Assignments

Written Assignments

There will be two written assignments:

  1. Midway through the semester you will be given the results section of a paper and asked to write a title and abstract appropriate for the article.
    Guidelines for Writing a Title and Abstract (PDF)
  2. Toward the end of the semester, you will be required to write a 5 page research proposal on a topic of your choosing related to the overall theme of the seminar. The proposal will consist of an introduction that reviews the current literature, a testable hypothesis, a set of experiments to test this hypothesis, and a discussion of the possible outcomes and interpretation of the experiments. The first version of this paper will be edited by me and final version will be due the last day of class.
    Guidelines for Writing a Research Proposal (PDF)

Example Student Research Proposal Paper: "Determination of the temporal pattern and importance of BALF1 expression in Epstein-Barr viral infection." (PDF) (Courtesy of Melissa Mihelidakis. Used with permission.)

Oral Presentations

There will be two oral presentation assignments:

  1. At some point in the semester, you will give a 5 minute formal introduction to one of the papers being discussed in class that day. This assignment serves as a chance to work on speaking formally in front of the class before oral presentation assignment #2.
  2. At the end of the semester, you will give a presentation to the class based on the research proposal you have written. The presentation will consist of the same format as the proposal, as described above. I will give a sample presentation earlier in the semester.

Guidelines on Giving Oral Presentations (PDF)