PHY291 Proseminar in Experimental Physics

Thursdays, 10:15 - 12:00, UZH Y36K08  - Irchel Campus - online
2 ETCS points (60 h)

Language: English
Attendance: mandatory, at least 80% of presentations
Grading: failed/passed

With a focus on the experimental aspect, we will cover Nobelprizes (NP) in Physics and Chemistry, where the Noble lecture shall be the starting point for the 25 minutes presentations.

The students may pick their coaches and the NP suggested by these coaches in a random order which will be determined during the first proseminar. From the coaches' list of suggested NP, the student picks one. 

The format attempts to simulate a conference environment in which you present your findings to a peer audience, which is composed of your fellow students. 

After successful participation in the proseminar, the student will have learned:

1. to use the basic methods of literature retrieval

2. to condense the knowledge from scientific sources into a presentation

3. to obtain good presentation skills

4. details about the experimental aspects and methods of research 

5. how to connect with and get support from their coach

6. to answer to questions/comments to their presentation

The talks should take 25 minutes, additional 15 minutes are reserved for questions and discussion.

Evaluation criteria:

1. structure and organization of the talk

2. presentation of basic knowledge

3. presentation of advanced aspects

4. quality and relevance of presented formulae and figures

5. the clarity of the presentation

6. the ability to present the topic with excitement and enthusiasm

7. time keeping

8. the ability to answer questions and comments

9. quality of questions from the audience

10. use of scientific references and correct citation

11. the participation on your colleagues' presentations

 

The grade (fail/pass) is composed of your own presentation, your replies to the comments/questions to your presentation, and your participation in the presentation of your colleagues (commenting/question on at least 80% of the presentations mandatory). 

You are selecting the 3 best comments/questions for your talk, which serves as the basis for selecting the student with the best participation. 

The presentations are ranked by the coaches and the best will receive an award. 

 

Timeline:

Before Thursday:  (1) A Youtube link to the recorded talk (or the video file) is sent to coordinator (Johan Chang). 

Thursday morning:  The coordinator sends the link to all people involved. 

The next Tuesday evening:  Questions are closed.

The next Wednesday evening:  Answers from the presenter are closed.

The next Thursday:  Coordinator receives feedbacks from the coach and referees.

 

Documents (sharepoint)

Handout Introduction to Literature Research: link

 

Examples of talks

Below are three examples of previous proseminar talks

Topic: The development of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy
Speaker: Mischa Stifter

Topic: Néel antiferromagnetism
Speaker: Christopher Binz

Topic: Discovery of fullerenes
Speaker: Stefanie Jucker

 

pan#	date	speaker	topic	coach	referees
	23.02.2023 10:15-12:00	Johan Chang Brigitte Decrausaz	Introduction Johan's Slides (PDF, 4 MB) Brigitte's Slides (PDF, 6 MB)
	02.03.2023	Anna Veron	Literature research
	09.03.2023	Anna Veron	Literature research
	16.03.2023		Preparation week
1	23.03.2023	Corina Spreiter	Invention of the Bubble Chamber Physics NP 1960	Patrick Owen	Lea Caminada
2	23.03.2023	Gabriel Cuénod	Higgs Boson Discovery Physics NP 2013	Lea Caminada	Patrick Owen
3	30.03.2023	Elisabeth Fitze	Neutron Scattering and Spectroscopy Physics NP 1994	Marc Janoschek	Jan Unkelbach
4	30.03.2023	Ahmed El Akhrass	Computer Assisted Tomography Medicine NP 1979	Jan Unkelbach	Marc Janoschek
5	06.04.2023	Tenzin Peldon Lhasam	Graphene Physics NP 2010	Tatiana Latychevskaia	Johan Chang
6	06.04.2023	Kaya Vogler	Quasi Crystals Chemistry NP 2011	Johan Chang	Tatiana Latychevskaia
7	13.04.2023	Nina-Michelle Baumberger	Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy Physics NP 1986	Fabian Natterer	Andreas Schilling
8
9	13.04.2023	James O'Leary	Blue LED Light Physics NP 2014	Thomas Greber	Fabian Natterer
10	20.04.2023	Banurega Shanmuganathan	Neutrino Oscillations Physics NP 2015	Laura Baudis	Ben Kilminster
11	20.04.2023	Esteban Tapia Peñas	Discovery of Lepton Tau and Neutrino Detection Physics NP 1995	Ben Kilminster	Laura Baudis
12	27.04.2023	Pedro Miguel Marques Maia	Anti-Proton Physics NP 1957	Florencia Canelli	Patrick Owen
13	27.04.2023	Thomas Maher	CP Violations Physics NP 1980	Patrick Owen	Ben Kilminster
14	27.04.2023	Martin Lais	CCD sensor Physics NP 2009	Ben Kilminster	Florencia Canelli
15	04.05.2023	Erisa Ismaili	Giant Magnetoresistance Physics NP 2007	Fabian Natterer	Tatiana Latychevskaia
16	04.05.2023	Thamayanth Kanagalingam	Optical Tweezers Physics NP 2018	Christof Aegerter	Fabian Natterer
17	11.05.2023	Dominik Flückiger	Gravitational Waves Physics NP 2017	Philippe Jetzer	Laura Baudis
18	11.05.2023	Mirco Bussmann	Exoplanet Physics NP 2019	Julian Adamek	Philippe Jetzer
19	11.05.2023	Jasmin Kobel	Cosmic Microwave Background Physics NP 2006	Laura Baudis	Julian Adamek
20	18.05.2023	Thomas Vollrath	Discovery of weak neutral currents Physics NP 1979	Patrick Owen	Johan Chang
21	18.05.2023	Severin Flückiger	DNA Structure Medicine NP 1962	Johan Chang	Patrick Owen
22	25.05.2023	Maryna Mesiura	Accelerating Universe Physics NP 2011	Julian Adamek	Christof Aegerter
23	25.05.2023	Adel Abdulsater	Climate Change & Complex Systems Physics NP 2021	Christof Aegerter	Julian Adamek
	01.06.2023		Summary & Award

Anna Veron anna.veron@ub.uzh.ch

Johan Chang johan.chang@physik.uzh.ch