PhD Seminar Course: BBS801-802

Guidelines and Evaluation

1. The Ph. D. seminar course is designed to have students read widely about a topic of their interest and focus in on a specific area that is of recent relevance or an area where major progress has been made in the field. In either case, a discussion of the relevant experimental data is highly recommended but not essential. The goals of this course are to give the student an opportunity to delve into a broad scientific topic, understand concepts and experimental approaches and be able to present the topic (in both written and seminar format) in a coherent and logical manner.
2. The guide for this course is the student's PhD advisor. The seminar topic is to be decided within l5 days of course registration, by mutual consent between the student and the PhD advisor. The topic may be related to the student's laboratory research, however, should be distinct from ongoing projects and projects submitted by the faculty advisor to grant agencies for funding.
3. Students may also choose a topic unrelated to their PhD research, however the topic will be one that has been floated by a faculty member apart from their PhD advisor. The faculty who has floated the topic will be the student's guide.
4. There will be four examiners, in addition to the faculty offering the seminar, for evaluation. The same evaluation committee will be chosen for all students taking the course. The student will be informed of their examiners at the beginning of the course.
5. There is no mid-semester evaluation for this course.
6. Final presentation: This will be held on the last working day before the end-sem exam week. Students must submit their write-up one week before the final presentation. The final presentation will be in two parts:
   • A technical/scientific document of around 30 pages (3 copies). Under no circumstance should the write up be copied from other sources. "Copy and paste" write ups will be considered as plagiarism and result in a downgrading by one grade.
   • A seminar presentation for 30 min. followed by a 15 min question and answer session.
7. Guide lines for assessment (report writing and oral presentation)

Write up
Weightage	Detail to be assessed
20%	Comprehension of the subject matter
20%	Extent of recent literature review
10%	Quality and precision of language-content, editorial finish
Oral presentation
Weightage	Detail to be assessed
20%	Clarity and coherence
05%	Quality of visual aids
25%	Comprehension of the ability to defend views /fundamentals/ details of topic

 

BBS801 Format