Handbook for PhD Students
This PhD Handbook serves a dual purpose: it describes the research methodology of our group and gives general advice to students, and it sets out the standards and processes that all students in the group are expected to strive for.
Attending conferences: First, think about what you want to get out of attending the conference: meet relevant people, learn about their work, tell them about your work, discuss new interesting ideas, start conversations which could lead to collaborations. To achieve these goals, it is best to plan ahead. Make a list of people you want to meet, read up about their work so you can relate to their work when talking to them, potentially contact them ahead of time to make yourself known and agree on a time to meet. If whoever you talk to remembers one key point about your work, then that is a good outcome. In contrast, the least effective approach is to be shy/passive and hope for others to come to you. This is not the time to be shy; attending a conference costs a lot of money, time and effort, and so you want to maximise the returns. Keep this in mind when planning your conference trip.
Presentation: Create your presentation slides using the group's slide templates (can be used with most slide software, including Google Slides): Slide template1, Slide template 2
- Rule of thumb: plan for 1 minute per content slide
- Speak clearly and not too quickly
- Make good use of visuals (images, videos) to explain ideas and results
- In results plots, it's a good idea to first show and explain the axes, then show the data in next step
- Do practice talks in group meetings to get feedback
Poster: We don't have a poster template but here are some examples (example 1, example 2). These were generated with Latex using the 'baposter' document class. You can also use Powerpoint/Keynote or similar software to make posters.
- Design your poster so you can deliver your complete pitch in 1-2 minutes
- Practice your pitch while designing your poster - imagine standing next to it and pointing with your finger
- Don't print text/images too small, it should be readable from 2 meters distance
- Include enough detail so that the poster also works alone - people may read your poster when you're not around
- Show your poster around in the group to get feedback
Science article with more advice: How to prepare a scientific poster