You can register to attend the symposium and submit an abstract to be considered for presentation through the link at the bottom of the page. Before submitting an abstract please carefully read the guidelines below.
Click HERE to register and HERE to submit an abstract.
Registration and abstract submission for the 2022 YPA postdoc symposium is CLOSED.
Abstracts will be selected for one of the three presentation types:
- Long talks (10 minutes)
- Flash talks (5 minutes)
- Poster presentations with lightning talks (1 minute)
Each presentation type provides a unique opportunity for you to present your research to the amazing crowd of Yale Postdocs and ARS.
- 10-minute talks allow speakers to give a broad overview of their research as well as their important findings. These talks are to be presented clearly and understandable to the broad audience in attendance. Abstracts selected for the 10-minute talks will be the best of the best in terms of clarity and accessibility to help demonstrate the diversity and excellence of postdoc/ARS research at Yale.
- 5-minute flash talks, which could be considered a more difficult exercise, require the speaker to present their research efficiently and effectively in only 3-4 slides. For this rather unique style of presentation – which could also be considered an ‘elevator pitch’ of your research, we will offer training in collaboration with OCS.
- Posters will be presented in multiple sessions with a 1-minute lightning talk allocated for each poster. Please make sure to use this time well to explain the key findings and importance of your research. You will have time to introduce your topic in a discussion format, engage in conversation with other postdocs and seek feedback on your work to date. The video/audio clip of the poster presentation and the posters will be uploaded in respective google drives before the symposium begins and this should help people reach out to you in case they have additional questions. Most importantly, this symposium is attended by a diverse community, so please be prepared to guide postdocs unfamiliar with your research area through your poster easily and clearly.
See the FAQs page for more information about each presentation type and what is expected.
Abstract guidelines
The YPA Postdoc Symposium embraces all Yale institutes. Thus, it is required that your abstract (and all presentation formats) be accessible to a broad audience. Therefore, we ask for an abstract specifically written for this symposium following the guidelines below.
Please consider the following guideline to be sure your abstract is accepted and correctly evaluated before submitting it.
- Abstracts must be written for a general/broad/lay/multidisciplinary audience. Do not use jargon, abbreviations, symbols, or non-English letters. Abstracts that have been submitted for presentations elsewhere are welcomed but must be updated accordingly to these requirements.
- Please focus on the big-picture importance of your research rather than on extensive amounts of methods and data. Clarity is an important criterion for the overall evaluation of the abstract.
- The abstract main text is limited to 300 words. Title length is limited to 40 words and acknowledgments to 80 words. Please make sure non-English letters (ß, æ, é, etc.) are absent from the text, title, and acknowledgements.
- Your abstract should be structured as follows: Introduction, Methods, Results (if applicable), Conclusion, and General Impact.
- Acknowledgments should list the sources of support of your research (limited to 80 words).
- You must have all parts of your abstract (title, author list, main text, and acknowledgments) ready before starting the submission process.
- Each abstract will be evaluated by several members of the YPA symposium committee according to the scoring rubric that can be found here.
- To promote the diversity of presentations, each person will only be allowed one type of presentation (either 10-min talk, 5-min flash talk, or poster presentation with 1-min talk). More details about each presentation format are available in the FAQs. While you have the option to choose for your abstract to be considered for each of these presentation types during the registration process, if selecting multiple presentations types, your abstract will be considered in the following order: 10 min talk > 5-min flash talk > poster presentation with 1-min talk.
- You can also find the grading rubric that will be used to evaluate abstract submissions for the different presentation types here.
- If you want to present a poster, we encourage you to bring one from a previous conference, this event is a great opportunity to present previously submitted works. However, keep in mind you must adapt your abstract to follow our guidelines and it (and your poster) should be understandable by non-experts (i.e., a layman audience).
- Your abstract and title will be added to the Abstract Booklet, which will only be made available to those registered to attend the Symposium. If you do not want your abstract to be included in the symposium booklet, please contact the YPA symposium committee at ypa.symposium@yale.edu
Who can register to attend the symposium?
Any Postdoc or Associate Research Scientist at Yale can attend the symposium.
To foster a welcoming environment for Postdocs to network and present, aside from a selected few guests, no PI/faculty members will be in attendance, nor will any graduate or undergraduate students.
If you have not done it yet, please register to attend the 5th Annual Postdoc Symposium.
Who will be presenting?
Any Postdoc or Associate Research Scientist (or equivalent level) can submit an abstract to be considered for presentation. We only ask that you are affiliated to Yale and that you present a project done at Yale (or in a Yale-associated structure). We also welcome presentations that can be of major interest to the community (tools, services, experiences, community improvement, etc).
What am I getting into?
|
Long Talk |
Flash Talk |
Poster Presentation |
| Time |
10-min talk and 5-min Q&A |
5-min talk |
Poster session + 1-min talk |
| Format |
10 slides max. (including title slide) |
3-4 slides (including title slide) |
Maximum 40x30 inches (HxW) - portrait format preferred |
| Details |
Present an overview of your project and important findings in 10 minutes. Your work will be representative of the diversity and quality of the Postdoc research being conducted at Yale. The presentation must be understandable to a broad audience. |
Present your research concisely! Consider this an “elevator pitch” of your research in only 3-4 slides. This can be difficult to achieve but is a great exercise, as your presentation needs to be both accessible and efficient at delivering scientific ideas to a broad audience. |
For online distribution of poster presentations to symposium attendees, please submit a PDF version of your poster and 1-min talk recording (MP4 format) by Thursday, May 12th. They will be uploaded to Google Drive and made available during the symposium. You are welcome to recycle posters from previous conferences – just be sure to adapt your presentation to convey your work to postdocs that are not in your field. |
| Selection process details for abstract |
Abstracts selected for 10-minute talks will best represent the diversity of Yale Postdoc/ARS research and be written in a way that ensures that they will appeal to a broad audience. Scoring will be based on the quality and clarity of the abstract, as well as the novelty and interests of the results and conclusions. |
Abstracts selected will showcase the diversity of Postdoc research being conducted at Yale. Scoring will lay emphasis on the quality of the abstract in terms of clarity. |
Abstract from all fields will be considered. |
Will there be prizes and awards?
Thanks to our generous sponsors, there will be prizes and certificates for the best oral and poster presentations!
Moreover, certificates for participation will be provided.
How can I contact the organizers to sponsor the event, obtain information, or ask for help?
Please email the YPA symposium committee (ypa.symposium@yale.edu).