This fall, MCB will introduce a new seminar series, A Slice of Science, which merges two well-known departmental traditions: Friday Talks @4 and the MCO Journal Club (MCB 290). The series debuts on Friday, September 26 in the BioLabs Lecture Hall (BL1080).
By merging the training-focused goals of Journal Club with the community spirit of Friday Talks @4, A Slice of Science offers a unique space for learning, practicing, and sharing science across all levels of the MCB community.
Friday Talks @4 has been a reliable forum for scientific exchange, while the MCO Journal Club has been on pause for the past three years. With its revival, Journal Club will once again serve as a required course for all first-year MCO PhD students. One of the main objectives of the new MCO PhD curriculum is to ensure that first-year students finish their first year being comfortable talking about their own research or that of others, and in a variety of formats (“elevator pitch”, “the water cooler conversation” etc.). The Slice of Science seminar is intended to help students create a narrative arc for each talk, design clear visual aids, and develop their “voice” and presentation styles.
Each Friday, there will be two presenters. Typically, the first speaker, who is usually a more advanced graduate student or postdoctoral researcher, presents their research, and the second speaker is a first-year MCO graduate student who presents an article from a peer-reviewed journal. Titles of the papers will be announced in advance for those interested in a sneak peek.
“This year we have 23 first-year MCO students—nearly double the usual number,” said Kazuki Nagashima, Assistant Professor of MCB and co–instructor of the course with Florian Engert. “Journal Club is designed specifically for them. By combining it with Friday Talks @ 4, which features postdocs and more senior graduate students, we can bring together presenters at different stages of training and create a wider, more engaged audience.”
Fittingly, pizza slices and beverages will be available for the “Slice” seminars starting at 3:45 in BL1080. TGIF will also continue after A Slice of Science .
About the Series:
When: Every Friday, 4:00–5:00 PM
Where: BioLabs Lecture Hall (BL1080)
Format: 20-minute presentations (plus introductions and Q&A)
