Abstract & Presentation Instructions

Top of Page

Abstract & Presentation Instructions

Introduction

Submitters to all categories are encouraged to follow the instructions below as they greatly facilitate timely preparation of the conference program. They are particularly important to student competitors as failure to follow these instructions will result in deductions to your overall score.

Common Mistakes

COMMON ABSTRACT SUBMISSION MISTAKES

Authors & Affiliations

A student should never be the only author on a scientific presentation. Check with your supervisor on who should be listed.
For the author field, only list initials of first name(s) and last name (no middle name initials) of all authors.
- E.g., Sean Westerveld = S. Westerveld, Mary Ruth McDonald = M.R. McDonald
Indicate affiliations by putting a number in brackets after the author name in the author field, and then the same number before the appropriate affiliation in the affiliation field. Affiliations should include only the department (for universities only), the institution, city, provincial postal abbreviation (e.g. ON), and country. Do not include building names, street addresses, unit numbers, postal codes, telephone numbers, or email addresses in this field.
- E.g., Author field: S. Westerveld (1), R. Riddle (2), F. Shi (3); Affiliation field: (1) Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, Simcoe, ON, Canada; (2) Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, Simcoe, ON, Canada; (3) Ontario Ginseng Growers Association, Simcoe, ON, Canada

Abstract

Keep abstracts to 250 words or less.
Spelling and grammar often lead to lost marks. Consider having your abstract reviewed by a third party before submitting. Do not rely on autocorrecting. Note: the form will not accept italics or special characters. You will not lose marks for these issues.

DEADLINES

Every year students lose considerable marks in the competition for failing to meet one or more deadlines. All deadlines, not just the submission deadline, count towards your score. You will be given clear instructions on the deadlines upon acceptance into the competition.

General oral and poster presenters must meet the acceptance and registration deadlines to allow for program preparation and conference advertising. Failure to accept your presentation spot by the deadline could result in loss of your presentation spot.

Deadlines

Additional Information

ADDITIONAL STUDENT COMPETITION INFORMATION

Deadlines

Poster Competition Format

Student poster judging will occur via Zoom in the week prior to the conference. Students will be able to sign up for a 15-minute judging time slot on one of 2 separate dates, where they will briefly present their poster and answer questions from the judges. In order to qualify for an award, students are also required to present their posters during the morning and afternoon breaks on the day of the conference. Further instructions will be provided to students chosen to participate.

Eligibility of Data

Data presented in graduate student competitions must be generated by the student or under the student’s supervision. There are always co-authors that share the ownership, but this is what qualifies as your “own data”.

Data generated by past students or staff in your lab does not qualify as your own data but can be added as a supplement as long as your own data still qualifies you for the category.

Literature reviews or research proposals alone are not accepted in any category.

Competition Judging

Students in oral and poster categories will be scored by a panel of judges using standardized judging forms. The full scoring criteria will be sent to all competitors upon acceptance into the competition.

Post-Acceptance

POST-ACCEPTANCE INSTRUCTIONS (ALL CATEGORIES)

Successful submitters in all categories will be expected to register for the conference shortly after notification of their acceptance. Further instructions will be provided upon acceptance. Failure to follow all instructions will also reduce the student’s score in the competition and may affect their continued acceptance in the competition.

Format - Oral

ORAL PRESENTATION FORMAT & INSTRUCTIONS

Presentations must be 12 minutes in length + 3 minutes for questions and discussion
Use Power Point format. To avoid incompatibility problems, limited use of animation is recommended.
Student presenters will be required to send a PDF copy of their presentation to the judging coordinator a few days prior to the conference (Deadline to be sent upon acceptance) to help facilitate judging.
General oral presenters will be encouraged to send a copy of their presentation for posting on the OPMC website after the conference.
All oral presenters (student and general) must bring a copy of their presentation on a USB memory stick to the conference.

Format - Poster

POSTER PRESENTATION FORMAT & INSTRUCTIONS

Posters must be 4’ (height) x 3’ (width), portrait format. The header should include the title, authors and institution where the work was conducted. Photos of the presenting author can be included on the right side of the header.
Student competitors must be present at the poster during the morning and afternoon breaks. General poster presenters are encouraged but are not required to be present at their posters during the breaks.
For the student competition only, a PDF copy of your poster must be sent to the judging coordinator by email (instructions to follow) approximately 10 days prior to the conference (deadline to be sent upon acceptance) so judges can review poster content in advance. Failure to submit a copy of your poster by this time will result in disqualification from the competition.
Posters will be pre-judged in the week prior to the conference. Students will receive more instructions upon acceptance.
Posters can be set up on the board displaying your assigned Poster Number beginning at 8:00 am on the day of the conference and must remain in place until afternoon break is over. Any posters not claimed at the end of the conference will be removed and discarded by organizers unless other arrangements have been made.

SUBMIT ABSTRACT HERE

RETURN TO CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Download Abstract & Presentation Instructions