Aarhus University Seal

2018

The PhD day is an annual event taking place in January as a joint venture between the PhD Association and the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University. The day seeks to bring PhD students together to meet with each other and network across the broad diversity of scientific fields within health sciences that are represented at the faculty.

Furthermore, the day features a keynote lecture by an international profile together with a theme of current importance for researchers in general. In addition, the Fogh-Nielsen prize competition will be held.

The day is devoted to you and your research. As a PhD student you will either present your own research to your peers as well as to more experienced researchers, or act as chairs during the presentations. This is an opportunity to strengthen your dissemination skills through valuable experience in communicating your research.  

All participants (PhD students, research year students, supervisors and other academic staff, etc.) are invited to a party in the evening to conclude the PhD Day.

Practical information on PhD Day 2018

Stay updated on the next PhD day!

When it is made public, you will find practical information and documents such as the invitation, the (preliminary) programme, the abstract book (draft or final) etc. on this site.

  • Invitation to PhD Day 2018
  • Programme for PhD Day 2018
  • Register for the PhD Day dinner and party - here 

    DINNER PARTY
    Join the PhD Day dinner party at Centralværkstedet, Aarhus C.
    The evening will start on Friday 26 January at 6:30 pm and finish at 02:00 am at Centralværkstedet, Værkmestergade 9, 8000 Aarhus C.
    A three course meal will be served, followed by awarding prestigious prizes and a festive speech.

    After dinner there will be music from a DJ.

    The price for all this is 175 DKR.
    Deadline at latest 19 January 2018

 

We look forward to seeing you at the PhD Day 2018!

About participation in PhD Day

PhD Day is a mandatory part of the PhD programme at Health. It is expected that all PhD students participate in PhD Day at least twice during the enrolment period. Absence due to e.g. maternity/paternity leave, sick leave, illness, or studying abroad is of course allowed.

  • First year PhD students and research year students are invited to submit abstracts and present a poster.
  • Second year PhD students are requested to submit abstracts and give a poster presentation.
  • Third year PhD students are requested to submit an abstract and participate as co-chairs or by giving an oral presentation.

Once you have submitted your abstract, you are automatically signed up for participation in the PhD Day.
All PhD students that submit abstracts and participate actively during the day are awarded 1 ECTS credit.

For supervisors

All supervisors are invited to participate in the PhD Day, and to contribute as chair for an oral or a poster session.

Abstract submission

All PhD students at Health should submit an abstract describing either the results obtained or (for those who have only just started) describing the project. The abstracts will be presented in the abstract book (available in January).

How to submit your abstract

You submit your abstract via the abstract system. To login please use the same access credentials as for the Course Calendar.
The deadline for abstract submission is 1 November 2017.

The maximum number of characters for abstracts is 1700 (including spaces).

When submitting the abstract you are asked to:

  • Specify your current year in PhD
  • Choose if your research is “basic” or “clinical”
  • Choose the key words that best describe your area of research
  • (only third year PhD students) Choose your preferred role as “co-chairman” or “oral”

You must write the name of your main supervisor, as well as specify which graduate programme (GP) you are enrolled in (GP: BiomedicineGP: ClinFO (Clinical Medicine, Odontology and Forensic Medicine) or GP: Public Health.

Even if you have not had any new results within the last year, you are still expected to participate in the PhD Day and to submit an abstract. Do not reuse an old abstract – rephrase it and give it a new title.

Your abstract will be included in the PhD Day abstract book, which will be available each year in January. Once the abstract book is available, you can find your role (poster presentation, oral presentation or chairman) by searching for your name.

Fogh-Nielsen prize competition

The Consul Johannes Fogh-Nielsen’s and Mrs Ella Fogh-Nielsen’s Legacy will award DKK 100,000 for the continuation of excellent research efforts by PhD students enrolled at Health, Aarhus University.

The grant is awarded for research purposes and is intended to support projects implementing new studies based on published research results achieved during the PhD studies.

The following conditions must be met in order for the application to be considered:

  • The grant must not previously have been applied for 
  • The grant is available only to PhD students in the final stage of their PhD studies (for further information, see call in the right side bar)
  • The applicant must be enrolled as a PhD student at Health on the date of application
  • The applicant must participate in the relevant PhD Day and have submitted an abstract for the day

Submit your application to graduateschoolhealth@au.dk – deadline to be found in the call when available (see right sidebar).

How to present at the competition

Three candidates are selected on the basis of the applications, and they are to present their project in a ten-minute lecture (in English) on PhD Day followed by five minutes for questions.

The Fogh-Nielsen presentation excludes that the candidates participate in the PhD Day with a regular poster/oral presentations or as a chairman.

Award of the grant

An appraisal of the presentation and the subsequent discussion will be included in the overall assessment. The grant is expected to be divided into three parts and will be awarded on the basis of the final assessment, which will be announced during the PhD Day evening party.

Poster presentations

Each year around 300-400 posters are presented. The posters are divided into groups and each group has two chairmen.

The poster presenter is asked to give a four minutes oral presentation followed by two minutes for discussion. The chairmen will select the best poster, which will be rewarded with a prize. Session winners from previous years can be found in the section “PhD Day archive”.

Criteria for selection of best posters

The chairmen will be asked to make their selection on the basis of the following points:

  • Intelligibility to someone outside your field
  • Layout (relation between text and illustrations)
  • Clarity (purpose, hypothesis)
  • Logical presentation
  • The stage of the presenter's PhD project will be taken into account

Poster content and poster presentation

The poster should contain the background for the project, the aim of the project, the methods used, the results that have been obtained and the conclusions.

The content of the poster should be understandable without requiring an oral explanation. Avoid large tables of data. Your poster should encourage discussion, not merely present complex methods and results.

A poster presentation should include a) the background and purpose for the study, b) the main findings, and c) a round off with a conclusion, if possible, and future perspectives. All posters must be presented in English.

Printing

Posters can be printed free of charge by SUN-TRYK, the printing facility at Health.

E-mail your poster to ja@sun-tryk.au.dk as an attached file. File-format must be PDF (all fonts embedded) or Powerpoint.

The deadline for submitting posters for printing is 3 January 2018.

Poster session details

Please make sure to meet the following requirements regarding your poster:

  • The poster should be no larger than 70 cm wide by 112 cm tall. This narrow format is necessary due to the limited space available
  • The text should be large enough to read from a distance of 1½ meter
  • Results presented in a graph format are effective
  • The poster should be used as basis for the short oral presentation
  • Poster number, poster-session as well as location for each poster group will be announced on this website during December
  • Pins to mount your poster will be provided on the day
  • Posters should be hung up between 16:30 and 19:00 on 25 January or
    between 7:30 and 8:00 on 26 January.

  • Posters may be removed from 12:30 on 26 January 2018. Posters that have not been removed at 15.15 will be placed near the reception desk in The Lakeside Lecture Theatres and can be collected after conclusion of the scientific programme of the PhD day. No responsibility will be taken for posters which have not been picked up at the end of the day

Oral presentations

A selection of the submitted abstracts is chosen for oral presentation. If your abstract is chosen, you will receive a notification from the Organizing Committee or the PhD administration.

The selection of abstracts for oral presentations on PhD Day will be based on the following:

  • The ability to present your abstract in a manner that relates to the theme set for the given PhD Day
  • The scientific quality of the presented research and the coherency of the abstract.

There are 10 minutes for the presentation followed by five minutes for questions. The presentation

should correspond to a presentation given at a conference.

The presentation should be understandable to non-specialists and it is recommended that you limit your presentation to a maximum of ten slides.

The presentation should be created in PowerPoints for PC. Please bring your presentation on a USB key and make sure to check that everything works.

Prize for best presentation

Session chairmen will select the best presentation which is rewarded with a prize. The chairmen will take into account how far your project has come. In addition, the following aspects are taken into consideration:

  • The presentation is comprehensible to people outside the research area
  • Slides are easy to read and comprehend
  • The relationship between presentation and illustrations is obvious
  • Slides support the presentation
  • The purpose of the presentation (hypothesis) is clear
  • The content is presented in a logical sequence (progression)
  • The conclusion is unambiguous

Session winners from previous years can be found in the section "PhD Day archive".

Chairman and co-chairman

Oral session

Two senior chairmen and one co-chair (3rd year PhD student) will be assigned to each of the oral sessions. Selected third-year PhD students present their work followed by questions from the chairmen and other listeners. After the session the chairmen select the PhD student who presented the best lecture. He, or she, will receive an award at the end of the day.

Find your instructions as chairman/co-chair of an oral session (PDF)

Poster sessions

One senior chairman and two co-chairs (3rd year PhD students) will be assigned to each of the poster sessions. The PhD/research year students will present their work followed by questions from the chairmen and other listeners. After the session the chairmen select the PhD student who presented the best entries. He, or she, will then receive a poster award at the end of the day.

Find your instructions as chairman/co-chair of a poster session  (PDF)

JCD Prize

The JCD Prize – Honouring the extraordinary PhD Supervisor
By the PhD Association Health and the Graduate School of Health

Is your PhD supervisor someone who combine scientific expertise with an outstanding ability to mentor you as a young scientist? Does your supervisor make a remarkable effort to create a working environment that is both scientifically inspiring as well as socially enjoyable? Is your supervisor available when needed, encouraging, and so committed to your project that your latest breakthrough saved both of your days?

If so, you should nominate your supervisor for                          

             The JCD Prize –  Honouring the extraordinary PhD Supervisor

The award was founded by the PhD Association in 2012, in the name of Professor DMSc Jens Christian Djurhuus, in honour of his long-standing work with and for the PhD students at Aarhus University, Health.

Both main- and co-supervisors are eligible for nomination, and nominees do not need to be employed by Aarhus University. Only nominations from current PhD students and PhD students who have obtained their degree in 2017 will be taken into consideration. We welcome applications made by groups who wish to jointly nominate their supervisor. The names of all the nominating PhD students must be listed, and anonymous nominations will not be taken into consideration.

Let us know why your supervisor deserves the JCD Prize.
If you wish to nominate your supervisor or co-supervisor, please write a short recommendation (max 2400 characters incl. spaces, in English) and send it to Helle Mellerup hmel@au.dk.
You need to make your nomination no later than the 11th of December, 2017. Afterwards, an assessment committee consisting of representatives from the PhD Association (PhD students) will select this year’s winner.

The JCD Prize winner will be named at the PhD Day 2018, Friday the 26th of January, 2018 during the evening party at Centralværkstedet. In addition to the honour, the winner is awarded DKK 25,000.

 
The above call can be found as a pdf using this link

 

PhD Day archive

Are you looking for information on previous PhD Days? See our PhD Day archive.