Tips for Speakers
In 2020-2022 seminares were mostly virtual. Since 2023, we are trying to do them hybrid, have ~2 per month, 1 with a local speaker and 1 with a visitor or remote.
Same formula: Monday, 3pm, 30 min + questions
We look forward to your visit! The Institute is a very lively place with many opportunities for scientific collaboration. Here are a few tips to help you with your visit:
Location: STScI is located at 3700 San Martin Dr., just behind the Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus. It is easily accessible by walking, public bus, car, or taxi. When you arrive, please park in the front traffic circle and talk to the security guard at the front desk. They can direct you to a parking garage and call up to your host's office.
Audience: The Institute has approximately 780 employees, of which about ~150 or so are PhD scientists. The rest are primarily a mix of postdocs, administrative staff, engineers, and software developers. The typical SPF audience has 10-30 people so the atmosphere is informal. The audience tends to be a mix of staff scientists and postdocs, with some graduate students.
Talk Titles and Abstracts: About 2-3 weeks before your visit, please send your host a talk title and abstract. Because the Institute is such a busy place, in any given week there are at least 3-5 talks. If you are looking for more than a few people to attend, a pithy and catchy title is a must to rise above the general noise of seminars, talks, and meetings each person at the Institute faces each week. The added bonus of a simple title is that you may also draw some non-specialists to your talk!
Meeting with people: Since you will probably be here for the day, please consider who you might want to meet with, as with point 3 many people are busy so if you single them out, you will have better success at scheduling a meeting with someone. Check the Research Staff Directory and don't hesitate to ask your host for suggestions.
Presentation Style: STScI has state-of-the-art high resolution projectors and the appropriate connections for your laptop/iPad/tablet. Generally you will be presenting in an auditorium that does not have good visibility for the bottom few lines of the screen. As with any presentation, a clear style can better convey your message!
Coordinate with Other Institutions! Carnegie-DTM, University of Maryland, and Goddard all have seminars and talks with a similar focus are within an hour drive/train ride from STScI. Please consider contacting them as well to make your visit more efficient.