Seminar course

1
Biochemistry 530
participation and attendance (mandatory for
all grad students, all years) 25 minute talk,
5 minute questions Both speakers should arrive
at 1150 to ensure their presentations are
working properly. evaluation of each talk
(form-based turned in at the end of each BIOC
530 session). Term 1 3rd year PhD students
(compete for Zbarsky award) and 3rd year MSc
students, then 4th year students Term 2 2nd
year students, then 1st year students.

• Seminar course Requirement for Graduation (all
  students)
• 530 seminars
• For PhD students, a mandatory talk on their
  thesis upon the point of graduation.
• 3) BMBDG seminar series

45-50 minutes part of the BMBDG seminar series
(usually on Mondays at 300 pm) arrange once
defense date chosen select date with your
supervisor then tell Sahar (she will schedule
your exit seminar). Attendance is mandatory
for all students (all years).
Mandatory adj., adv. Obligatory, required.
2
Course evaluation
1. First and Second Year seminars 2.
Evaluation of BIOC 530 and BMBDG seminar speakers

• Primarily based on presentation quality (as
  opposed to the science).

• For BIOC 530, fill out evaluation form and hand
  it in at the end of each session.
• Put your name on it (ensures you are credited
  for your attendance).
• Provide constructive critique only.
• Comments collated by grad secretary and passed
  onto speaker in anonymous fashion.
• Questions, including one of each seminar speaker
  the week following your 530 seminar.

• For BMBDG seminars, provide your name, year of
  study, date and seminar title (presenter) at the
  top of the page.
• For each speaker, write a single paragraph of up
  to 250 words (230-270). 10
• Focus on the scientific content of the seminar,
  not the style of the speaker.
• In 2-3 sentences identify the problem the
  speaker is addressing and summarize the key
  message (s) or conclusion (s) that the speaker
  delivered.
• In 1 2 sentences, summarize the new
  information that you learned from the seminar.

3
Tips for an effective Seminar
Overall organization Introduction 5-10 minutes.
Sell your topic. What is the system? Why is this
worth studying? What do we know so far? What
questions are you going to address? Results
10-15 minutes. Explain the experiments/results in
detail! Dont overestimate your audience. They
are unlikely familiar with your area. Better to
explain one or 2 experiments well than several
superficially. What have you learned (both from
positive and negative results)? Future Goals 5
minutes. Where will the work go from here? Why is
it important?
Individual slides Keep slides simple and focused
on one or 2 points. Use visuals when possible
(i.e., not too many words!) Reference others work
appropriately (Authors et al., Journal, Volume,
Page, Year). Check font size/color on big screen.
Speaking style Avoid reading. Rote memorization
also sometimes doesnt work as you can get lost.
Look at audience as much as possible (above
their eyes).
PRACTICE WITH YOUR LAB BEFORE HAND TO IMPROVE
FLUENCY AND TIMING.
4
Zbarsky Award
Best 3rd year BIOC 530 seminar as judged by grad
student body Only students who have attended all
seminars (from evaluation sheets) will have a
valid vote. Prof. Sid Zbarsky - first member of
Dept of Biochemistry (1950). Honorarium courtesy
of Zbarsky family and department.
Recent winners 13-14 Dheva Setiaputra
(Yip) 12-13 Dustin King (Strynadka)
05-06 Jennifer Cox (Overall) 11-12
Kristina McBurney (Howe) 04-05 Mark Wilke
(Strynadka) 10-11 Genevieve Desjardins
(McIntosh) 03-04 Eduardo Vottero (Mauk) 09-10
Justin Lee (Cullis) 02-03 Mike Johnson/Winco Wu
(Cullis/Molday) 08-09 Kush Dalal (Duong)
01-02 Daniel Lim (Strynadka) 07-08 Christopher
Jang (Jan) 00-01 Michael Page
(MacGillivray) 06-07 Michael Gretes (Strynadka)
99-00 Natalie Rundle (Roberge)