Introduction MeetingAnita Aghaie

EMSEC and SECENG Seminar 11 April, 2018

What?Learning to read, write and present science.

Why?For future profit!

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 2

Introduction

What?Learning to read, write and present science.

Why?For future profit!

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 2

Introduction

1. Wednesday 09.05.2018 – Exposé2. Wednesday 27.06.2018 – Preliminary final version3. Wednesday 18.07.2018 – Final version4. Wednesday 25.07.2018 – Presentations

NoteI The seminar paper, the exposé and the presentation are all

in English.I All deadlines are 23:59 CEST.I Deadline submission is done by e-mail.I Attending the presentations is mandatory.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 3

Deadlines

Beware!I Failing to meet the first (exposé) deadline simply drops you

out of the course; failure to meet the subsequent deadlinesresults in a failing grade.

I The preliminary final version is not a draft. It should requireonly minor editing after receiving supervisor feedback.Insufficient quality can result in a failing grade.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 4

Warnings

What are these things youspeak of?

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 5

GoalGiving a cursory overview of the topic, the relevant literature andthe overall document structure.

Requirements

I 1-page topic summary.I Preliminary document outline.I Literature listing.

Again!Failure to hand in an exposé leads to dropping out the course,whereas failing to meet the above requirements leads to a failinggrade.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 6

Exposé

GoalGiving a cursory overview of the topic, the relevant literature andthe overall document structure.

Requirements

I 1-page topic summary.I Preliminary document outline.I Literature listing.

Again!Failure to hand in an exposé leads to dropping out the course,whereas failing to meet the above requirements leads to a failinggrade.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 6

Exposé

GoalGiving a cursory overview of the topic, the relevant literature andthe overall document structure.

Requirements

I 1-page topic summary.I Preliminary document outline.I Literature listing.

Again!Failure to hand in an exposé leads to dropping out the course,whereas failing to meet the above requirements leads to a failinggrade.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 6

Exposé

Requirements

I ∼ 15 pages. Contact your supervisor if you have significantlymore or significantly less pages.

I Your supervisor may have specific wishes regarding thecontent.

I If at all possible, have your paper proofread beforesubmission.

Again!The preliminary version must be complete with respect tocontent. Only minor edits should be required afterwards. Notodo’s, drafts or placeholders.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 7

(Preliminary) Final version

Requirements

I ∼ 15 pages. Contact your supervisor if you have significantlymore or significantly less pages.

I Your supervisor may have specific wishes regarding thecontent.

I If at all possible, have your paper proofread beforesubmission.

Again!The preliminary version must be complete with respect tocontent. Only minor edits should be required afterwards. Notodo’s, drafts or placeholders.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 7

(Preliminary) Final version

Simply put...Process your supervisor’s feedback and fix any mistakes you find.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 8

Final version

GoalIntroduce your fellow students to your topic by means of anawesome presentation!

Requirements

I For 1-student topics: 15 minutes + 5 minutes questions.I For 2-student topics: 20 minutes + 5 minutes questions.I We expect a well-prepared, well-made, easy-to-understand

scientific presentation (no pressure!).

ProtipSchedule a test-run of your presentation with your supervisor.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 9

Presentation

GoalIntroduce your fellow students to your topic by means of anawesome presentation!

Requirements

I For 1-student topics: 15 minutes + 5 minutes questions.I For 2-student topics: 20 minutes + 5 minutes questions.I We expect a well-prepared, well-made, easy-to-understand

scientific presentation (no pressure!).

ProtipSchedule a test-run of your presentation with your supervisor.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 9

Presentation

Tips & TricksThe write-y bits...

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 10

I Use LATEX1.I And BibTex for references.

I Use a decent editor (TeXwork, shameless vim/emacs plug).I Use some form of version control (git, svn, etc).I Structure your seminar paper as a scientific paper2.

1Templates: http://emsec.rub.de/teaching/seminars/seminar_ss17/2Google is your friend!

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 11

The Obvious

Literature sourcesI Google Scholar3.

I Often a reliable PDF source.I dblp computer science library4.

I Get your bibtex entries here!I Use cryptobib5 for even easier access to references.

I Cryptology ePrint Archive6.I Lots of researchers publish papers here as well, try citing the

original conference/journal publication though.

3https://scholar.google.com4http://dblp.uni-trier.de5https://cyptobib.di.ens.fr6https://eprint.iacr.org

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 12

The Ready Bits

RUBI Schreibzentrum;I Zentrum für Fremdsprachenausbildung;I Psychologische Beratung.

In addition,I EMSEC’s collection of tips/tricks7.

7https://www.emsec.rub.de/teaching/seminars/seminarhowtoIntroduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 13

Local Resources

Top-down

I Structural outline first.I Outline the paragraphs, denoting the core idea and concept

of the paragraph.I Fill out the paragraphs.I ...I Profit.

Bottom-up

1. Start writing somewhere, paying little attention to quality.2. When you are done, improve this section until it makes

sense. Iterate early and often.3. Go back to (1).

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 14

A Tale of Two Approaches

My tips:

I Warm up! Just write whatever unrelated nonsense is in yourhead for a few minutes.

I Don’t commit yourself to writing more than a few sentences.I Don’t care about the quality. You can improve later.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 15

Writer’s Block

Tips & TricksThe talky bits...

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 16

Common Structure1. Introduction.2. Motivation.3. Results.4. Conclusions.

See also...I https://www.princeton.edu/~archss/webpdfs08/

BaharMartonosi.pdfI http:

//www.cgd.ucar.edu/cms/agu/scientific_talk.html

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 17

Scientific Presentations

I Define your central message.I Your presentation has only two goals: get this message

across and explain why it is important.I You are successful if the audience is able to remember this

message.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 18

General Advice: Your Message

I Know your audience.I Your primary message may change depending on the

audience.I For a mixed expert/non-expert audience, focus on the

non-experts.I Maybe have 1-2 slides for the experts so you appear smart.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 19

General Advice: Your Audience

Someone told me that each equation I included in thebook would halve the sales. I therefore resolved not tohave any equations at all. In the end, however, I did putin one equation, Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc2 . Ihope that this will not scare off half of my potential read-ers — Stephen Hawking.

I Equations/algorithms/proofs are tricky. Fine for expertaudiences, not so much for non-experts.I If you have them, introduce like you would on a blackboard:

bit by bit, not all at once.I Good visualizations help here.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 20

General Advice: Equations

Someone told me that each equation I included in thebook would halve the sales. I therefore resolved not tohave any equations at all. In the end, however, I did putin one equation, Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc2 . Ihope that this will not scare off half of my potential read-ers — Stephen Hawking.

I Equations/algorithms/proofs are tricky. Fine for expertaudiences, not so much for non-experts.I If you have them, introduce like you would on a blackboard:

bit by bit, not all at once.I Good visualizations help here.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 20

General Advice: Equations

Good slides make good presentations better, but cannotmake a bad presentation good.

So...Focus on your presentation, not your slides. Make your slidessupport your presentation.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 21

The Slide Conundrum

Good slides make good presentations better, but cannotmake a bad presentation good.

So...Focus on your presentation, not your slides. Make your slidessupport your presentation.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 21

The Slide Conundrum

The ProblemI Redundant (most people use the same structure anyway).I Boring.

If you really must...Use them after you have introduced the topic and motivated youraudience.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 22

My Pet Peeve

No hard and fast rules, but good slides...I utilize images where possible;I have little text;I are easily digested;I have purpose;I are visually appealing, andI do not contain everything you are going to say.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 23

Good Slides

Your slides should supportwhat you are saying, not

vice-versa.

So don’t copy-paste your paper to your slides...

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 24

To Reiterate

Your slides should supportwhat you are saying, not

vice-versa.So don’t copy-paste your paper to your slides...

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 24

To Reiterate

Tip #1Practice. Practice. Practice.

Tip #2Commit! Be enthusiastic! Be dynamic!

Tip #3Speak louder and more slowly than you think necessary.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 25

Delivery

I Cite your figures and references directly, on the same slide(maybe shortened somewhat).

I Avoid laser pointers.I Speak to your audience not the screen.I Choose an appropriate text color.I Explain your used specific abbreviations.I Record yourself while practicing.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 26

Minor Tips

Thanks,Questions?

Contact me at anita.aghaie@rub.de.

Introduction Meeting | Anita Aghaie | 11 April, 2018 27