Science PowerPoint tips and tutorials

Continuing on our tradition of two updates a year, ScienceSlides opened its 5th year with the release of 9th edition! We have been able to build on the popularity of this program and further enhance the content and functionality of ScienceSlides. This new version incorporates further important improvements that we hope will be appreciated by our users. First and foremost, the content has been expanded and updated. New category Hypertension has been added to Molecular Pathology. Apoptosis has been completely updated in Signaling, Obesity and Diabetes in Molecular Pathology and Medicinal Chemistry in Pharmacology. In addition, numerous new drug mechanisms have been added to Pharmacology. All new and updated slides now incorporate references and, if connected to the Internet, individual abstracts may be instantly viewed for source information directly from PowerPoint.
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ScienceSlides opened its 4th year with the release of 7th edition! We have been able to build on the popularity of this program and further enhance the content and functionality of ScienceSlides. This new version incorporates several important improvements that we hope will be appreciated by our users. First and foremost, the content has been further expanded and updated and now includes cell-specific signaling, vesicle transport and microRNA sections in Signaling category. Several Signaling sub-categories, such as Cytokine and GPCR Signaling, as well as many other sub-categories in Biochemistry, Biology, CommonShapes have been updated too. More than 200 new compounds, including many new drugs under clinical development, have been added to Pharmacology category. All new and updated slides now incorporate references and, if connected to the Internet, individual abstracts may be instantly viewed for source information.
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Another example where Curve Tool is especially useful is drawing of microRNA. Refer to “Using Curve Tool to draw complex arrows, an apple and DNA”, “Essential Drawing Tools I” and “Setting up Your Personal Workspace” and other previous articles for more information on how to use it and how to place this tool’s icon in the bottom drawing bar for your convenience.
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I. Significance of Scientific Presentation.

Modern science is communicated in three basic ways: (1) written scientific articles (mostly pre-peer reviewed), (2) oral presentations (on-site peer review) and (3) postings on boards (posters) – in a sense a combination of written and oral communications. Oral scientific presentation is critical because it shows how much in command of your research you are. No hiding behind editing and polishing process of delayed written articles. Oral communications are scrutinized on site and speakers are challenged in an immediate way. Although written work is more permanent, and thus the record could be examined by more scientists in a delayed fashion, scientific presentations on conferences are viewed as more challenging. On the upside, scientific presentations, if done with care, could show a broader aspect of your research, tell more about the discovery process in your lab or at your bench and more readily let the people inside your reasoning.
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Attention: for scientists interested in improving their scientific presentations we invite to a ScienceSlides course, including ScienceSlides 2006 Fall Edition preview and tips on PowerPoint for scientists, on the NIH campus!

Course: 915 -06S, September 18, time: 10:30 - 11:30
Location: Building 12A, Room B51
Speaker: Jozef Spychala, Ph.D.
Course details: Go to NIH Course listings website

All scientists in Bethesda, Rockville and Washington, DC area are invited!

Visiscience Team

Curve Tool is also useful for drawing more complex objects. Here we describe how to draw complex arrow, objects like an apple and DNA segment that could be used to create the impression of twisted DNA. Refer to “Essential Drawing Tools I”, “Setting up Your Personal Workspace” and ”Using Curve Tool…” previous articles for more information on basics drawing strategies in PowerPoint.
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Among simple drawing tools that are available in PowerPoint, Curve Tool is especially useful for drawing curved lines, arrows and irregular closed objects. Because of its general utility, it should be always available for immediate action in bottom toolbar in PowerPoint as a separate button. Refer to “Essential Drawing Tools I” and “Setting up Your Personal Workspace” previous articles for more information on how to place this tool’s icon in the bottom drawing bar.

In contrast to Freeform and Scribble tools, which also allow drawing curved lines and objects, the Curve tool lets you draw them in a more elegant way. By definition, line fragments (segments) between edit points are curved and this allows you to connect separate objects on the slide in a more creative way. Once the curved line or arrow is finished, using Edit Points dialog box, as we will show later, you can change the line curvature, make some segments within the curved line straight and other curved. Drawing curved lines and arrows is particularly useful when making a molecular biology signaling pathway slide. Here we demonstrate how to draw a simple curved line and arrow consisting of two segments (three editing points).
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Most students, technicians or scientists usually have some experience in PowerPoint that can be easily utilized to produce poster presentation. No need for using more expensive graphical software packages. All steps are just like making a slide – in this case - a very big slide for printing. If you have all your data already in PowerPoint slides then making the poster is a snap. Just copy each element: table, figure or text, and re-format right on your poster.
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Knowing how to work with colors, gradients, shading and reflections in PowerPoint may greatly help create more sophisticated effects for any general or scientific slide presentation. In this article we will show how to match colors, employ color gradients, shading and reflections. Read the rest of this entry »

Even small graphical enhancements in drawings depicting cellular structures may have a significant impact on the overall visual perception by the audience. Membrane structures are frequently used in biomedical presentations and, if done creatively, offer an opportunity to show biological processes in a visually attractive way. Here we will describe how to generate the impression of depth and perspective using membrane receptors and proteins within the membrane plane. Read the rest of this entry »