To Robyn regarding the thesis proposal:
The way in which exams are handled varies from program to program. If
you are required to write a proposal, I would put the problems and
pitfalls into the text. When I write a grant, I have subheadings under
each specific aim that are: 1) Rationale; 2) General Approach; 3)
Interpretation; 4) Potential problems and Pitfalls; 5) Specific
methods. In our oral exams we discourage the students from giving too
long a presentation at the beginning. They have 10 to 15 min to
outline the proposal (context; hypothesis; specific aims; relevant
preliminary data). The committee will inevitably query the student
about potential pitfalls and problems, just to see how well they are
thinking.
To Julia:
A thesis talk is generally a seminar about your thesis work so the same
standards by which you judge a seminar speaker should apply to
yourself. Keep it focused and make everything "hang together". Using
work done by a tech that adds insight to yours is fine with the
appropriate acknowledgements. Don't present negative data if it is not
definitive and is distracting to the main point (that is, sometimes
stuff is negative because the technique may not have worked or been
sensitive enough to give you an unambiguous result. if it is
unambiguous; directly relevant, and it presents insight, then give it).
Don't go off on too many tangents. If your study led you in two
directions, then present each part by itself. Leave most of the
negative data to questions (by leaving it out, you can generate
questions that you can answer showing how much on the ball you are). I
ask my students to add an appendix to their thesis that includes data
that didn't pan out or was otherwise irrelevant to the main study
(everyone usually has a pile of this from the beginning of their career
and it is useful to the lab).
reply to nishir at ohsu.edu
Rae Nishi, PhD
Professor
Dept. Cell & Developmental Biology
Oregon Health Sciences University
Portland Oregon
