Housing@RMIT: Higher Degree by Research and Early Career Researchers Symposium 2025

The symposium will be held on Thursday 11 September 2025, 1pm – 5pm in the Megaflex Rooms (08.04.11-13), RMIT University City Campus.   

All symposium sessions are free, and HDR candidates, Early Career Academics, supervisors and all other academics are encouraged to participate.

Please join us and register! Registration is required for presenters, industry participants, and academic reviewers.  

* Please note this is an indicative program and subject to change. A detailed program will be made available closer to the symposium date. 

The symposium is an in-person event and will be held on Thursday the 11 September 2025. 

Important dates

Presentation information

The time limit per presenter is 5 minutes.

Theory

Good academic presentations can often be ruined when too much time is spent on theory at the outset. A conference presentation, unlike a thesis, does not require a long methodological introduction/theoretical contextualization of your case study. A short paragraph on theory/research method will suffice before moving on to analyse the material you want to discuss. Lengthy quotes from well-known (or even obscure) theorists only distract; delegates want to know what you think about your topic. If your presentation is aimed at engaging in a constructive dialogue with a previous theory, you will need to expound briefly on the theory you wish to discuss and then proceed as soon as possible to articulate your own ideas on the subject. Again, delegates want to know what you think about your topic, and you have only 5 minutes to do this. Following these guidelines will ensure that your presentation will impress, engage, and make an impact on your audience.

Using slides

To keep the presentation engaging and coherent slides should be used as a complement to the verbal portion of the presentation.

• Keep it simple, use the template
• Use key words or sentences the audience need to take away from that slide
• Keep to a consistent theme across your presentation
• Stick to a maximum of 6 points per slide and ensure that it is not too text heavy. For example, each bullet point should be brief.
• Avoid complicated models – if the model has no simpler version or cannot be simplified, do not use a title, have the image on its own in the slide so it is large enough for the audience to make it out clearly
• Use images to help the audience make sense of the subject. 

Presenting

The key to a successful presentation is having an interesting story to tell so presenters should consider how to formulate their presentation in a manner that will have a beginning, middle and an end. Consider the coherency and the flow of the transitions between the sections. Use effective body language to keep the audience engaged with the presentation. Finally, practise delivering the presentation in front of a mirror, consider your facial expressions, voice, intonation and maybe even introducing silence for impact.

Often an abstract proposes to cover too much material for a 5-minute presentation. For the presentation itself, it is very important to concentrate on one idea/argument, illustrated by preferably one to two examples. Video or audio examples should be avoided or limited to under 1.5 minutes. Keep in mind that this is an interdisciplinary symposium and sessions will include presenters and audience members from a variety of subject backgrounds. You will need to clarify any content-specific technical terms and make sure that you explain key concepts in lay language.

Memorising the presentation and keeping eye contact with the audience is a powerful way to keep an audience engaged. 

Contact

Please direct all enquiries to karien.dekker@rmit.edu.au or housing@rmit.edu.au

We look forward to seeing you at Housing@RMIT: Higher Degree by Research and Early Career Researchers Symposium 2025!

Role of the Chairperson

• Each presenter will present for approximately 5 minutes. The primary role of the Chairperson will be to facilitate the panel discussion, involving the presenters, referees and attendees.
• You may need to give a one-minute warning sign to let the presenter know that their time is almost up. 
• After the presenter has given a brief overview of their presentation, you can invite the referee or the audience to ask a question/provide some feedback. 
• Make sure that the next presenter starts on time. This is a high paced, quick seminar.
• If necessary, encourage audience members to continue their discussion after the session has concluded. 

Role of the Referee/s

• The primary role of the referee is to give feedback/pose questions to the presenters. Given this is an interdisciplinary symposium, the presenters will come from a variety of subject backgrounds. We do not expect you to have a thorough understanding of their topic, but rather you might offer insight into their methodology, the framing of their research questions, the way they have communicated their research, or any insights that you might be able to offer from your own disciplinary background.
• Abstracts for the presentations will be available before the event and sent directly to you. We’ll also send you a link to be able to watch the pre-recorded presentations for your sessions before the online panel discussion. 
• After each presenter has given a brief overview of their presentation, you can provide some feedback/pose a question. Please make sure to allow enough time for each presenter in the session to get the opportunity to hear from you.
• At the end of the session, there will be time for a Q&A with the wider audience, facilitated by the Chairperson. In the absence of audience questions, you may also ask the presenters some questions to help facilitate discussion.