Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Lebenswissenschaftliche Fakultät

Trainer: PD Dr. Daniel Mertens, DKFZ, Heidelberg

Date: 10th & 11th October 2018, 9-17 Uhr

Target group: Doctoral candidates from all research fields of our Faculty in their 2nd or 3rd year

Description:

Science is mostly production of high quality data. However, presentation of data is arguably of similar importance: after generation of results, you want to convey the information to your fellow scientists, be it in the form of manuscripts for publication, abstracts and posters at conferences and last but not least to convince reviewers to grant you additional funding for continuing your research!

After a striking experience at the beginning of the course with substantial loss of information, the participants work on their central messages on which they will receive feedback. This includes producing an effective title, graphical and written abstract. The written abstract will be developed according to the suggestions of “Nature”. Subsequently, participants will produce an effective outline which we will judge on whether the storyline is consistent and without gaps. In addition, we will optimize the flow of text using examples from participants. This includes wording, short sentences, vocabulary and making the text as close to verbal communicationas possible, improving clarity and simplicity. Following the four laws of communication, presention of data in figures will be optimized in order to convey the data results intuitively.

As a transition to oral and poster presentation, we will interactively optimize visualization of data of participants. This discussion will be initiated by a brief lecture on how much impact the proper presentation of numbers has on our peers: processing of numbers, types of graphs, arrangement of sample order, use of colours, visualization of standard deviation are key in conveying the message hidden in our data: unfortunately, the data does not speak for itself. This will lead into a discussion of examples of sets of data from participants, whose ideal presentation will be discussed in the plenary under our moderation.

As a medium situated between written and oral presentation, the scientific poster is one of the standard presentation methods for scientists. Applying what has been learned in the two first sections, participants will judge and aim to improve posters from their peers. This will be done in a multistep process, helping the students understand the different levels of complexity in the communication at a poster session.

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