Submitting the Paper

• Submit a .pdf copy of your comps (pdf instructions) by the last day of classes during winter term. We’ll distribute directions during winter term.
• Submit two final, archival paper copies of your comps to Ellen Haberoth two weeks after your talk. They will be bound and put in the Gould Library and the College Archives.
• The archival paper copies have a few special requirements:
  • pages of text and line drawings need to be printed using the above guidelines on good quality, acid-free bond paper.
  • Images or figures with color must be laser printed (not inkjet printed). They may need to be printed onto special image-quality paper because image-quality paper is usually smoother or glossier and makes the images more legible.
  • Pages with pictures must be printed so that the picture is clear and has good color; either color laser printing or color Xeroxing is acceptable for the pages with color. Some images may need to be laser-printed or Xeroxed onto glossy or special photo-quality paper to make them legible. Ink jet printing fades after a few years and is not to be used for final copies under any conditions!

If you have an Endnote library file, please turn it in along with your .pdf file using a similar naming convention. We use these files to track library usage.

Poster Advertising Your Talk

One week before your talk you will put up a poster display that includes:

• Title of your comps
• Abstract
• Location map if appropriate
• Two or three important figures, maps, or other illustrations showing your results

The poster should be 24 by 32 inches, landscape style. It does not need to be elaborate, but it should help publicize and encourage attendance at your talk. Jonathon Cooper will help you display it in one of the cases in the ground-floor corridor.

The Talk

Comps talks are given in the late afternoon during spring term in Olin 141. Ellen will send you an email when to sign up. A good place to practice your talk is Mudd 66.

Guidelines for PowerPoint Presentations

PowerPoint is a terrific tool for presenting your comps results in a talk, but there are some things to watch out for. To get started on the basics of assembling a PowerPoint presentation, go to this page by Sean Fox about getting started with PowerPoint.

Things to be careful of in PowerPoint presentations in Olin 141:

• The text needs to be a simple, clear font like Arial or Helvetica, and large enough so it can be read from the back of the room. The rule of thumb is the smallest text should be 3% the height of the total height of the viewing area on the screen.
• Don't try to cram two photos or graphs into the same screen - they get too small for the people in the back of the room to see the detail.
• Be careful with the background colors - if the color darkness of the text is too close to that of the background, people will be trying to figure out what it says rather than listening to what you're saying. Use light on dark or dark on light, never dark on dark or light on light.
• Special effects are acceptable - to a point. Use sparingly the gimmicks such as text sliding on and off the screen and fancy dissolving screens. No one would miss them if you didn't use them at all.
• The picture files should be smaller than 1 megabyte in size. PowerPoint loads your whole show at the outset and keeps it in memory, so the total bulk of your slides must be less than the memory allocation for the PowerPoint program (usually around 20 megs). Resetting the memory allocation for PowerPoint can increase this limit, but demanding more memory than is available on the computer is a sure way to cause crashes. It's best to have the slides (including pictures) smaller than 200K. Using jpeg format facilitates this.

The refreshments for the talks are provided by the people who gave their talks the previous week. If you serve messy food (apple crisp, for example) remember to bring paper plates and plastic spoons too.

Evaluation

We determine grades for comps (pass with distinction, pass, fail) by evaluating the proposal, the execution, and the report (both written and oral). All deadlines must be met to receive distinction. Students pass with distinction on the comps when they demonstrate exceptional understanding of the project they undertake. The project reports must be very well done.

The qualities of a project that make it a strong candidate for distinction include a well-defined, concise proposal of a reasonable and feasible project, a large component of original thinking and synthesis, and a thorough understanding of the ramifications of the project. In most years all students are evaluated soon after the final talk of the term. You will receive a letter from the chair of the department with your grade immediately after grades are awarded and reported to the Registrar. You may schedule a formal meeting with your adviser to discuss the comments on your written and oral reports and the grade that you received.

Final Steps

Most students will want to have their comps.pdf file available for download from the Geology Department web site after they graduate along with the papers placed in a book at Gould Library. The files are useful when applying for jobs and grad schools and for access by collaborators.

Your project includes the proper disposition of lab materials:

• Clean your equipment and lab space.

• Samples should be properly saved or removed from the labs.

• Delete comps files from department computer hard disks.

• Some of the thin sections, rocks, fossils, and other materials used for your project now belong to the Geology Department. You should discuss with your advisor which materials to leave. Jonathon Cooper will help you to find an appropriate way to label and store them in our collections. You must complete this process by the time you turn in the final copies of your report.

Presenting at Professional Meetings

Many students who have completed research in geology can and should present their results at professional meetings of the Geological Society of America (both annual and sectional meeting), the American Geophysical Union, and other organizations. We strongly encourage students to present their work. Any faculty member can help provide information on abstract deadlines and registration procedures.

In addition to presenting a paper, these meetings have great value to hear recent research results, to make contacts with potential graduate schools, to meet prominent scientists, and to learn about employment opportunities. These opportunities must be balanced against obligations on campus for class work and extracurricular activities. Your academic adviser is a person who can help you sort out these conflicting values.

Click here to see the Geology Departments Guidelines for Student Support for Professional Meetings.