Welcome to the 2012 SOARS Friday Workshop
The general format of the Friday morning SOARS workshop will be:
8:30-9 am: Ethics training
9-11 am: Scientific Communications Workshop
11.15 – 12 noon: (sometimes) Interesting seminars
All events are in Room 1003, FL2.
SOARS Scientific Communications Workshop (SCW)
The SCW this year is designed to be a very hands-on workshop with lots of discussion and a
relaxed format. It will not be lecture heavy, so we do encourage you to do some background
reading ahead of the workshop to ensure you get the most out of it. Please bring your laptops, lab
notes and any papers etc you need for writing!
Our usual format will be: time for discussion of previous week’s work with your peer review
group; discussion of a new subject; and then working on a communications piece (a written
section, a talk or your poster).
During the week following each SCW you should:
a) Complete your communications piece as listed under “prepare”. If it’s a written piece, send it
to your writing mentor and peer review team for comment (by 5 pm Wednesday). If it’s an oral
piece, please look it over/practice with your writing mentor before Friday’s workshop.
b) If appropriate, read the pieces sent by your peer review group and prepare useful feedback for
discussion at the session on Friday.
c) Look through the suggested ‘background reading’ in preparation for the following week.
Note: If you’d like another reading of your writing following incorporation of your mentor and
peer reviewer comments, you are welcome to send things to Bec, rbatch@ucar.edu.
SCW Syllabus
Introduction week!
May 25
This first week is not a full workshop, but a chance to provide you with a few pieces of important
information.
9-9:30 am: Sexual harassment awareness training
9:30-10 am: Introduction to the SCW – how the workshop format will work, meeting your peer
review groups and a discussion of what we’d like to achieve in the coming weeks.
10-11 am: Short introductions to Communicating with the Public (bucket list category!):
Blogging, media and outreach
Session one: Overview
June 1
Discussion:
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Going about your research and keeping good records
Working with your collaborators; giving and receiving feedback
Presenting it: the poster, the paper and the presentation
Workshop: Defining a research question, crafting a title, and the ‘elevator speech’
Prepare: Prepare a one minute elevator speech summary of your research suitable for a general
audience (to be presented at the next SCW), and craft a good title for your research.
Compulsory Readings for next workshop: Gather and read 3-4 articles relevant to your research
topic.
Background material: TBD
Session two: Introductions
June 8
Peer review: Introduce your research: present your one minute elevator speech to the rest of the
workshop. Give feedback within your peer review group.
Discussion: Introductions: why do we care, and where does my work fit within the current
knowledge? We’ll also discuss literature reviewing, reading papers, and citations.
Workshop: Writing the introduction
Prepare: Complete your introduction. Include an AMS formatted references list with correct
citations in the text. Send it to your writing mentor and peer review group by Wednesday June
13.
Background Readings:
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The Structure of a Scientific Paper: Chapter 4, Eloquent Science (particularly
sections 4.6 and 4.7)
Citations and References: Chapter 12, Eloquent Science
AMS reference formatting:
http://www.ametsoc.org/pubs/journals/author_reference_guide.pdf
Session three: Methods and Oral Presentations
June 15
Peer review: Within your peer review group, discuss the introductions that you wrote.
Discussion: We’ll talk about two things this week:
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Writing methods sections and
Giving oral presentations.
Workshop: Writing the methods section.
Prepare: Complete your methods section. Send it to your writing mentor and peer review group
by Wednesday June 20.
Background readings:
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The Structure of a Scientific Paper: Chapter 4, Eloquent Science (particularly section 4.8)
Constructing Effective Oral Presentations: Chapter 25, Eloquent Science
Delivering Compelling Oral Presentations: Chapter 26, Eloquent Science
Session four: Results and Abstracts
June 22
Peer review: Within your peer review group, discuss the methods that you wrote.
Discussion:
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Results: figures, captions, tables, charts. We’ll discuss the use of these in papers, posters
and presentations, and talk about need for one figure for the EWSS abstract
Abstracts: we’ll discuss abstract layout, the differences between conference and paper
abstracts and the different abstracts you’ll be writing over the next few weeks
Workshop: Working on your talk for the practice presentation next week.
Prepare: Complete the preparation of a 7-10 minute practice presentation, focusing on your
introduction and method. Include some results if you have them. Discuss your presentation with
your writing mentor.
Background readings:
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Figures, Tables and Equations: Chapter 11, Eloquent Science
The Structure of a Scientific Paper: Chapter 4, Eloquent Science (particularly
sections 4.4 and 4.9)
The Abstract and Extended Abstract: Chapter 23, Eloquent Science
Session 5: Practice Talks
June 29
Workshop: No discussion this week – instead we do our first presentation!
Peer review: Review of practice talks – done during talks, particular attention to peer review
group
Prepare: A conference abstract for your choice of conference (SACNAS, AGU or AMS). If you
are applying for SACNAS, you’ll also need to write a statement of purpose for your travel grant
application (see link below). Send your abstracts (and statement of purpose, if appropriate) to
your writing mentor and peer review group for feedback before July 4.
Background reading:
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2012 SACNAS National Conference:
https://sacnas.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=42
SACNAS abstract submission information:
http://sacnas.org/events/national-conf/student-postdoc-research-presentations
SACNAS travel scholarship instructions:
http://sacnas.org/events/national-conf/travel-scholarships/instructions
AGU 2012 Fall Meeting: http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2012/
AGU Abstract submission information:
http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2012/scientific-program/abstract-submission-policies/
AMS Annual Meeting, Student Conference:
http://annual.ametsoc.org/2013/index.cfm/programs-and-events/conferences-andsymposia/12th-annual-ams-student-conference-expanding-weather-and-climatepredictiontaking-geosciences-to-the-next-level/
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AMS Guidelines for presenters: http://www.ametsoc.org/meet/speakersupport.pdf
Session 6: 4th of July
July 6
Due to the holiday this week, there will not be a formal workshop. You do still need to do some
work though!
Peer review: Peer review of the conference abstracts should be done by email this week (or a
phone call/individual meeting). Your feedback must be to the author by July 6.
Discussion: None
Prepare: A figure suitable for inclusion in EWSS (jpg). Send to your writing mentor and peer
review group by July 11. Submit your SACNAS abstracts (see below).
Background readings:
TBD
If you’d like a final reading of your application after incorporating your feedback and before
submission please send them to Bec, rbatch@ucar.edu, at least 2 days prior to submission!
DEADLINE: July 11, SACNAS applications close (try to submit by July 10 in case of
technical problems!)
DEADLINE: August 8, AGU abstract submissions close (try to submit by August 7 in case of
technical problems!)
DEADLINE: October 12, AMS Student Conference abstract submissions close (try to
submit by October 11 in case of technical problems!)
Session 7: Results and Discussion, Conclusions
July 13
Peer review: Within your peer review group, discuss your figures for EWSS (and any additional
figures you might like to bring along)
Discussion:
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Writing your Results and Discussion section
Conclusions
Workshop: Writing your results, discussion, and conclusions as you can; working on figures as
appropriate; working on you EWSS abstract
Prepare: Complete your EWSS abstract to go with your figure. Send the abstract to your writing
mentor and peer review group by Wednesday, 18 July.
Background readings:
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The Structure of a Scientific Paper: Chapter 4, Eloquent Science (particularly sections 4.9
- 4.11)
Session 8: Preparing your presentations
20 July
Peer review: In your peer-review group, discuss your EWSS abstract (and figure).
Discussion:
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Posters – formatting, text/figures, acknowledgements
Oral presentations – using power point effectively
Submitting your paper to open sky
Workshop: Working on your poster or talk
Prepare: Complete your results and discussions sections, and write your conclusions. Send to
your writing mentor and peer review group by Wednesday, July 25.
Background readings:
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Potent Poster Presentations: Chapter 27, Eloquent Science
OpenSky: http://opensky.library.ucar.edu/
DEADLINE: EWSS Abstract and figure due to Bec, rbatch@ucar.edu by July 23 at 5 pm
Session 9: Pulling it all together
27 July
Peer review: In your peer review groups, discuss your results and discussion sections, and your
conclusions
Discussion: No formal discussion this week. Instead we’ll break into small groups to do a
practice talk, show your poster or have them read over your paper (no formal lecture)
Workshop: Working on talk, poster or paper with opportunities for feedback/help
SOARS Colloquium
30 July
DEADLINE: Poster required for printing
1 August, 8 am
Poster Session
2 August, 2 pm
DEADLINE: Paper due
3 August, 5 pm