INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANNUAL RESEARCH DAY 2009

Participation in Annual Research Day is mandatory for all students in the School of Graduate Studies who have reached their third year and is encouraged for College of Medicine students, Public Health students, post-doctoral fellows, graduate medical fellows and residents who have research to present. Participants are eligible to compete for a travel award to an approved professional meeting (with expenses up to $1,500).

Eligibility is based on receipt of an application and abstract for either a Platform (talk) or Poster presentation by Friday, March 13, 2009, and the presentation of that talk or poster on April 15, 2009. All other presentations will be poster presentations. All platform presentations will be judged. A committee of referees will choose the platform speakers from among the abstracts submitted in this category. The decision to judge a poster will be based on when the abstract is received and the content of the submitted abstract. Medical residents and medical fellows who submit abstracts are expected to attend and present their posters if they are chosen in the initial review process.

If for any reason you will be unable to present on April 15, 2009, you must indicate this on your application due by March 13, 2009, and you must make arrangements to have your poster put up on Research Day. Soon after Research Day, a poster session (only) will be scheduled to allow you to present your poster.

Platform Presentations

It is expected that ten minutes will be dedicated to the formal talk and five minutes will be reserved for answering questions from the judges and audience. The Platform sessions will run from 10am to 12:30 p.m. The schedule of presentations will be finalized in the week before Annual Research Day.

Posters

• Dimensions are approximately 60" in width and 40" in height.
• Participants must mount posters in the HSEB Lobby at 1pm on April 15.
• The Poster Session will run from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Judges will be at half the posters between 1:30 and 3:00 and at the other half between 2:30 and 4:00. Students will be assigned to stand by their posters for one of the two sessions.

Abstract: Maximum of 2000 characters, including spaces and the title, submitted through e-mail or on a disk in any standard word-processing (Windows) program (Word for Windows preferred). Do not change fonts for symbols, characters must be inserted. Do not include lists or tables in the abstract. Define abbreviated terms in the text when they are initially used (unless they are commonly understood). The abstract should include the rationale for the research, a brief description of the methods, the results, and a brief discussion of the results and their significance in the context of the literature. When submitting a file, please name the file using your own last name (do not call the file "abstract"). Use the following format:

Your Name_______________Research Sponsor: His or Her Name (not the Department)

Title (Title Case - not ALL CAPS)

Abstract text (single spaced)..

Travel Awards for a Scientific Meeting

Faculty and alumni of Downstate Medical Center will judge each abstract and poster or platform presentation. At least one travel award will be granted in the platform competition, and at least one award will be granted in each discipline category of the poster competition. The Mildred Schuker Travel Fellowship will be awarded for an outstanding Graduate Student platform presentation. A Travel Fellowship from - World Leaders in Optical Tomography - will be awarded to an outstanding poster presentation in the category of Biomedical Engineering.

The Travel Fellowship will reimburse or pay up to a maximum $1,500 for travel expenses to an approved national scientific meeting. Travel and payment must be made before the next Annual Research Day, so long as the student awardee is still enrolled and in good standing in SUNY Downstate Medical Center or the employee awardee is still employed here.