For Presenters
The Department of Plant and Soil Science invites graduate and undergraduate students to present their work at the PSS Student Research Symposium. This symposium is designed to provide an annual opportunity for students at all stages of their programs to present their research and receive feedback from peers. Graduate and undergraduate PSS students or collaborators who are conducting research and are planning to present their work at major conferences are especially encouraged to submit an abstract.
Graduate students are invited to submit abstracts for either oral or poster presentations.
Undergraduate students are invited to submit abstracts for poster presentations.
Presenters will be evaluated anonymously by PSS faculty, staff, and external judges, with the opportunity for students to receive feedback on presentations. Cash prizes will be awarded to top student presenters.
General Recommendations
- Practice with your fellow students and lab group before the symposium. Staying within the time limit is a part of the judging criteria.
- Dress appropriately. Business professional dress or similar is preferred.
- When answering questions, remember to re-state or summarize the question briefly so that the rest of the audience hears and understands the question.
Oral Presentation Format & Requirements
- Oral presentation with slide show as visual aid (PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.)
- Presentations should be around 10-12 minutes, leaving at least 3 minutes for questions and transitions (total 15-minute timeslot).
- Bring a digital copy of your PowerPoint on a USB storage device with you on the day of the symposium, or upload to a cloud service, for easy access in case of technical issues.
- There will be opportunities to upload corrected or edited slides during breaks between sessions on the day of the symposium. You must have your presentation uploaded prior to the session in which you are presenting.
- If possible, email a digital file copy of your presentation to Dr. Slaughter prior to the symposium in case a backup file is needed.
Poster Presentation Format & Requirements
- Physical posters will be displayed collectively in the meeting room, and should be hung before or during the morning break prior to the symposium (9:30 to 10:00 am).
- Students will be expected to stand beside their posters during the scheduled Q&A sessions. Please prepare a 3-5 minute verbal walkthrough presentation of your poster for attendees and judges.
- Posters sizes should be oriented horizontally and no larger than 36" high x 48" wide for display.
- Clips or pins for hanging posters will be provided as needed.
- If possible, email a digital file copy of your poster (PDF) to Dr. Slaughter prior to the symposium in case a backup file is needed.
- Students are responsible for printing their own posters for the symposium.
- Printing Procedure: Email Robby Carlson (robby.carlson@ttu.edu) with an attached/linked PDF to print your poster in the PSS computer lab prior to the symposium. He will confirm when completed and leave the prints in the BPS main office for pickup.
- Printing Warning: Please be aware, Robby is unavailable to print on Wednesdays. If you wait too long, you may need to use printing resources outside of the department. Keep in mind how many other students will also be printing their posters as the symposium date approaches and plan to print as early as possible.
Submissions
To sign up for the symposium, please email the following information to lindsey.slaughter@ttu.edu no later than Friday, March 29th:
- Presenter name, degree level (B.S., M.S., or Ph.D.), and PSS research area (soil science, horticulture, etc.)
- Preferred presentation format (graduate students may choose between oral and poster)
- Presentation title (sentence-case)
All students are required to copy their advisor(s) on the email when submitting their presentation information.
Department of Plant and Soil Science
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Address
Texas Tech University, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Box 42122, Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
806.742.2838 -
Email
psstechsupport@ttu.edu