Last modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
IU's 11th Annual Women In Science registration set
Conference includes research poster contest, upcoming workshop
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 11, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Undergraduate and graduate women studying in mathematics, technology, natural sciences or social sciences at Indiana University have until Feb. 20 (Friday) to register to participate in the 11th Annual Women in Science Research Conference's research poster presentations.
Deadline to register to present at the IU Office of Women's Affairs-sponosored 11th annual Women in Science Research Conference is Feb. 20.
Brooke Treadwell, coordinator of the Women in Science Program (WISP) in the IU Office for Women's Affairs, said the registration deadline and a research poster workshop three days later are lead-ins to the annual event set this year for 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, at the Indiana Memorial Union solarium.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for undergraduate and graduate women to enhance their future educational and employment opportunities," Treadwell said. "Undergraduates may not realize it, but if they have written a final paper for a class in which they cited scholarly research, it is very likely they could turn that paper into a poster presentation."
Research posters can be based on findings of a research paper from a class or from work in a laboratory, conclusions from a literature review, results from a previous research project, a draft of a dissertation proposal, or from research on a project being updated or that is still forthcoming. Posters do not have to be unique to the conference and may have been presented at earlier conferences or meetings.
Prizes of $100 for first place and $75 for second place will be awarded to both graduate and undergraduate categories in each of three areas of research: Natural sciences, social sciences and math and technology.
For Ph.D. candidates Dayna Fischtein and Michelle Kovarik, both past participants in the poster presentations, the event had benefits in several areas. It helped prepare them for more formal future presentations, it offered opportunities to see what other women at IU were working on, and it fostered opportunities for future interdisciplinary relationships.
"I imagine that if I had this kind of opportunity as an undergraduate student I would have felt more at ease presenting at academic conferences later in my career," said Fischstein, a doctoral candidate in applied health science. "I really enjoyed talking about my work with students, faculty and staff who were both from within and outside of my substantive area of research."
Kovarik, a doctoral candidate in chemistry, agreed that the event in the past had both academic and social benefits.
"I think it's a great way to see what is going on around campus and to meet women from other departments, especially since as graduate students we are often "cloistered" in our own departments," she said. "It's also a great environment to practice presentation skills since there's much less pressure than at most specialized conferences."
Judging will take place in separate sessions from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. and again from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 6, and participating students should be present and at their poster displays during the respective judging session for their poster.
Students interested in participating in the research poster presentations, or those who don't plan on participating but who seek insights into the research poster creation process, can contact wisp@indiana.edu to reserve a place at the 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m., Feb. 23 (Monday), "How to Make a Research Poster" workshop sponsored by WISP. The workshop will be held in the first floor lounge of Memorial Hall East, next to room 125, and will include a review of winning posters from previous WISP conferences and provide an opportunity for questions to be posed to experienced research poster designers. Attendees are asked to bring abstracts, data, charts and other materials relevant to their research as participants will have the opportunity to develop an initial poster design.
For more information about the conference contact Treadwell at 812-855-3849, or wisp@indiana.edu, or Steve Chaplin, University Communications, at 812-856-1896, or stjchap@indiana.edu.
