Concept
Every month, a Ph.D. student or postdoc has the opportunity to give a talk. The topic is freely chosen by the speaker.
Recently, future doctors had the opportunity to introduce their Ph.D. defense during this seminar. In this case, the presentation aims to give, in a comprehensible way, the tools to understand the impending Ph.D. defense which if often more technical.
The goal of this seminar is multiple. First of all, it is a good exercise of public presentation (specially for young researchers) and vulgarization. Indeed, the talk must be understandable. Everyone, with a master degree in mathematics, should be able to understand even if they are working on completely different fields. Therefore, basis concepts and notations should be defined in order to facilitate the unanimous comprehension of the talk.
Moreover, it is an opportunity to communicate with colleagues about our research fields and, for the audience, to learn new things in mathematics.
Practical details
The talk should last about 45 minutes. The speaker can use the black board and/or slides. The presentation is interactive as the audience can ask questions during the talk. The presentation is usually given in English but sometimes, according to the audience, it can be done in French.
The talk is always followed by a drink (see the planning), which gives the opportunity to exchange impressions in a more friendly way.
Finally, the active participation or a regular attendance at the seminars entitles Ph.D. students to acquire ECTS credits for their doctoral training.
History
The concept of comprehensible seminar came from Institut Fourier at Université de Grenoble where it is organized since 2005. This seminar was imported in Liege in 2011 by Marie Kreusch and Elise Vandomme, two Ph.D. students in mathematics at the ULg. Since 2014, Marie Ernst and Julien Raskin, both Ph.D. students at the Department of Mathematics, took the helm of its organisation.