Colloquium

Senior Math Colloquium policies

Click here for current attendance count: Colloquium Attendance up to January 15, 2017

Every senior math major is required to prepare and deliver an acceptable colloquium talk or thesis presentation. Your talk should be between thirty and forty minutes. You can speak on any math/stat topic as long as it is interesting and new to you. Colloquium talks require meticulous preparation in close contact with a faculty advisor, over a period of at least a month.

The colloquium itself starts at 1:00 pm with 5 minutes of announcements, then the student talk, followed by questions, and then refreshments.

Every senior major is expected to attend, on average, at least one colloquium per week for the entire academic year (so you’ll want to keep that 1:00 pm time slot open for at least one of the two days). All seniors and other interested students should be sure to sign in on the attendance poster (or tablet!) during the refreshments that follow that colloquium. If you do not attend at least 21 colloquia (at most 5 of which can be previously recorded from your junior year), you will be dropped from the major. The colloquium you deliver counts as one of your 21. You can also count your attendance at the department’s Faculty Seminars on Fridays at 1:00 pm and the statistics colloquia on Fridays at 1:10. Also, there is a prize for best attendance at colloquia!

Some serious fine-print.

First, your colloquium presentation will be graded by faculty and you are required to earn a passing grade.

Second, good and polite etiquette requires arriving before 1:00 pm and showing some interest in the presentation (i.e. no texting). Late arrivals should enter through Bronfman 107, whenever possible.

Senior Statistics Colloquium policies

Click here for current attendance count

Every senior statistics major is required to prepare and deliver an acceptable colloquium talk or thesis presentation. Talks are 30 minutes long and can be on any statistical topic as long as it is new to the presenter. To pass the colloquium requirement, talks need to be accurate, engaging, and interesting to both the presenter and the audience. Colloquium talks require meticulous preparation in close contact with a faculty advisor (any of the statistics professors in residence or any other professor in the department), over a period of at least a month.

The colloquium itself starts at 1:10 pm with 2 minutes of announcements followed by a student talk (30 minutes). After each talk, there is a brief period for questions from the audience (thesis defenses have a much longer discussion section following the talk). Refreshments will be served at the end.

Every senior major is expected to attend most of the colloquium talks throughout the entire academic year (so you’ll want to keep that Wednesday 1:10 – 2 pm time slot open). In order to graduate with a statistics major, you will be required to attend 20 colloquia. The colloquium you deliver counts as one of your 20, and so do the organizational meeting and the kickoff colloquium. All seniors and juniors should be sure to sign in during the refreshments that follow the colloquium. If you attend a math or computer science colloquium, you may also count up to 6 attendances toward your total. At a math colloquium, please sign in on the tablet along with the math majors as we will share attendance information. For a CS colloquium, please email the Stat colloquium chair with a brief summary of the talk within a week of the attended talk to get credit. Also, there is a prize for best attendance at colloquia!

Some serious fine-print. First, your colloquium presentation will be graded by faculty and you are required to earn a passing grade. Second, good and polite etiquette requires arriving at colloquium before 1:10 pm and showing some interest in the presentation (i.e. no texting and no working on homework during the presentations).

Upcoming Talks