This series of monthly seminars in various disciplines serves as a platform for the dissemination and discussion of current research within the department. The series in Molecular Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics (MPPK) comprises trainees and other personnel from the Angers, Bendayan and Cummins groups. Up to three graduate students will be scheduled to speak at each event. Where possible, presentations on the same day will be from different laboratories. Each speaker’s supervisor must be present – therefore students must ensure that their supervisors are available before scheduling their presentations.

Seminar Coordinator

Dr. Reina Bendayan
Professor
r.bendayan@utoronto.ca
(416) 978-6979

Policies and Procedures

Purpose

The aim of the course is threefold:

  1. to promote awareness of the work undertaken by different research groups within the area of MPPK, and thereby to promote interaction and collaboration among their members,
  2. to provide students with an opportunity to organize their data, present their results, enhance their skills at oral communication  and develop their ability to defend their ideas in a public forum,
  3. to provide feedback by way of anonymous assessments submitted by students in the audience, and in a meeting of the speakers, PIs and supervisors immediately following the presentations.
Schedule

The schedule of seminars for each academic year will be posted on Quercus and updated as required.

Attendance

The success of the course depends upon full participation by supervisors and graduate students. Attendance is compulsory for all students in their first year, last year and every year in between. Attendance will be monitored by means of the forms that are used to evaluate the presentations, which must be completed by all students present (see below).

Students may attend up to two seminars in other groups in each academic year. In that case, the student must sign the other group’s attendance sheet for the record. Full-time students are allowed one absence in each academic year. Part-time and flex-time students may request a lower level of participation.

Any other absence will require attendance at a make-up seminar and the submission of a written report of at least one page in length. The report must summarize the make-up seminar and be submitted to the Coordinator of the MPPK group within one month of when the deficiency was recognized. Make-up seminars may be departmental seminars within the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences or, with approval, within other departments.

Failure to comply with these requirements will render the student Not in Good Standing within the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences; accordingly, the supervisor will be notified of the potential loss of the student’s departmental funding.

Format

Each seminar will be allotted a maximum of 30 min, comprising 20 min for the presentation and about 10 min for questions and discussion.

Presentations are to be similar in style and content to those commonly given at scientific meetings; that is, they ought to include the background, rationale, methods, results, discussion, conclusions and significance.

Slides are to look professional and to be understandable from the back of the room. Data are to be accompanied by appropriate statistics. Avoid unnecessary detail, acronyms and anything that presupposes an expert knowledge on the part of the listener. In other words, the story ought to intelligible to everyone present, especially those not working in the field.

It is recommended that seminars be prepared with care and rehearsed to ensure that they are clear and properly timed. Each speaker is to prepare a biography and an abstract suitable for posting on Quercus. The total length must not exceed one page (1-inch margins, 12-point font), assigning 25–30% of the text to the biography and the balance to the abstract. This document is to be submitted to the Chair of the presentation (see below) and the Co-ordinator three days in advance of the session.

If a presentation is deemed unacceptable by the Coordinator, the student must present a second talk during the same academic year.

Evaluation

All students will evaluate each presentation. Submission of an evaluation will indicate attendance at the session. The evaluations will be given to the speakers after removal of the names of the evaluators. The scores will be used in the selection of the member of the group who is to speak at GRIP.

Chairs

Students will be selected to chair each session, one for each speaker. The duties of the Chairs are as follows:

  1. Obtain biographies and abstracts from the speakers at least three days prior to the presentations.
  2. Arrive 15 min before the presentation to ensure that everything is in order: for example, that the chairs are facing the screen, that the computer works and that there is a functional laser pointer.
  3. Introduce the speaker, giving a brief biography.
  4. Ensure that the speaker keeps within the 20-min limit.
  5. Encourage and moderate the discussion. The chair is expected to have questions ready for the speaker in the event that nothing is forthcoming from the audience.
  6. Remind the students to complete the Evaluation Form for each speaker, collect the forms and return them to the Co-ordinator at the end of each seminar session.