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You are here: Division of Linguistics and Psychology » Postgraduate Research Festival »Guidelines

Guidelines

The following resources may help you plan and prepare your presentation.

• A PowerPoint file (246Kb) incorporating a template and useful guidelines on how to structure your presentation. (Note: once you have clicked the link, choose the Save option and then change the filename to suit).
• Examples of abstracts from previous Research Festivals.
• Feedback from your supervisor(s).

Preparation of Abstracts

All postgraduate students presenting at the Festival (either in person or e-presentation form) are required to submit an abstract for inclusion in the conference program. The abstract is important because it is your opportunity, together with the title, to engage the attention of the reader so that they decide to attend the presentation. Try to avoid uncommon terms, abbreviations and clichéd phrases (e.g., more research needs to be done). If you are at the beginning of your research project, use the same format to tell the reader what you plan to do, and the implications of the potential research findings. Abstracts must represent your original, unpublished research and be no more than 750 characters (including spaces) in length. You may present an overview of your research, or focus on one particular aspect.

Abstracts should include the following content:

• Keywords: You are required to supply a minimum of 2 keywords (maximum of 6) to classify your presentation. These words will help people to select which presentations they will attend. They could identify the field of research, the key constructs, or the methodology.
• Background to the research (i.e. rationale related to the research question and related literature)
• Methods used (or proposed)
• Results and implications if available (even if they are interim)

Scope of Presentation

It is acknowledged that students are at different stages in their research. The Research Festival caters for all students, those just starting out through to those who may be close to completion. The content of your presentation will therefore depend on where you are up to in your degree. Guidance in planning the scope of your presentation is set out below.

First year: In the early stages of your research you might like to present the theory or framework that will form the basis of your research, what you have read so far, where you think you are headed in your research, your proposed methodology, etc. The Festival is an ideal forum for gaining constructive feedback on any design issues you may have early in your research.

Second year: In 2nd year you may be able to include a more specific research question, a more detailed literature review, etc. You might like to talk about particular challenges you have encountered and you may even have some pilot data to discuss. Interaction with your audience can help with strategies for data analysis and help to make sense of early findings.

Third year: By 3^rd year, you’ll have much more to say about your research findings and how they integrate with theory. You could discuss limitations and future directions and also talk about any practical implications your findings may have.

Additional Tips for E-Presentations

Points for consideration:

• To ensure that your presentation is transmitted smoothly, it may be a good idea to limit the number of your slides to no more than 10-12
• Use PowerPoint’s notes facility to communicate further details about each slide. This can be a quite effective means of “filling in the gaps” of bulleted slides
• Include your contact details (e-mail address) so that you can receive feedback and questions on your presentation

Presentations must be e-mailed to Festival@psy.mq.edu.au no later than the date specified in the key dates section of the Festival home page.

Presenting your Presentation

Internal (on-campus) students are required to give a 15-minute oral presentation followed by a 5 minute question time.

Time constraints are tight so it is important that students bring their presentation on a memory stick or CD-ROM and upload their file to the computer in their assigned room either the day before the Festival or during a break prior to their session.

Powerpoint format: All Powerpoint presentations should be submitted in Microsoft Office 97 - 2003 format. For those users who are running later versions, such as 2007 or 2008, the presentation should be saved as Microsoft Office 97 - 2003 format, and tested by the presenter for functionality, before submission.

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• Updated August 8, 2008 3:34 PM by L&P Webmaster
• Authorised by Assoc. Professor Julie Fitness