Making the Case for Your Research in Your Abstract, Introduction and Literature Review

This workshop will teach you 4 steps that make the case for why your research is an essential contribution to the field. These 4 “moves” turn your research into a compelling narrative and highlight the importance and innovation of your work, especially when communicating to a non-specialist audience. These well-established moves can help you structure the abstract, introduction and literature review of journal articles and papers, in both the sciences and humanities. They can also be applied in various other contexts, including conference presentations, application materials, and grant proposals. Pizza will be provided. Visit cmu.edu/gcc to sign up.

The Libraries underwrites CMU authors’ lifetime membership in PeerJ to support open access publication in biological, medical—and now, computer—science.

With every figure, slide, and talk, we are building a scientific case – perhaps for the existence of a particle, for the necessity of a policy, or simply for the validity of a control. Yet many of our common practices in presenting information actually obscure the case we’re making. In this workshop (designed for the AAAS 2015 conference), we will discuss fundamental principles for structuring information that apply at all scales, from the lone data figure to the entire talk. Attendees will learn how to apply principles of attention and visual design to turn presentations into what Edward Tufte calls “clear thinking made visible.”

This is the second in a three-part series on preparing strong presentations for audiences outside your field.

Register here.

CMU’s Public Communication for Researchers is a professional development program to teach communication skills to graduate students in fields of research. The goal of PCR is to help participants learn and practice communicating science to people of any background. “We just want to feel comfortable talking about our work to the media, the voting public, and our grandmothers.”

March 24, 2015
Scaife Hall 214 (tentative)
Tony Eng (MIT)

This is the third in PCR’s 3-part series on preparing strong presentations for audiences outside your field.

Register for either or both of the workshops here.

CMU’s Public Communication for Researchers is a professional development program to teach communication skills to graduate students in fields of research. The goal of PCR is to help participants learn and practice communicating science to people of any background. “We just want to feel comfortable talking about our work to the media, the voting public, and our grandmothers.”

Watch our video on creating a successful 3MT presentation (also available on our Handouts and Resources page, under “Online Video Series”). Make a tutoring appointment to get communication tips and help creating your slide, or to practice delivering your presentation in our private conference room.

Learn all about 3MT. Qualifying rounds for 3MT@CMU will be scheduled during February and March in Posner Center. The final championship round is set for April 7, 2015, in Rashid Auditorium. All rounds are open for anyone to attend.