Things to do at a meeting

Do present at a meeting if you can. Don’t just turn up, but give a presentation or take a poster. Don’t worry if it’s not great or the most interesting thing ever, you will gain a lot of experience from it, even if your abstract is rejected or your poster is terrible. Most people’s early efforts aren’t great, so don’t be afraid to make a mistake.

Listen to talks and read posters. Again, this is obvious, but it’s easy to get distracted and miss whole sessions of talks, or just glance over a few posters and not read them in depth. If it’s a big meeting, plan ahead so that you make sure you get to see everything you want to. Make sure you take notes too, you won’t remember everything the next day, let alone six months later when you want to refer to a talk, or contact someone about their work.

Do talk to people. It can be really intimidating to go and speak to a senior researcher (or personal idol) you have never met but make the most of the opportunity. If you have a question or request, then ask. The vast majority of people are happy to take time to talk to you and are friendly and welcoming. They will answer your questions and offer help and advice. Even if they are not too nice, the worst they can say is no, which leaves you in the same place as not asking. I spent years thinking I was lucky as everyone in academia I spoke to was really helpful till I realised that actually pretty much everyone is like that. Don’t just target specific people, but make sure you socialise in general – meet people and find out who they are and what they are doing. There will be other students or researchers out there who aren’t speaking, but who are working in fields that overlap with yours. If you only hunt down speakers, or target only the flight guys or whatever you will miss them.

Don’t just meet and talk to people, but get their contact details. Make sure you send them an e-mail after the meeting thanking them for their time and if necessary giving them a gentle nudge to send you PDFs, datasets or whatever was discussed. People are helpful, but not everyone remembers to send that pile of papers to the frightened looking postgrad in the corner a week and one conference drinking session later. This also really helps them to remember you and makes a great impression. If you are looking for a job / grant / sponsor / research collaborator etc. later down the line it will help enormously if people a) can remember who you are, and b) think you are a nice polite person.

If you have the time and money to go to a meeting, make the effort to do so. But don’t just turn up – it can be an excellent opportunity to meet people, make friends and contacts, and gain valuable information about your work and that of others. If you just listen to a few talks and chat to your friends you will get out only 10% of what you might otherwise, even if it appears to be more fun than listening to a talk on fish taxonomy or less risky than talking to a senior professor and asking a stupid question. Do go, and do make the most of it.

Task 15. Read the feedback to article; tell if it is useful to the inexperienced scientific author. What lines of behavior are suggested by the authors of these feedbacks?

Zach Miller: I felt too “newbie” at SVP last year to go up and introduce myself to several of my idols, including Phil Currie, Pete Larson, and Christopher Bennett. I did, however, fess up the courage to say hello to Greg Paul, which was awesome.

I now feel bad that I didn’t talk to Phil Currie, because I totally had an in, there. He sent me a whole bunch of deinonychosaur papers when I was in college to help me with a paper I was doing. And I’ve actually met Pete Larson before, when he gave a talk in Anchorage a few years ago. As for Christopher Bennett, it just seems awkward to go up to somebody and say “I’m a big fan of your work!”

David Hone: I think it’s very common, and of course completely understandable, but not of much help. Of course if you are a PHD student in Europe, you only have three years to get your work done (or only one or two for Masters courses) and may only go to two or three meetings in your whole time, if you don’t speak to someone it can be a massive opportunity completely wasted. And let’s face it, few people are going to be insulted that you think their work is great!

mythusmage: Introduce yourselves by all means. Show your appreciation for his work, and how he’s influenced yours. Even at the greatly advanced age of 40 a fellow still has an ego after all. And don’t be so sure you can always see him next year. People have a distressing habit of dying at most any moment, and by next year your hero could be deceased. As could you.

Task 7. A. Look through the words in italics and translate them if you don’t know their meaning ‑ look them up in the dictionary

B. Find the major stages of work with the presentation

How to give a talk

Although meetings and conferences are about far more than just giving public talks, they are of course a central theme. For the scientist, it’s a chance to present his information to his peers to disseminate his ideas and research, and of course triggerfeedback and new research. For the audience, it’s an opportunity to gain access to information and ideas perhaps years ahead of their formal publication, (and some will never be published) and to get access to people and branches of research far outside what they can get in their own institutions of even countries or continents if it’s a big meeting. It seems odd then that I had had to sit through a great many talks that were obtuse, dull, confusing or apparently pointless.

You will of course have anabstract sent in and accepted if you are going to be speaking at a meeting, though of course you might also have to give departmental talks, or lectures when visiting other institutions and so on, but the main thing of course is to have a clear idea of what you want to talk about and what message you want to get across. Write your talk with these things in mind – have two or three key points you want to get across and make sure they are prominent and clearly expressed. As with papers link different people write things in different ways so don’t be bothered about your style provided you produce a good set of slides and a well rehearsed talk.

Do make sure the talk is smooth and logical. Treat is somewhat like a paper, so you introduce the problem, what you wanted to test / analyse (or what you discovered that impacts on old ideas), how you analysed it, what the results were and what that means. Remember that you only have a limited amount of time and you can’t go into great detail (and it will be a technically minded audience) so keep things brief. If necessary repeat your main points as a summary to make sure they get across.

Do try to make it interesting. Of course there will probably be people there who are not at all interested in what you are saying, (sad, but true) but you must engage everyone as best you can. Cutting out the jargon or in-jokes from your field will stop you losing people. Don’t just string together a bunch of photos and talk about each one in turn, even if they are all good examples of the points you are making.

As for the slides themselves, a few simple rules can really improve the presentation of slides to make them more accessible. Use a large and simple font so everyone can read the text easily. Keep each slide clean and simple– better to use three slides for just a few seconds each to show two graphs than cram three onto a single slide where no one can see them properly. Similarly, don’t write too much, people have to read what is written and listen to you talk, put up a slide with 150 words on it while you are talking as well means people will certainly miss something. Keep the background either simple or faint, so that it does not distract from the words or images you want them to focus on. Don’t use distracting things like sound effect, or weird slide changes and wipes.

Make sure the title slide includes the names and affiliations of all the people involved (especially where limitations mean they were not listed in the abstract). Do include an acknowledgement slide for funding, other colleagues etc.

Practice your talk, especially if it’s your first. Make sure you know what you want to say, how and when and the points you want to emphasise. Ideally rehearse in front of a critical audience like a few colleagues and ask for help – they will be able to spot things you never would and improve both the talk and the presentation. When speaking, face the audience (not the computer or the board behind you, even when pointing things out on the slides), and speak slowly and clearly and if there is no microphone, loudly. Try not to move around too much or give wild and exaggerated gestures, though equally don’t stare at your feet and speak in a monotone – half of getting the audience to listen is just making eye-contact (as it were) and speaking to them, rather than at them.

Make sure that what you say matches the slides – it’s really hard to follow a talk where there are lots of words on the screen but the person is talking about something else, or there are only five bullet points, but he lists six factors etc. If you do have a list of points for example, go through them in the same order as they appear on screen. Ensure that you have enough time for each slide, both to talk about it, and the audience to absorb what is on the screen.

As for actually giving the presentation, first off make sure you have right file format for the talk. There’s nothing worse than turning up with a file the computer can’t read. If you can take along a back-up copy to your basic CD / flash stick (I e-mail myself a copy so I can access it easily at short notice in case of loss).

Prepare for questions (again rehearsals with people will help you spot the likely ones, so you can prepare your answers), and if you do get something you can’t answer or are not sure about, there is nothing wrong with saying you need to think about it, or offer to discuss it later – better that than guessing.

Finally and above all, make sure you stick to the time. Make sure you know how long you have to give your talk and that you talk lasts that long – at big meetings if you overrun, you’ll get hauled off, at small ones they’ll let you run late and you’ll be resented for making other people late and miss their coffee breaks.

Task 17. Read the text again and answer the questions below

1. Why do scientists give their talks at the conferences?

2. How to practice a talk before a conference?

3. Can you add in-jokes from your field to the talk?

4. What is better: to make few slides, but very informative, or a lot of slides, but easy to understand?

5. What kind of background is better for slides? Why?

6. You are at the conference hall, and your talk is ahead, how should you prepare for it?

7. What are the most important aspects in giving a talk?

Task 18. Find the right collocations. Translate them into Russian

to gain a clear to make main a bullet a back-up to get to be

points hauled off idea resented sure point access copy

Task 19. Translate the sentences into Russian

1. Write your talk with these things in mind – have two or three key points you want to get across and make sure they are prominent and clearly expressed.

2. Remember that you only have a limited amount of time and you can’t go into great detail (and it will be a technically minded audience) so keep things brief.

3. Don’t write too much, people have to read what is written and listen to you talk, put up a slide with 150 words on it while you are talking as well means people will certainly miss something.

4. If you do have a list of points for example, go through them in the same order as they appear on screen.

5. Make sure you know how long you have to give your talk and that you talk lasts that long – at big meetings if you overrun, you’ll get hauled off, at small ones they’ll let you run late and you’ll be resented for making other people late and miss their coffee breaks.

Task 20. Read the text, find the additional information on the topic. Translate the text into English using the words in brackets

В распоряжение участников предоставляются лекционные залы (lecturehalls), комнаты для заседаний (meeting rooms), оборудуются специальные помещения – холлы (lounges) для неофициального общения.На научных конференциях широко используется современное звукоусилительное (public address system) и аудиовизуальное оборудование (audiovisual equipment): слайдпроекторы (slide projectors). При демонстрации экспериментов в лабораторных условиях эффективно работает система замкнутого телевидения (closed circuit television). Для участников научной конференции обычно разрабатываются две программы: научная (scientific/technical program) и культурная (social program).Начинается конференция специальным заседанием (ceremonial session / opening ceremony). Открывается конференция, как правило, приветственной речью (welcome address) одного из организаторов конференции. Нередко открытие конференции проходит в деловой обстановке. В этом случае председательствующий на заседании ограничивается вступительным словом (introductory / opening remarks).На пленарных заседаниях (plenary sessions) выступающие (speakers) представляют соответственно пленарные доклады (plenary addresses / lectures / talks / papers) и в ряде случаев основные доклады, определяющие ход всей конференции (keynote addresses / papers). Основной докладчик (keynote speaker) является, как правило, известным ученым, признанным авторитетом в своей области. Task 21. Match the words which are close in meaning

1. participant2. accommodation3. speaker4. to take place5. exhibition,6. scientific associate 7. head 8. deputy director 9. to take the floor 10. to present a paper11. seminar 12. overview paper 13. concurrent session 14. round table discussions

1. to submit a paper2. display3. assistant director4. round tables5. attendee6. reporter7. chief8. workshop9. housing10. research associate11. review paper12. parallel session13. to be held14. to speak

Task 22. Before reading the text read the article about it’s author Richard M. Reis, note the positions of this person

Richard M. Reis is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Innovative Manufacturing (AIM) at Stanford and Co-Executive Director of the Stanford Research Communication Program. From 1987 to 1989 he also served as the Associate Dean for Professional Development in the Stanford School of Engineering.

Dr. Reis is also a Consulting Professor in the Stanford Electrical Engineering department and a Lecturer in the Stanford Mechanical Engineering department. He teaches an introductory seminar for all incoming Electrical Engineering graduate students in the fall quarter and a graduate seminar on "Life after Stanford" in the winter quarter. In the winter and spring quarters he also teaches the Design and Manufacturing Forum in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Prior to coming to Stanford he was the Executive Officer and editor of the astronomy magazine, Mercury, for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a Professor of science education at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Newfoundland, Canada, and a high school physics teacher in Los Angeles.

Reis holds bachelor's degrees in physical geography (honors), physics (honors) and a master's degree in science education from California State University at Los Angeles, and a master's degree in physical science (geophysics) and a PhD in science education (physics) from Stanford University.

Task 23. Match the words with their Russian equivalents

1. senior scientist 2. graduate student 3. postdoc 4. assistant professor 5. senior colleague 6. better-known colleague 7. consulting professor 8. lecturer 9. teacher 10. executive officer

a) профессор-консультант b) лектор c) выпускник d) доцент e) должностное лицо f) ведущий ученый g) учитель h) научный сотрудник с ученой степенью i) старший коллега j) более известный коллега

Task 24. Compose the sentences using the words and expressions from the box

field, controversies, debates, registration fees, participants, annual gatherings, attendee, speakers, conference proceedings, scientific adviser, talk

Task 25. Read the text to find out what are the most important things to do at the scientific conference, before and after it

How to get the most out of scientific conferences

By Richard M. Reis

Senior scientists make a habit of attending professional conferences. As a graduate student, postdoc, or assistant professor, you should also plan to attend such events. They are an important way to begin developing your professional reputation.

Scientific conferences are ideal places to find out what's hot, and not so hot, in your field, observe the various debates and controversies under way, meet interesting people, make contacts for the future, and, in general, interact with professionals in your field. In many disciplines, job contacts and some preliminary interviews take place at conferences.

While conference registration fees have increased significantly in recent years, discounts are often available for graduate students and postdocs. It is also possible to reduce the expense of attending professional meetings by volunteering to serve on planning committees. Most committees welcome the input and energy of emerging scholars, and will often waive the registration fee for such help.

Scientific meetings can range from as few as a hundred or so participants for very specialized or local events, to many thousands for annual gatherings such as those of the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and the American Physical Society.

Large conferences can often seem overwhelming, particularly to beginners, and it's easy to be intimidated by the list of speakers and attendees, all of whom seem to know more than you. To understand how to make it a low-stress, productive experience, consider the conference experience in three stages.

Before the conference

Don't arrive unprepared: Too much is at stake in terms of time and missed opportunities. Check out the schedule of events on the conference Web site. Scan the session titles and note those that look useful. Highlight all interesting sessions and, where there are conflicts, decide which ones you will attend and which ones you will want to read about in the published conference proceedings. If more than one person from your institution will be attending, divide the sessions among yourselves to maximize coverage, then plan to share your notes.

Make a list of the people you have met before and want to see again. Go through the conference guide and highlight the names of people you would like to meet, such as other graduate students and postdocs, as well as officers and presenters.

Ask your adviser or other senior colleagues who are also attending the conference to introduce you to people they know who might be interested in what you are doing. If your colleagues are not going to the conference, ask them if there is anything you can do on their behalf, such as contacting a researcher or attending a particular session. That way you have an additional reason to attend, and you can use the name of your better-known colleague as an introduction.

For the new contacts whom you'd really like to meet, send a short e-mail message telling them you will be at the conference and why you want to see them. Enclose a brief description of what you are working on. You would be surprised how flattered other scientists will be at this request ‑ even the most senior, well-known stars.

Of course, make sure you have plenty of business cards with your latest title, telephone number, and e-mail address.

Also, prepare your "no-notes talks". By such talks I don't mean your formal technical presentation (the subject of a future Catalyst column.) What I mean are the informal talks you give every time someone asks, "Who are you and what is your research area?" This will happen dozens of times throughout the conference, and you need to be prepared.

In some cases, such as on an elevator, you will have no more than 30 seconds to give your answer. In most situations, you will need to give your "hallway talk", a quick overview in one to three minutes without notes or illustrations. If you are lucky, and can get some time with people you are interested in meeting, you may have a chance to give your "office talk", which could last up to 10 minutes.

During the conference

Review the latest program and finalize your choices for each day. Be sure to check for changes in time and location. Coordinate with colleagues who may be attending other sessions.

Generally, I recommend sitting toward the back of the room during sessions. If a session doesn't look like it is going to give you what you want, you can leave and go on to your second choice. Be sure to take notes on ideas you can use.

While attending sessions is important, most experienced conference-goers know that much of the action lies not in the talks themselves but in the hallways, at dinners, and in informal seminars. Here are some things to do outside the formal sessions:

· Seek out the people you have written to prior to the conference and ask them to meet you later for coffee or a meal. Do the same with presenters after their talks.

· Check the program to see if there are recent alumni from your institution with whom you can make contact, seek information, and share experiences.

· Talk to others about new directions developing in your field and find out about emerging leaders who might be attending. Keep your eye out for colleagues who might review your work, collaborate with you, and help you with future connections.

· Pay particular attention to informal conversations, and note who is talking to whom and what kinds of alliances are being formed.

· Talk about your research interests every chance you get via your "elevator", "hallway", or "office" talks. At the same time, be sure to listen to others as well. You'll learn more this way, and people will feel that your conversations are a two-way street.

· Finally, find a good place to keep the business cards you collect. At the time you are given such cards, note the circumstances of your meeting and how you plan to follow up. Don't rely on your memory to help you do this later.

After the conference

There are really just three things you need to do after the conference: follow up, follow up, and follow up.

Follow up with a note and promised abstracts or publications to the contacts you made. Ask them to send promised material.

Follow up with presenters you missed and ask for a copy of their handouts.

Follow up by summarizing what you learned, particularly the informal insights, in an e-mail message, and send it to your colleagues as well as those people you met at the conference. This is a very appreciated service and will get you noticed by other professionals.

Following these guidelines will help ensure that your conference experience will be informative, rewarding, and even fun. Ideally, you will benefit professionally and look forward to your next professional meeting.

Task 26. Answer the questions

1. Why it is so important for a scientist to attend conferences?

2. How to avoid registration fees if you are a graduate student or a postdoc?

3. What should you do before the conference?

4. How can a name of your better-known colleague help you at the conference?

5. What are “no-notes talks”: an “elevator talk”, a “hallway talk”, an “office talk”?

6. What should you do during the conference?

7. What are the most important things to do after the conference?

Task 27. Decide whether the sentences are true or false

1. The professional reputation depends only on the scientific conferences.

2. Registration fees are really high for the postgraduate students and low for the professors.

3. Recommendations of your adviser and senior colleagues can help you to make the conference more useful for you.

4. Scientists are often flattered if you are interested in their opinion.

5. If you came to the conference with the colleagues from your institute you should always attend all the talks together for an opportunity to discuss them later.

Task 28. Read the text, find the additional information about organizing of the conferences and translate it into English

Иногда проводятся совместные заседания (joint meeting) отдельных секций или даже конференций, чтобы их участники, представители разных областей науки, могли обсудить общие проблемы.На конференциях нередко устраиваются специальные лекции для участников, а также публичные лекции для всех желающих, с которыми выступают известные ученые или общественные деятели.Важным элементом любой научной конференции является обсуждение докладов, или дискуссия, которой обычно руководит председатель заседания (chairman of the session/session chairman).Используется и такая форма, как обмен мнениями с участием ведущих специалистов в присутствии широкой аудитории (panel discussion).Выступающие на этой встрече (panelists/members of the panel) освещают темы, предлагаемые ее ведущим, и отвечают на вопросы коллег.Проводятся на научных конференциях и обсуждения за «круглым столом» (round table discussions/round tables).В последние время стали пользоваться успехом стендовые заседания (poster sessions), во время которых авторы-демонстраторы представляют так называемые стендовые сообщения.Обычно параллельно с проведением конференции организуются тематические выставки, в том числе имеющие коммерческий интерес (commercial exhibitions); устраиваются демонстрации оборудования, приборов и материалов (shows/demonstrations).Гости конференции имеют возможность принять участие в разного рода профессиональных экскурсиях, в том числе полевых экскурсиях.Успех научной конференции во многом определяется и тем, как подготовлена культурная программа и составляющие ее разнообразные мероприятия, ибо именно в свободное время между участниками устанавливаются контакты, столь необходимые для плодотворного научного общения.Гости конференции посещают местные музеи, картинные галереи, театры и концертные залы.

Task 29. Read the short tips for attending a scientific conference, name the recommendations which were not included into the previous text. What do you think, are these recommendations important for you?

Tips for attending a scientific conference:

1. Be well behaved at social mixers or risk being remembered by colleagues for reasons you may not like. Similarly, be remembered for how great your poster was and not for being ill-prepared.

2. Limit your poster to not more than 4 columns wide and maximum of 9 figures or tables. It should be clear, with a bold title, and no personal pictures!

3. The poster should be self-explanatory with simple text and large writing. Of course, you’ll walk people through it, but they should be able to understand it without you too.

4. If you are giving a talk, practice in front of others who will give you critical feedback. Preparation is key to avoid using phrases such as ”like” and “ummm”.

5. Visit the lecture room where you will speak an hour ahead of time to make sure you understand how to operate the computer and have a working laser pointer. The laser pointer is for pointing, not directing traffic. Make eye contact with your audience and smile.

6. Keep talk slides simple and clear with only a few colors. Keep animations to a minimum in scientific presentations. (Marketing presentation typically have a lot of special effects but this is distracting in a scientific presentation.) Plan your slides carefully for the length of time you are speaking. If it is a 15 minute talk, you should have a maximum of 10 slides including your title.

7. During the question and answer session, it never hurts to repeat the questions before answering them. Even if the audio in the room works well, it will help the non-English speakers follow the discussion as well as give you time to think.

Attending a conference is a privilege and presenting is an honor. You’ll have the chance to impress many people with your work whether it is a poster or a talk.

Task 30. Read the information, look through the words in italics and explain them

Call for papers

A call for papers (CFP) is a method used in academic and other contexts for collecting book or journal articles or conference presentations. A CFP usually is sent to interested parties, describing the broad theme, the occasion for the CFP, formalities such as what kind of abstract (summary) has to be submitted to whom and a deadline.

Task 31. Read the call for paper information from DEFCON conference, define the style of the text.