Monroe Martin Talks
The Monroe Martin Talks are named after Professor Monroe H. Martin who served as Chair of the Department of Mathematics, and as founding director of the Institute for Fluid Dynamics and Applied Mathematics in 1949, now known as the Institute for Physical Science and Technology. Award money for the talk winners has been generously provided through the Monroe Martin fund of the Institute of Physical Science and Technology.
Organization
- Each contestant gives a 20 minute talk on research in which they are participating. The talk should be designed for an audience of first year graduate students or advanced undergrads. This is not intended to be a highly technical talk.
- Three winners are selected by a panel of graduate student judges.
- The winners will participate in the Spotlight on Graduate Student Conference in the spring as keynote speakers and receive a cash prize.
Rules
- The contest is open to graduate students currently in the MATH, AMSC, and STAT programs. The research you present must be work that you have participated in.
- Preliminary talks will be no more than 20 minutes followed by a short question and answer session. Each participant will be judged on several criteria (see below).
- The talks should be targeted to a low-level mathematical audience: first year graduate student or advanced undergrad.
Selection Criteria
- Introduction and Motivation of the problem
- Clarity of presentation
- Organization
- Verbal
- Use of visual aids
- Appropriateness of level
Click here for a copy of the judging form.
Deadlines
Presentation Abstracts and scheduling requirements are due by November 10th, 2009. Please send them to spotlight@math.umd.edu as soon as possible. Presentations will be scheduled the week of November 16–20, 2009.
General Comments from the Spotlight Judges
Ingredients in a successful talk
- An outline of the talk
- Slides which are not too wordy and use color or other visual cues
- Supplementing material on slides with verbal explanations rather than reading word-for-word whats on the screen
- Starting the talk with clear motivation(s) for the problem
- Using examples/analogies in place of more technical definitions/notation
- A conclusion slide that summarizes whats been discussed and mentions future directions
- Practical aspects of giving a talk: practice, maintain eye contact, avoid typos, avoid checking watch frequently, don't draw attention to what you're NOT going to talk about or how unprepared you feel, don't say "uh" a lot, don't close eyes while speaking, don't look at floor, keep reminding us of what your ultimate goal is, pay attention to the questions you get asked - they can clue you in to something that was not clear during your talk.
