Information for Chairs and Discussants

The main task of a chair is to moderate a session: you will introduce the presenter, the discussant(s) and the structure of the session (depending on the presentation form). During the presentation and the discussion you will keep track of time. For all paper presentation sessions we have assigned two discussants, to give PhD candidates the opportunity to practice their future role as a discussant.

Furthermore, you will lead the discussion and involve the audience. The chair should facilitate the discussion to make sure participants get an opportunity to participate in the discussion. The chair should also ensure that the PhD candidate acts as the first discussant and the staff member as the second discussant.

A feedback form will be handed out during the presentation to collect feedback from the audience on the way the candidate presented his PhD project. After the session, make sure all feedback forms are collected, and returned to the presenter.

Information for Discussants

As a discussant it is your role to give constructive and supporting feedback to the presenter on the content of their work. In order to be able to do so, you will receive the paper or summary of the work the PhD-student is going to present. Please keep in mind that the PhD-students possibly present their research (in English) for the first time and that this can be a challenging experience for them. Try to formulate your feedback in a constructive manner and provide the presenters with stimulating advice, so they can continue their research with new ideas and fresh motivation. The feedback should be given orally, (about 5 minutes per discussant). The discussant can hand over some written comments afterwards in case not all topics were covered during the discussion.

We would also like you to involve the audience in the discussion by creating a group discussion. For instance, raise an issue about the main results and discuss this issue with the presenter and the audience. The total time for discussion depends on the format the PhD-student has chosen. Minor points concerning the paper can be exchanged in written comments or by discussing them after the session. All presentations and discussions will be in English.

Duration of presentations and discussions