> Seminar Requirements

Public Presentation:

Each student must give an oral presentation outside the research group once per calendar year. Acceptable venues to fulfill this requirement include Proposal, and Final Thesis seminars, oral research papers at professional meetings, the Plant Pathology “Friday at Four” discussion, PP 875 Special Topics seminar or oral presentations in other departmental seminar series. A brief report giving the title, date, and venue for the presentation must be submitted to the graduate coordinator no later than the end of each academic year (August 31st).

PP923 – Plant Pathology Seminar:

Students are expected to enroll for one credit of Plant Pathology Seminar, PP923 during the semester they will be presenting a seminar. Students are expected to attend the departmental seminar on a regular basis. Two formal seminars are required:

Proposal Seminar:

This seminar is intended to help Ph.D. students prepare their research proposal. It provides an opportunity for constructive input from the research community. The proposal seminar should be given early in the student’s career and no later than early in the third year. Substantial results need not be obtained by the time the proposal seminar is given. Redefinition of objectives and methodology is expected as the research project progresses and as new information becomes available in the field. Members of the research committee should be invited by the student to attend this seminar and a brief meeting will be held afterwards to provide feedback to the student about the presentation.

The research proposal seminar should provide the audience with an understanding of:

• the goals of the thesis research (questions asked and hypotheses tested);
• the scientific foundation upon which the goals are based;
• specific objectives to address the established goals of the research results to date;
• methods that will be used to achieve those objectives;
• potential pitfalls of the approach;

Final Research Seminar:

The research seminar should be presented on the day of the final exam or in the preceding six months. Members of the research committee should attend this seminar.

The seminar should:

• provide the audience with an appreciation of the context of the research;
• provide a clear statement of the goals and objectives that were addressed;
• provide a brief but clear explanation of the methods and experimental approach;
• present the data obtained and the method of analysis;
• present interpretations and conclusions based on the data.

PP 875 Special Topics Seminar:

All Plant Pathology doctoral students are required to take at least two 1-credit Special Topics seminar classes, to be offered at least once a year under PP 875, Special Topics. Masters students would be required to take 1 such seminar. Similar Special Topics or Journal Club classes offered by other departments could be substituted for one of the doctoral seminars. (adopted by faculty 4/1/03)

These 1-credit seminar courses will be led by a faculty member, who will choose an advanced and/or current topic of special interest. Students and the teacher meet weekly to discuss in depth a series of papers, a book, or other relevant materials related to the topic of interest. Students will take turns leading these weekly discussions.

The Special Topics seminar will be required for all students entering the program after Fall 2003. Continuing students can opt to follow either the existing or the new policy, but will need to declare which option they are selecting. (adopted by faculty 4/1/03)

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