This page contains resources presented through LUROP-sponsored information sessions and workshops.  During the spring of 2013, LUROP will sponsor further workshops on topics such as applying for a LUROP fellowship, constructing an effective research poster presentation, and writing a compelling oral presentation.

Writing an Effective Abstract: A Workshop

It is important to be able to describe your research briefly, accurately, and compellingly for various audiences, whether you are applying for a conference, fellowship, or graduate school, preparing for an interview, or simply thinking about the significance of your work.  One of the best ways to do so is by writing a research abstract, which is required for many types of applications.  Among the resources used in this workshop were a list of strategies for writing an abstract, an example of one conference's abstract guidelines, two sample abstracts, and an abstract rubric for evaluating, and helping you write, abstracts.

Creating an Effective Research Poster Presentation

One way to present your research is through a poster presentation.  More common among the hard sciences, poster presentations for conferences are often delivered in large rooms with many other posters, so it is important that your poster offers an attractive, clear, and engaging starting point for you to engage an audience in a discussion about your research.  This workshop offers a great deal of advice for what content to put into a poster and how to lay it out (much of it geared toward the Loyola undergraduate research symposium), but it is equally important to focus your preparation on what you will say and how you will say it.  The key is to design a poster that offers you eye-catching starting points, from which you should aim to engage the audience in a discussion.   View sample research posters here.  You can also check out an evaluation rubric for research poster presentations.

Creating an Effective Oral Presentation

Many research projects are best presented in an oral presentation, which has traditionally been more common in the humanities and some social sciences, but which could be used by anyone.  Oral presentations at research conferences are generally delivered in classrooms, where presenters are given a short time to present, and grouped with two or three other presenters on similar topics.  Sometimes a moderator or commentator who has read a draft of the presentations ahead of time delivered comments and questions based on all the presentations afterward.  This format offers a chance for Q&A with the audience and discussion about overlap between the projects.  Oral presentations are often delivered with access to A/V equipment, and presenters sometimes use Power Point presentations, Prezis, or even handouts.  Some speakers bring a full draft of their presentation to read from, though eye contact and audience engagement are key here, so if you can, it is usually best if you can deliver the talk from an outline.  Just be careful not to go too long!  You can check out an evaluation rubric for an oral presentation.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Opportunities Info Session

Held Nov. 28, 2012, this info session presented information on two programs that should interest Loyola students who want to conduct biomedical research.  To find more information about the NIH Summer Internship Program and the Postbaccalaureate Intramural Training Award, visit LUROP's external opportunities page.