Science Research Day

Friday, May 3, 2024

10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Student Center, 1st, 2nd, and 5th Floors

Dear NBS faculty colleagues,

We invite you and your students to take part in Brooklyn College’s 33rd annual Science Research Day on Friday, May 3, 2024. On Science Day, undergraduate and graduate students working with college faculty present judged posters on their research. This year, Science Day will be held in the Student Center. Poster presentation and viewing will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by an award ceremony.

Encourage students doing research under your guidance to present their work. As you know, students work hard on their research, and presenting the posters describing that work to others is an important culminating event for them as scientists. We encourage you and your colleagues to volunteer for the important task of judging posters.

Thanks for your continued support of this important experience for our STEM students. We will be sending regular updates about registering to the event as Science Day approaches. Send any questions to the CASE team via e-mail.

Louise Hainline

for the staff of the Center for Achievement in Science Education (CASE)

For Students

Brooklyn College will be hosting its annual Science Day on Friday, May 3. The event will include poster presentations of research work by Brooklyn College science students at all levels—undergraduate and graduate students. It is our pleasure to extend an invitation to Brooklyn College’s students to participate in this event.

We look forward to seeing you on Science Day.

Application

The online application will permit you to submit your abstract for Science Day electronically. In addition to contact information, you will be asked for the following:

  • Research discipline
  • Contact information of your research adviser (name, institution, academic department, phone number, and e-mail address)
  • Funding source for the research, if relevant
  • Abstract title (200 characters or less)
  • Each author’s name and affiliation, along with who will be presenting (one person maximum)
  • Edited abstract (1,800 characters, including spaces, or less)
  • Presentation format (table or poster)

A survey (PDF) can be downloaded to guide you in preparing your application. All fields are required to be completed or the abstract will not be accepted. All abstracts must be submitted by Friday, April 12. No exceptions will be made. If you have questions about the submission rules or procedures, e-mail us before the final deadline.

You will receive an acknowledgment that your abstract has been received when you submit it. An e-mail about whether your abstract has been accepted as submitted or requires editing will be sent to the e-mail address provided. If you do not receive an acknowledgment of receipt within three days of your submitting it, contact us via e-mail.

Abstract Guidelines

The following should each be summarized in a few sentences:

  • The problem that was investigated and the hypothesis
  • Outline of the materials and methods used in the actual experimentation.
  • Summary of the results obtained from experimentation.
  • The conclusions drawn from results.
  • The importance or potential applications that the research offers.

In the abstract, do not be concerned with including all of the details. The key point to remember when writing an abstract is to keep the wording brief and concise. Use complete sentences. Avoid personal pronouns like “I” and “My.” Abstracts should be long enough to provide the necessary information needed to understand the project’s basic points and importance, but should be no more than 1800 characters.

Abstract Example

The goal of this study is to isolate the gene controlling sexual fusion in Chiamydomonas. In the attempt to isolate this gene we are using an isolated fusion defective mutant (gain-b int-) to screen the indexed genomic library of Chiamydomonas DNA. The purpose of using the library is to find a DNA segment that will make the mutant fusion competent. Once we find the DNA segment that will make this mutant fusion competent, we can retrieve the segment of DNA that complements the mutants and then clone the gene. It is hoped that this technique will lead us to a single gene that directly controls gametic fusion in Chiamydomonas. Once the gene is found we will be able to determine the sequence and analyze the structure of the fusion protein.

Poster Instructions

  • Posters should be no larger than 42in (w) x 36in (h). They should indicate the title, the authors’ names and institutional affiliations.
  • Posters should be constructed either to be pinned or taped to the wall, or stand on a tabletop. You must tell us when you submit which format (wall or table) you will be using. If you change your mind and don’t tell us, we can’t guarantee that there will be space for your poster, as space is tight.  See pictures of examples below.
  • Posters should be clear and textual material kept brief. Illustrations, graphs and text should be legible from a distance.
  • Posters may have more than one author but can be entered in only one division. Please tell us which division the poster will be in on the abstract submission form.
  • Student presenters must be present throughout the session and should be prepared to discuss the work with judges and visitors. Advisers are encouraged to attend, but the poster should be presented by the student.

For Faculty

We invite you to participate in the Brooklyn College Science Day by having your students present and by volunteering to serve as a judge. The event will be held on Friday, May 3, in the Student Center.

Having Your Students Present

We urge you to encourage your research students to get their projects ready to present at Science Day. This is an occasion for all students involved in research with faculty in the sciences and related fields to present their work. The posters are judged in divisions for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. Posters will be displayed from 10 a.m. to noon, with an awards ceremony and lunch for participants afterward. The opportunity to present their research projects to others in this public setting is an important part of making this a meaningful experience for students.

You can download an online submission form (PDF) looks like to help you and your students prepare the application. The student will still need to submit the abstract online. Students must submit abstracts by April 12, 2024.

Judging

We encourage you to help with this effort to support student research by volunteering to serve as a judge. We need at least two judges for each poster. Generally, you will be e-mailed two to four abstracts prior to Research Day to familiarize you with your assigned posters. We generally assign posters to a judge whom we feel has the expertise to review a particular category of research. You will be required to assess the presenter’s research using a rubric to measure several factors and assessing a score. Everything you will need will be given to you on the day of the event. An awards ceremony and lunch for participants and judges follows the poster session.
If you are willing to serve as a judge, submit your information. If you are unable to volunteer, we would still like your recommendations for other colleagues who could potentially serve as judges. You can recommend people at the link directly above.

Science Day is an important chance for students present their research and derive satisfaction from their academic accomplishments. Our goal is to interest them in continuing to engage in research activities. The attitudes and conduct of the judges are thus very important to the success of Science Day, and we thank you for serving in this role.

We could not do this without the cooperation of the judges. You are a very important part of making this a meaningful experience for the students who take part. On their behalf, thanks very much for your help!
Here are the ground rules:

  1. Judges should read through the abstracts before visiting the posters.
  2. Each student will have the opportunity to present the work in the poster to two different judges who visit the poster at different times. Judges should work independently, not in pairs.
  3. Judges should introduce themselves upon approaching the students and attempt to establish a friendly rapport to make the presenters comfortable.
  4. You have a sticker for each poster you are assigned to judge. Please affix your sticker on the bottom right corner of the poster after you’ve introduced yourself.
  5. The presenter(s) should first be asked to give a brief oral presentation about the project described on the poster, and then answer questions about his/her/their work on the specific problem. It is also proper to ask general questions about the general discipline or subject area in which the student worked, to assess the student’s level of understanding. Keep in mind that students are coming from very different levels of preparation, so the depth of the background will vary. If there are multiple presenters, encourage them to share in the questioning, if not in the actual presentation. You may also evaluate how well the different presenters appear to have worked collaboratively to do the project.
  6. As much as possible, judges should try to put the presenter(s) at ease, especially ones who appear nervous during questioning. Judges should take an active part in the evaluation; silence may be interpreted as disinterest or boredom which can discourage the presenter.
  7. Judges should feel free to question the presenter(s) on the background of the project, on the methods used, the results and interpretations, as well as asking who else assisted in the development of the project.
  8. Discussion and final scoring of the project should be done a considerable distance from the participant. Judges should determine their rankings individually and also consider the type of the research project (e.g. experiment, observational study; modeling; (re)analysis of an existing data set). Besides the score, comments are helpful to give the student and mentor feedback, should they ask for it, on how the presentation came across. Use only whole numbers when assigning scores, and provide a subtotal for each section.
  9. As soon as you have completed judging, write your comments, assign your ranking and return the judging sheet and the clipboard to the table where the rankings are being tallied. Return each form before you begin judging your next poster.

Judging forms will be provided; here is an example of a judging form (PDF).

If you have further questions, contact us at 718.951.5171 or via e-mail.

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