Presentation of results

A key component of scientific research is presenting research results to the scientific community

Research results are presented in three main formats: oral presentation; poster presentation; written paper

There are four different types of readers. 80% will see only title, 15% will read the abstract, 4% will read also introduction, and the surviving 1% will read the whole paper.

Title- Choose a title that enables the reader to figure out the the basic idea(s) and the main contribution(s).

Wrong title may bring you wrong referees or examiners, and may not attract busy colleagues to your work when seeing it on your web page or on a search engine that may not even catch your work (which decreases your visibility). So let your work be observed easily.

Abstract- State clearly what problem has been studied and/or what is the goal of the thesis/paper. Give a  brief statement on existing solutions and their drawbacks. List major contributions of the thesis/paper. State briefly assumptions and limitations. The abstract should also include major idea(s), the type and result of analysis done. The abstract is written for researchers that are familiar with the research area, and can grasp your contribution easily. Clear abstract is the key to a good reading and understanding.  Misleading abstracts are unfortunately quite common practice in the research literature. Avoid excessive explanations that should be part of introduction. 

Introduction- The Introduction provides background information on the problem to be investigated. It should describe the current state of knowledge about the problem. The Introduction should conclude with a clearly stated study hypothesis and its experimental expectations

Methods- The Methods section should describe procedures used in testing the study hypothesis. Procedures should be described in sufficient detail that they can be repeated by others. Materials, equipment, analytical and statistical procedures should all be described in detailed under Methods.

Results- The Results section is a summary of the experimental outcome of the study. Results should include a concise verbal description of the outcome as well as tables and figures, showing statistical results and experimental error. Tables and figures should include legends explaining what they are summarizing

Discussion- The Discussion section is where the results are interpreted and conclusions are drawn. The Discussion should also compare the results to those of other studies and give the general significance of the findings. Study limitations, sources of error, and plans of future work are usually presented in the discussion.

Acknowledgments- It is important to acknowledge all contributors to the study, including your research mentor, your mentor’s research associates, computer consultants, and funding sources. You should also acknowledge any businesses, organizations or institutions that donated equipment or material for use in the study

Oral presentation

The format for an oral scientific presentation is essentially the same as that of a scientific paper.  The presentation should include the following sections: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and acknowledgments

Tips for giving your presentation

• Look professional.
• It is important to address your audience when speaking
• If necessary, use note cards or text on slides to (talking points) organize your presentation
• Rehearse your presentation in front of your mentor or his/her research associates
•  Leave at least 3 minutes for questions

Poster Presentation

A poster presentation contains the same basic information as an oral presentation, but the information is arranged on a large sheet of paper. The information is presented in blocks of text (be concise) and figures. Arrange blocks in columns from upper left, down to lower right, concluding with acknowledgements

Poster presentation

• Stand in front of poster and greet onlookers
• Try to explain information in your own words without reading (you know what you did).
• Give background, hypothesis and important results and conclusions.
• Explain images and graphics.

Presentation software

•  Use Microsoft Powerpoint or similar computer software to produce your presentation (slides or transparencies)
•  The software will enable you to choose backgrounds; import tables, graphs and images; even animate the presentation
•  Computer projection equipment can be used