Enhance your career with the Organic Division poster symposium

Dedicated entirely to posters, the competitive symposium is a key highlight in the Organic Division programme each year. The symposium is being held online on 6 December 2021. It offers a fantastic opportunity for final year organic chemistry PhD students based in the UK and Ireland to present their research and network with peers alongside leading academic and industrial chemists.

Meet the Chair of the Scientific Committee

Professor AnnMarie O’Donoghue (Durham University) shares her experiences of the poster symposium and tips on preparing a good scientific abstract.

How long have you been involved with the ODPS?

I first joined the Scientific Committee of the ODPS in 2017-2018. More recently I acquired the position of Chair of the Scientific Committee in 2021 and again for 2022. Also, through involvement with the RSC Organic Division Council have attended the ODPS annually since 2014.

What are the benefits in attending the event/how can presenting a poster at this event help final year PhD students?

The ODPS is an excellent opportunity to showcase your research to your peers and also to academics/industrialists from across the UK and Ireland. The ODPS is also an excellent forum for generating ideas and progressing research both through conversions at posters and from seeing the projects of other final year PhD students. It is a very competitive selection process with substantially more applicants than places available at the final ODPS. There are also several prizes for best posters in different categories.

How can attending the online ODPS help build networks and connections?

Attendees at the ODPS include top academics and industrialists from across the UK and Ireland. The full scientific breadth of modern organic chemistry is represented through the attendees and poster presenters from biological chemistry through to physical organic chemistry. This creates an ideal environment for building networks and connections to support a future career in organic chemistry in its broadest sense. Furthermore, the ODPS incorporates a flash poster component, which provides an additional opportunity to attract attention to the skills of the poster presenter and their research expertise.

What are your tips on preparing a good scientific abstract for the symposia?

I recommend that applicants read the instructions provided by the RSC in full. The abstract should make the broader relevance and novelty of the research discussed in the abstract clear to the Scientific Committee. Importantly, the abstract should highlight the individual research contribution of the applicant. The inclusion of a high-quality Figure/Scheme to support the text is recommended.

The conclusions of the research should be clear. The poster selection committee is comprised of academics and industrialists with a spread of expertise in different areas of organic chemistry to ensure the best poster abstracts are selected. The Scientific Committee strives to include representation in the final poster session from across the full scientific breadth of modern organic chemistry.