Our mission is to give students a chance to present their dissertation research to the NIH Community. This will serve as an opportunity to celebrate with colleagues who contributed to this achievement and to introduce the student and his/her work to other scientists with similar research interests.

Aims:

   · Promote NIH graduate students

   · Allow students to present the dissertation research in a formal presentation to the NIH community

   · Network with possible future collaborators

   · Allow NIH faculty to learn more about exciting graduate work on campus

Format:

   · Tuesdays at 9am or Thursdays at 3pm

   · Seminar:

        o Introduced by mentor

        o 30 – 45 minute formal presentation by student

        o 15 minutes questions

        o No more than 1 hour total

Audience/Advertisement:

1. Ideally the audience will be a mix of student’s friends as well as faculty and post-docs that work in a related field

2. Advertise to scientific interest groups associated with student’s work

3. Student's mentor should send invitations to relevant faculty

4. The student should send individual invitations to special guests (PIs, post-docs, etc you have interacted with throughout your years as a grad student at NIH)

5. The information for the thesis talk will be put on the yellow sheet and sent to the OITE listservs

6. Would like 25-100 people at each talk.

10 easy steps to planning your own NIH dissertation seminar:

1. Discuss with your advisor a date, preferably near your actual defense date. For consistency of the thesis talks please pick either of the following times: Tuesdays at 9am or Thursdays at 3pm. (1-2 months before finishing)

2. Fill out this survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OTjsahcVGG1KbZWBc2qovA_3d_3d) and email Betsey Wagener from the GPP office (wadeel@mail.nih.gov) with your preferred date and title of your thesis. She will reserve a room for you and put your information on the NIH Yellow Sheet. (1-2 months before finishing, after setting a date with advisor)

3. Obtain thesis flyer template (Thesis Flyer Template) & fill in corresponding information. Create invitation emails containing the following: name, abstract, title, date, room, time and personal message (for guidance, see Invitation Email Template). (1 month prior)

4. Work on Seminar. Prepare a talk that fits into these guidelines (1 month prior):

     · 30-45 minute talk with 10-15 minutes for questions (1 hour max total time)

     · General audience (have enough background)

     · Inform mentor he/she will be highly encouraged to introduce you to the audience

5. Send flyer, title and abstract to your mentor and to the GPP (Betsey Wagener: wadeel@mail.nih.gov). (2 weeks prior)

6. Advertise (1-2 weeks prior)

     · Ask your mentor to advertise to his/her colleagues.

     · Ask the GPP to advertise to Training Directors, OITE post-docs and OITE grad student list servs.

     · Send personal email/invite in person PIs, post-docs and graduate students you would really like to attend your seminar.

     · Send customized flyer and invitation email to any of the following groups to advertise:

        · Your university list serv.

        · Any interest groups you feel are relevant to your research or in which you are an active participant.

        · NIH-GSX yahoo group

7. Obtain NIH Biosketch template (Biosketch Template) (1 week prior).

8. Fill in the NIH Biosketch form and give it to your mentor so he/she may use the information to introduce you (1 week in advance). Note: The NIH Biosketch is used in extramural grant applications. Preparing this will be helpful for your future career as a scientist.

9. Send reminder emails to everyone with whom you advertised. (1 day before)

10. Show up 30 minutes before your scheduled time. Give talk. Enjoy. Congrats!!! (the Big Day)