Seminar course

1
Biochemistry 530
participation and attendance (mandatory for
all grad students, all years) a 25 minutes
presentation followed by 5 minutes of
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 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) BMB seminar series

- 45-50 minutes - will be scheduled as part of
the BMB seminar series (on Mondays at 300
pm) - arranged once defense date scheduled with
Faculty of Graduate Studies - select date with
your supervisor then tell Doris (she will arrange
the room and notice). 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 BMB 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 BMB 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 to be 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
SH Zbarsky Scholarship
The 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. Professor Sid Zbarsky - first member
of Dept of Biochemistry (1950). Honorarium
courtesy of Zbarsky family and department
reception
Recent winners 2012-2013 Dustin King
(Strynadka) 2005-2006
Jennifer Cox (Overall) 2011-2012 Kristina
McBurney (Howe) 2004-2005
Mark Wilke (Strynadka) 2010-2011 Genevieve
Desjardins (McIntosh) 2003-2004 Eduardo
Vottero (Mauk) 2009-2010 Justin Lee (Cullis)
2002-2003 Mike
Johnson/Winco Wu (Cullis/Molday) 2008-2009 Kush
Dalal (Duong) 2001-2002 Daniel Lim
(Strynadka) 2007-2008 Christopher Jang (Jan)
2000-2001 Michael Page (MacGillivray) 2006-2007
Michael Gretes (Strynadka)
1999-2000 Natalie Rundle (Roberge)