'By students, for students' seminar day

Links:

ucl.ac.uk/eastman/" target="_self">UCL Eastman Dental Institute

National Institute for Medical Research

PhD students from the UCL Eastman Dental Institute and the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) organised a 'by students, for students' seminar day to practise their presentational skills.

The third annual NIMR/UCL Seminar Day gave students from UCL Biomedical Sciences and UCL Life Sciences the opportunity to present their work in front of a large audience without the pressure of performing in front of professors and post-doctoral researchers.

Sixteen students gave 15-minute talks to an audience of more than 80 of their peers on subjects ranging from neurology to immunology, statistics and bacteriology. Others produced posters about their research for display at the event, which took place on 15 May in Mill Hill.

Zoie Aiken, a PhD student at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute, co-organised the event with Kaska Koltowska and Vicky Spivey, both PhD students from the NIMR.

Ms Aiken said: "The seminar day gave people an opportunity to speak to a large audience without the usual pressure. All the students who gave presentations are at an early stage in their careers, and many have not spoken in public before.

"It can be quite intimidating when senior members of staff are listening, but this was an informal environment in which students could practise their skills. It also gave the audience a chance to ask questions about unfamiliar subjects without fear of sounding silly."

Image: right, 16 PhD students who gave presentations about their work.

UCL context

The UCL Eastman Dental Institute is the largest postgraduate dental academic centre in Europe. It trains some 13,000 dentists and dental care professionals, was the first dental school to receive the Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.