments that will effectively test the hypothesis.

Program Context

Being effective in presenting information in both oral and written forms is essential to success in any academic, educational, administrative or business career. We wanted the students to complete their PhD studies in a shorter time, and be better prepared for postdoctoral experiences and for new non-academic careers in which oral and written presentations are even more important than in traditional postdoctoral experiences.

Training and experience in oral and written presentations are incorporated into learning the background information, investigation and analytical skills of the core courses of the first year. These activities prepare students for the Written and Oral Preliminary Examinations that monitor student progress in their doctoral program. Presentations at the Colloquium talk and the poster at the Neuroscience Retreat prepare students for sharing their findings at regional, national and international meetings.

Reflections from a graduate student

I have been prepared to communicate research results at regional or national meetings through course work and activities of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience (GPN). In courses and journal clubs we were directed on how to discuss and critique results. Additionally, we practiced presenting data by writing review style term papers for courses. We were also prepared to communicate results to the greater scientific community in our Career Skills course, where we had multiple sessions on scientific writing. As third year students, we presented a 15-minute talk on our own data in front of a practice audience of students and faculty. The poster session at the annual GPN retreat and weekly colloquium series mirror the written and oral presentation styles used in regional and national neuroscience meetings. Observing both faculty and students present data at the retreat or in a colloquium has helped me distinguish an average from an exceptional presentation. In all of these exercises I received feedback and critique on my performance in order to better my communication skills at regional or national meetings. This experience has helped me shape my own presentations for scientific meetings, either in written or oral format.

How Do We Know?

How do you know students have met your goals?

1. If students have met our goals we will have excellent presentations at our regular Colloquium events.

2. Students will be successful in passing the oral preliminary exam on time during the third year.

3. Posters presented by students at the Annual Retreat will be interesting and well attended.

4. Students will be successful in receiving NRSA fellowships as graduate students, and later in receiving individual NRSA and other postdoctoral fellowships.

How do you know if they have not?

1. Student presentations at the Colloquium will not be excellent and attendance will fall.

2. Students will not pass the Oral Preliminary Examination within the prescribed time of the graduate program.

3. Students will not be successful in applications for individual NRSA fellowships.

4. Student poster presentations will be unclear and will not attract attention. Attendance at the annual retreat will drop.

Are students evaluated? What tools do you use?

1. In the Cell/Molecular Neuroscience course student presentations of research papers are graded by a faculty member who is assigned to that paper and meets with the student prior to the presentation.

2. In preparing the independent project for the Cellular/Molecular Neuroscience course each student meets with a faculty mentor, who critiques an initial draft and grades the final paper.

3. Student participation in the Developmental Neuroscience discussion of research papers counts for 1/3 of grade.

4. In developmental Neuroscience each student writes an initial research proposal. Each proposal draft is distributed to two other students, who prepare written reviews of the proposal. Students meet in study sections of three students who discuss their reviews of the papers of each other. Four weeks later the final proposal is due and the final version is grade by the two course directors.

5. Students receive grades for their written assignments in the Career Skills course.

6. The Written Preliminary Examination includes one day of long-answer questions in which each student writes a two hour answer in each of the four core areas.

7. The Oral Preliminary Examination includes preparation of a thesis proposal, which the student presents in the first 30 min of the examination period. The rest of the time is devoted to examination of the rationale for the proposed research and to the general knowledge of the student.

8. Students prepare for their first Colloquium presentation by giving a 10 minute talk to three faculty and their student peers, follow by 5 min science questions and 5 min critique on presentation quality. Each student also receives a videotape and written feedback. Members of the audience fill out feedback forms at the Colloquium.

9. The Student Board is investigating the possibility of a student-run mock oral preliminary exam for each student. The proposal of each student will be read by two senior students, who will meet with the student to conduct a practice oral exam.

10. The thesis advisor meets with a student to review drafts of the thesis proposal, posters, and Colloquium presentations.

Unanswered Questions

1. Will students complete the Oral Preliminary Examination within the new time period?

2. Will an increased number of students receive individual graduate fellowships?

3. What mechanisms other than a Written Preliminary Examination can be used to assess knowledge of the core curriculum in neuroscience and readiness for a thesis research project?

4. How can we improve our recruiting, mentoring and training of students whose potential for research has not been well developed by their previous educational experiences?

5. How can the abilities of graduate faculty and thesis advisors in mentoring oral and written presentations be strengthened?

Contact Information

Paul Letourneau

letou001@umn.edu