Spring 2005, PHY 598
Graduate Seminar (Atoms and Solids)

Announcements:

The list of talks was finalized at our first meeting. Watch the list, make a note of your scheduled time and topic. During the first few weeks of classes changes are still possible. Occasionally we will have 3 talks in a session, be prepared to stay until 4:00 pm those days.
Links to the suggested topics and the talk schedule

Time and Place:
Monday, 2:20 - 3:50, Room B-131

Instructors:
Laszlo Mihaly
Phone: 2-8178
E-mail: lmihaly@sunysb.edu
Office hours: Monday, 12:00-2:00, Rm. B-145 		Dominik Schneble
Phone: 2-8043
E-mail: dschneble@stonybrook.edu
Office hours: Wed. 1:00-3:00, Rm. A-106

Course Goals:
- Learn gathering information on a new subject
- Gain experience in oral presentations
- Hear about new developments in physics

Rules:
- Each student will give two presentations: a regular, 30 minutes talk, preceded by a 2-minute announcement presentation at the previous meeting.
- The subject of the talk should be picked from the list provided below. Conflicts will be decided by lottery.
- Talks on topics not listed below should be approved by one of the instructors. Approval is given only if you did not talk about that subject before.
- The speaker should confer with one of the instructors at least two weeks before the talk. - The speaker is responsible for researching the literature and talking to other faculty members, if necessary.
- Before the long presentation, the speaker should hand out to everybody in the audience a hard copy of an abstract.
- Every student must attend all talks. Attendance contributes to the final grade.

Final Grade Components:
Short presentation and written abstract: 15%
Talk (contents and form): 70%
Attendance and activity (asking the speakers good questions, participating in discussions): 15%.

Abstract:
- No less than 1300 characters and no more than 1 printed page.
- No figures.
- Include title, author (your name), affiliation.
- Use short, direct and complete sentences. Be specific.
- Emphasize the main conclusions, results, or significance of the work described.
- Include key references (no more than 3).
- No formal acknowledgements. Include the name(s) of professor(s) providing significant help.

Talk:
- Prepare and use either overhead transparencies or PowerPoint presentation. (*)
- Give an overview of the suggested topic, but do not try to present everything you have read.
- Divide your talk to three parts: general introduction (5 min), main part (20 min), conclusions (5 min) - No long derivations; talk about physics
- Use color illustrations if possible to create attractive graphics. - Make sure the graphs/scales/labels are large enough to be visible when projected.
- Expect brief interruptions by questions in the process of the talk, and an additional discussion in the end.
- Practice your talk in front of others before giving it in class.

(*) Blank transparencies are available from Instructional Lab, Rm. A132.  A Windows XP computer with PowerPoint and an LCD projector will be provided for presentations; bring your ppt talk on a memory stick. You may also bring your own computer.

Resources:


SBU Mandated Note:

If you have a physical psychiatric/emotional, medical or learning disability that may impact on your ability to carry out the assigned course work, we urge you that you contact the staff in the Disabled Student Services office (DSS) in Room 133, Humanities, 632-6748/TDD. DSS will review your concerns, and determine, with you, what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation of disability is confidential.

Past announcements: