CHEM810 Organic Colloquium Thursdays 12-1, 1003 Malott
Students give the following presentations to the Organic group:
Short Talk :
Long Talk:
Pre-Dissertation Talk:
3rd semester
4th semester
At least 6 months prior to defending your dissertation
Guidelines for Organic Chemistry Colloquium 810
Short Talk: (ca. 20 minutes)
The short talk may be presented on a research subject that is related to your research project.
Consult your research advisor for advice. The presentation must be done entirely on the chalk
board. See below for advice on giving an effective oral presentation.
Long Talk: (ca. 40-45 minutes)
For this presentation, you will need to choose a faculty mentor other than your research advisor.
Together you will choose a topic of current interest that will form the basis for your PowerPoint
presentation and a written mini-review. See below for more details.
Pre-dissertation Talk: (ca. 40 minutes, no later than your 5th year)
This presentation should be prepared using PowerPoint (or analogous program) and should focus
on the student’s research accomplishments. The presentation must be giving 6 months prior to
the anticipated defense of your dissertation. To reserve a date for your talk, please contact Prof.
Tunge (tunge@ku.edu).
I. Selection of Topics for your Long Talk
At least four weeks prior to the date you have been assigned to present your seminar, choose a
topic for your talk. Examples of potential topics are shown on the last page of this document,
however you should feel free to suggest your own topic. Once you have chosen a topic, a faculty
member will be assigned to assist you in assembling a mini-review on the topic and preparing for
your colloquium.
The following suggestions may be helpful in selecting your topics. The topic should:
1) Cover a relatively narrow area in reasonable depth.
2) Include some material which is controversial and therefore provocative of discussion.
3) Not have been covered in any recent colloquium and should focus on material that has been
published subsequent to the most recent review.
4) Not be directly related to the speaker's research problem.
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II. Preparation of mini-reviews
The text of the mini-review should fulfill the following requirements:
1) The mini-review should be a well-referenced, clear and concise report of the literature in the
area. The mini-review should be prepared using the JOC Note template which is available at :
http://pubs.acs.org/paragonplus/submission/joceah/joceah_templates.html. The mini-review is
limited to 6 pages (with references) and it should highlight material that you will cover in more
depth in your talk.
2) A printed copy of the final draft of your mini-review should be in the hands of the faculty
member assigned to check it 1 week prior to the date it is presented.
3) The mini-review should be distributed two days prior to the presentation. Additional copies
should be available at the time of presentation.
4) Valuable aids to good organic chemical writing can be found in the Fiesers' “Style Guide for
Chemists” (Reinhold, 1960) and the Gensler's "Writing Guide for Chemists" (McGraw-Hill,
1961). Many common pitfalls, such as dangling constructions and misuse of verb forms, are dealt
with in these manuals. Also consult the most recent "Handbook for Authors" (published by the
ACS) for additional information (particularly the correct journal abbreviations).
III. Presentation of Colloquia
These suggestions are made to help speakers present talks that are effective and enjoyable to
listen to.
1) The talk should not be read from your mini-review or notes nor recited from memory. A good
talk written out makes a poor mini-review and vice versa. Whereas the mini-review should be a
critical, tightly-written summary of material, the talk should contain as much background material
as necessary to bring the audience to the level required by the subject and then should develop the
subject with primary emphasis on important and fundamental aspects. Background material in the
mini-review should be handled with a few well chosen references. Complex details cited in the
mini-review for readers who might wish to study the subject more carefully may be wholly
unsuited for oral presentation in the limited time available. A helpful guide for speakers in this
respect is to avoid putting long tabulations of data on the board.
2) The interpretation of data presented should be that of the speaker, which may or may not be the
same as that of the experimenter. If the speaker wishes to present views alternative to his or her
own for sake of discussion, the reasons for them should be made clear. It should be self-evident
that the speaker can neither form nor defend valid opinions without being thoroughly familiar
with the data. It is not possible to prepare adequately for a seminar without studying the
experimental sections of the paper to be discussed. “The author didn't say anything about that"
is not an acceptable response to a question from the audience, because the listeners are
interested in learning the facts and the speaker's opinions on the facts and not what the "author
said."
3) With respect to the short “chalk talk”: The effectiveness of oral delivery is inversely
dependent upon the frequency with which the speaker must refer to notes or cards. Most of us
cannot remember numerical data, and an outline of topics to be covered helps one to avoid
leaving out something important. However, it makes a very poor impression if the speaker cannot
remember the structural formulas of compounds under discussion or if he or she must look at
notes to recall the interpretation of some particular fact or idea. On the other hand, a thoroughly
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memorized colloquium is also quite uninspiring. It is best to have the facts and ideas clearly in
mind before the talk but to find the exact words during the talk.
4) Good contact with the audience is maintained by good delivery and by facing them as much as
possible. Eye contact "brings the audience to you" and keeps them with you. Volume level should
be strong and clear, so that everyone can hear easily. Excellent pointers on speaking as a chemist
are given in Ch. 12 of the Fiesers' "Style Guide."
5) With respect to the short “chalk talk”: The chalkboard is to be used as the primary medium
for presentation of your talk. Careful planning of how the board space is to be used contributes
greatly to the success of a talk. The entire board space is to be used, starting from left to right,
with erasing kept to a minimum. Occasionally, the use of colored chalk will be found to be
helpful, but the speaker should practice with it beforehand. Only the most common substances
should ever be referred to by names without writing the structures on the board.
6) With respect to the short “chalk talk”: With instructor permission, overheads can be used for
presenting critical tables of data or unusually complex structures.
1) Weeks, D. P. “Successful Student Seminars” J. Chem. Ed. 1967, 44, 290-293
2) Huddle, P. A. “How to Present a Paper or Poster” J. Chem. Ed. 2000, 77, 1152-1153.
Colloquium Calendar (Fall 2008):
Grading: The talks will not be graded. That said, it is common practice to comment on the
quality of your presentations within letters of recommendation that faculty write for you.
Therefore it is in your best interest to make a favorable impression on the faculty by giving the
highest quality presentation that you are capable of delivering.
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Organic Seminar Fall 2014
Date
Speaker
Sept. 4th
Sept. 11th
Sept. 18th
Sept. 25th
Andrew Riley
Oct. 2nd
Oct. 9th
Jay Jha and Martin Leon
Oct. 16th
Jonathon Matheny
Oct. 23rd
Xinyun Liu and Andie Cassity
Oct. 30th
Andrew Edwards and Arghya Ganguly
Nov. 6th
Joanna Loh
Nov. 13th
Nov. 20th
Dec. 4th
Dec. 11th
Professor Neil Garg (UCLA)
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