Undergraduates present scientific posters in English

From the classroom to the international congress – this was the purpose of the activity held on Tuesday (11) by IMPA Tech undergraduates at IMPA’s headquarters in the Botanical Garden. The students from the class of 2024 took part in a scientific poster session in English, as part of the final assessment of the subject “English 2”, taught in the second semester of the undergraduate course.

The event transformed the academic space into a real simulation of a scientific conference, in which students presented and discussed their scientific initiation papers and literature reviews. The activity marked the end of a learning cycle focused on academic writing and communication in English – and is already set to become an annual tradition.

The proposal is the result of a course that began in the first semester with the subject “English 1”, the aim of which is to level out the students’ linguistic knowledge and introduce them to more academic English – covering everything from formal and structural aspects of the language to phonetics and phonology. The second semester is dedicated to scientific writing, in which students learn how to produce abstracts, articles and other academic textual genres.

“We wanted them to have a practical congress experience,” explains Professor Rafael Beraldo, who is responsible for the activity. “The poster format allows everyone to practice oral communication in English. It’s a realistic simulation – with unforeseen events, unexpected questions. It’s important to have the experience of seeing the teachers speaking in English, of speaking in English with these teachers. This makes the process more natural. They can understand what their weaknesses and strengths are for future presentations at conferences.”

The posters presented were based on scientific initiation projects and literature reviews developed during the course. In total, there were 32 posters, covering the four emphases of the degree: Physics, Data Science, Computer Science and Mathematics.

The event was attended by IMPA researchers Robert Morris and Roberto Imbuzeiro, the institute’s project scientist Lucas Nissenbaum; IMPA Tech professors Cilene Rodrigues, Uéverton Souza and Asla Medeiros, and partners from invited institutions Levi Azevedo, from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), and Fernando de Mello, from CBPF (Brazilian Center for Physics Research).

More than an evaluation, the meeting was an opportunity for the students to experience the dynamics of an international scientific congress – from the visual and textual preparation of the poster to the oral defense in a second language.

Arthur Zanetti, one of the participants, presented a poster on the Jordan-Brouwer Theorem, exploring axiomatic homology. “It was a very interesting process. It’s a classic and beautiful theorem, and understanding its structure was enriching. What’s more, I was able to talk about it in English, which was really nice.”

Suelen Veiga worked on the interface between applied mathematics and physics, with a focus on acoustic fields. She says that her presentation to Professor Robert Morris, who is not from this specific area, “was interesting and super interactive”.

Suelen also highlighted the challenge of presenting in English for the first time. “It was a big challenge, but an incredible experience. I learned a lot and gained confidence. Next time, it’ll only be half as hard – and then it’ll get easier.”

The success of the event consolidated the proposal to integrate English teaching with scientific practice. For Beraldo, this approach is essential. “Our aim is to be able to combine the principles of this subject, which are essentially linguistic, textual, with the scientific, academic objectives that the students have in the rest of the subjects and with their journey as researchers, as professionals.”