Journal Club
What is Journal Club?
Journal Club provides a relaxed environment for graduate students to research and present a journal article of their choosing to an audience of peers and professors. It serves as practice grounds for speaking to an audience of scientific minds. Questions about the article’s material are fielded, as well as comments on the quality of the speech. All graduate students and professors are encouraged to attend as often as possible, to both learn about subjects outside one’s own field, and provide helpful feedback for presenters.
Who presents, and how often?
All graduate students in physics and astronomy are encouraged to present. Each semester can accommodate between 21 – 24 speakers, thus every graduate student in the department should be able to give a talk at some point during the year. Journal club is not just for new graduate students. Participants rely on the experience of students in their final semesters to give exemplary talks. This is also the last chance for finishing students to practice speaking in front of an audience of peers.
What should I present?
Present a journal article! Find a recent article which you think would be interesting to other graduate students. If you are not sure where to look, check out Physics Focus and Physics – Spotlighting Exceptional Research, both APS web sites. Physics Focus is geared towards a younger audience, but it can be a quick way to see if an article will interest you, and links to the article along with extra materials are provided. Physics – Spotlighting Exceptional Research gives weekly editor picks of exceptional APS journal articles. On both sites, look for resources not typically found in printed journals, such as additional figures and even videos.
Avoid presenting your own research, or giving a general talk on subjects found in textbooks. Journal club is meant to inform the audience of recent developments in science of which we may not otherwise be aware. It is also a learning opportunity for students to extract information from published journal articles, and be able to understand and present the information to others.
Who is invited?
There seems to be considerable confusion over who is “allowed” to attend Journal Club. Everyone is welcome! Graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, staff, and friends are all invited to attend. The only exception is for “Graduate Students Only” sessions. These sessions are put aside for nervous presenters to speak only amongst an audience of peers, perhaps relieving some anxiety of speaking in front of professionals. In general though, faculty participation is requested to help students understand what to look for in a well done presentation.
What is the presentation format?
The entire session of 3 speakers should last 1hr. Each talk is formatted as follows:
Presentation: 10-12 minutes
Questions on the science: 4-5 minutes
Critique on the quality of the presentation: 4-5 minutes
There is an overhead projector and cables to connect to your notebook computer. Laptops can also be checked out from the Physics office for the purpose of presenting.
Where and when?
Journal club meets on Fridays in room Phys 216 at 12pm (so long as other events are not scheduled). The presentation schedule is kept current on the PAGSA home page.
Is there food?
Pizza is available for $1/slice. Payment can be made in cash or online through the PayPal button here. (You do not need a PayPal account to make a payment. Only a credit card is needed)
How do I sign up?
To sign-up for an available date, send an email to the PAGSA Vice President (see the Officers/Committees page). Select your article at least one week in advance. When you have chosen an article, send the journal reference (and link) to the PAGSA vice president. A couple of days before the presentation an advertisement will be sent out to all graduate students and faculty with a list of talk titles and abstracts.
