A: Projectors and laptops can be borrowed from tech services on level 6. You must first make a booking using the item booking system.
A: Since the seminar co-ordinators change periodically, you should email 
rather than individuals whom you think are currently the seminar co-ordinator. And since this email has long been published on the web (the bitmap versions used here now were far too late to save it from drowning in the sewer of filth the on the internet), the current (2008) seminar co-ordinator uses a filter which discards any email not from a university (.edu[.*] or .ac[.*]) address. Therefore, you should use an official university (Department or central) email address for correspondence with the seminar co-ordinator.
A: Whilst you're not expected to attend them all, you are strongly encouraged to come to as many as possible. Currently regular attendees are disappointingly few, and a number of people only attend talks given by other members of their own research group.
A: Many people don't see the point of doing this. However, there are a number of reasons why you should consider it:
- It will give you an opportunity to broaden your knowledge of other CS disciplines
- The talk may touch on subjects you have an interest in
- The presenter may be tackling some problems similar to yours, and can give you a new perspective on how to solve them
- It will give you an opportunity to get to know other postgrads and what they're working on
- The talk should never be so far over your head that attending is a complete waste of time - if it is, a (polite!) word to the speaker and/or seminar coordinator may be in order
A: There are several reasons why you might choose to present one of these seminars:
- Other members of the department will find out what you're working on, and may have knowledge or expertise that might help you with your work
- You'll be able to practise your presentation skills in a friendly environment
- Somebody who attends may be able to give you new insight into a problem that is currently causing you difficulties
- You're expected to make at least one presentation to the department per year anyway, and are strongly encouraged to present one of these
- They're really not all that difficult to do
- It'll stop the postgrad seminar coordinators hounding you
A: We certainly don't expect anyone to give a seminar in their first, say, 6 months of study, but after that, I would expect most people should be able to present something. Remember, these talks are not supposed to be technical. A quite appropriate talk to give would be an overview of the area you're working in, why you find it interesting, and perhaps which direction you're hoping to pursue, along with any ideas you've had. That's it - no results necessary. And don't be afraid to say "I don't know" during your presentation.
A: We welcome all presentations. A presentation in the postgraduate seminar series might also help you gain some funding ($$$) for your conference trip from the department. However, conference papers tend to be too specialized so it will be useful if you could generalize your presentation for the benefit of the other postgrads attending the seminar.
A: Contact the
postgraduate seminar
coordinators (Email: ) and
let them know, even if you won't be ready to give your talk for a
while
yet - advance bookings are always welcome.
A: Simon Peyton Jones et al. have written a paper which you may find useful. It is titled, "How to give a good research talk," and may be found in
/local/dept/papers/glasgow/giving-a-talk.ps
on most machines in the department.