December 2011 /
Research Development & Commercial Services
3rd Floor Ashby House
Chelmsford Campus
Bishop Hall Lane
Chelmsford CM1 1SQ
Tel: 0845 196 4209
Email:

Dear Researcher

THE SIXTHANNUAL RESEARCH STUDENT CONFERENCE:

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

Wednesday 13 June 2012, Cambridge Campus

This is the sixth conference we have run and we very much hope that you will be able to join us. The conferences are always very well attended and feedback from previous years’ events has been excellent. We also strongly encourage you to submit an abstract for a poster or oral presentation.

Call for Abstracts

In celebrating the achievements of research students, candidates for MPhil or the Doctorate are invited:

  • to make a poster presentation,providing your research proposal has been approved or you have passed at least the first paper in Stage 1 of the Professional Doctorate Programme.
  • to give an oral presentation on your research, if your research status is post Confirmation of Candidature or Transfer to PhD/PrD. (If you are registered for an MPhil, we appreciate that you will not go through this stage, and therefore you are invited to deliver an oral presentation when you are writing up your thesis).

For both the oral presentations (which will be 15 minutes for your presentation, followed by 10 minutes for questions) and the poster presentations, authors are required to submit an abstract (approximately 300 words) to later than 5pm onMonday16 January 2012.

We reserve the right not to accept late abstracts. If your abstract is successful, you will then be able to do either a poster or oral presentation (as applicable) at the conference. Please note that we are unable to accept requests or submissions from researchers to do poster or oral presentations if abstracts have not been previously submitted.

Follow this link for advice on composing your abstract:

A prize of £150 will be awarded for the best abstract and prizes will also be awarded for the best posters and oral presentations at the conference. To be eligible for a prize, abstracts and posters must be submitted by the due dates. The abstracts and posters will be judged before the conference. Oral presentations will be judged at the conference.

With regards to the abstract, researchers must adhere to the required format. Please see the specimen abstract at the end of this letter. Abstracts will also be judged on; clarity, a clear structure, readability and use of keywords.

All accepted abstracts will be available in the conference papers on 13 June 2012.

Please only use the conference email address:

for all correspondence regarding the Research Student Conference. This includes any queries relating to the conference. Abstracts, posters and presentations must also be submitted to this address.

ImportantDates

Abstract submissionMonday 16 January 2012 (by 5pm)

Acceptance notificationMonday 30January 2012

Deadline for poster submissionsFriday 30 March 2012

Conference DayWednesday 13 June 2012

If you are presenting a poster, Research, Development and Commercial Services(RDCS) will be able to meet the cost of this being produced, providing it is submitted by the deadline. Please ensure that you wait for the poster guidance to be issued before you submit your poster. We are following a different system this year and there will be limited opportunities to make any changes to your poster following your initial submission, which is why we ask that you wait for the guidance (please note that all poster submissions also need to be sent to the research conference address).

If you are making an oralpresentation using Power Point or another electronic format, although we ask that you bring this on the day, can we ask that you also email us a copy of this prior to the conference, in order that we can back this up for you.

Please note that we will acknowledge receipt of all abstracts and posters, providing that they are sent to the research conference address. If you have not heard by the notification date, please contact us in case your email has not reached us.

Guidance for Abstracts

Please ensure that your abstract conforms to the specimen provided at the end of this letter.

The abstract should be a concise précis of the main points of your presentation/poster and be capable of being understood without reference to other material. It should be written in English using Arial, minimum font size of 11. The abstract should be approximately 300 words. Please use the format for the heading as suggested in the Specimen Abstract, with a minimum left hand margin of 30mm. The text should be one single column with justified paragraphs and single line spacing.

Authors should indicate, under their name, their Research Student Status. For the poster presentation, this should be either Post Research Approval (MPhil or MPhil/PhD) or Professional Doctorate Post Paper One. For the oral presentation, this should be Post Confirmationof Candidature. You must ensure that this information is included, otherwise we will not know whether you are planning to do a poster or oral presentation.

The abstract should normally contain four separate paragraphs which should clearly state:

  • what was investigated
  • how the topic was investigated
  • where possible, what was found
  • where possible, what conclusions are drawn from the evidence.

It is realised that at this stage in your research, your findings and conclusions may be limited.The judging panel also recognises that there are other models of abstract writing that reflect the specific conventions of individual disciplines.

Poster and Paper Presentation Guidance

The guidance for poster and paper presentations will be available on the RDCS website by January 2012.

Booking for the Conference

Please would you book for the Conference by emailing

Best wishes

Julie Scott

Research Training and Ethics Manager

Research, Development & Commercial Services

SPECIMEN ABSTRACT

ANGLIARUSKINUNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT

FACULTY OF VETERINARY SCIENCE
MPhil/MProf/PhD/PrD[1]
THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF
MANX CATS IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES
JEAN SMITH ()
(Post Confirmation of Candidature)
Supervisory team: Prof R. Green and Dr E. Fairhurst
Sponsor[2]: (Company)
June 2012
Paragraph headings may be used. Quotation marks should be single throughout. References should not be used, but citations may appear if they represent the basis upon which the research was undertaken.

Keywords: (3 – 6 words)

1

[1] Please indicate the research degree for which you are registered

[2] if appropriate