In the run-up to the National Symposium on Zoonoses Research, the National Research Platform on Zoonoses organised a PhD workshop/summer school on "Presenting Science" for 16 young scientists conducting research in the field of zoonoses. It took place from 04 - 06.10.2010 in Berlin and was intended to show, on the one hand, by means of many practical examples and exercises, which factors are important for a scientific presentation and, on the other hand, to enable the exchange and getting to know each other.
A total of 40 doctoral students applied for the 16 available places. In the end, an interdisciplinary group of young scientists from various research institutions in Germany was selected. The workshop with all practical exercises was held in English. This was in the interest of the international group of participants and also trained their English language skills.
After a short introduction round, a frequently occurring challenge in presentations was intensively examined right at the beginning: stage fright. Where does it come from and how can it be successfully defeated or even prevented from arising in the first place? Also the handling of the small and bigger incidents and problems that can happen and occur during a presentation was practiced. The last essential point for this day was giving and receiving feedback. Not only accepting criticism, but also practicing criticism has to be learned.
A joint social program in the evening offered the opportunity to expand one's own networks.
The second day of the workshop started with basic information about the different types of speeches. Then it was off to a flying start, with intensive work on the correct planning and creation of a presentation. Because this step lays the foundation for a successful presentation. For this purpose, the essential planning steps and models were explained and argumentation strategies were explained that help to build a speech well structured according to the set goals. In addition, the participants were shown that nothing is over with the final sentence of the presentation. The subsequent discussion also needs to be successfully moderated. The construction of presentation slides and the use of the available technology as well as one's own notes was also a topic of the second day.
After this strenuous workshop day full of new and interesting information, everyone was happy to end the evening in "Aufsturz" with delicious food and interesting discussions.
The third and last day of the workshop was dedicated to the application of what had been learned in the last two days. Therefore the participants divided into two groups and presented the prepared slides on the topic of their dissertations. Each of them was recorded with a video camera and the presentation was then evaluated together with all of them. Thus, everyone had the opportunity to present, but also to give and accept feedback and to practice in practice once again.
Finally, an exploration of the capital by bike was on the agenda. Both the participants from Berlin and those who had travelled from far away for the workshop were able to see a different side of Berlin away from the usual sights on the guided tour entitled "Poor but sexy" and thus experienced a relaxed conclusion to the Summer School before continuing on to the symposium the next day.
