Information on how to create a presentation site for the Sigma Xi Student Research Showcase. The Student Showcase is a competition for virtual research presentations in all fields of science and engineering hosted by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Resarch Society. More information at www.sigmaxi.org

1. CREATING A
PRESENTATION SITE
Sigma Xi
Student
Research
Showcase

2. CONTENT
I.
II.
Showcase Overview (content submission and
participation with judges)
Creating a Presentation Site
III. Sharing your Presentation
IV.
V.
Student – Judge Discussion Period
Awards

3. SHOWCASE OVERVIEW
1.
Obtain Preliminary Approval : submit project description
meetings@sigmaxi.org
2.
Create Presentation Site: after you have been approved to
participate, create a presentation site
3.
Submit Presentation: submit the URL of your presentation
to Sigma Xi submission deadline.
4.
Participate in the Student Showcase
Discussion Period via blog (Monday – Friday)
Final Judge evaluations (Sunday evening)
Awards announced (Monday)

4. CREATING A PRESENTATION SITE
The following description explains how to create a presentation site using
the free blogging software provided at www.tumblr.com
You may choose to use other blogging software such as WordPress
or host your own html webpage.
Regardless of the software you choose, your presentation site MUST
have the following:
An abstract that describes your research project (200 words
maximum)
A technical slide presentation
A brief (2-3 minute) informal video introduction of you and your
research aimed at a general (non-technical) audience
A discussion widget similar to DISQUS (described further below)

5. HOW TO USE TUMBLR FOR YOUR SITE
 Create a free account
at www.tumblr.com
 Don’t forget to verify
your email address
 From the Dashboard
go to your Tumblr
Page (blank
workspace you can
now customize)
 Click on

6. On the Customize page
you may create the look
and basic features of your
page
 The default Theme is
fine or you may select
another
 Title should be brief
statement of the focus
of your research (not
formal research title)
 Description should tell
who you are and list
your institution

7. ADDING A DISCUSSION WIDGET
Add DISQUIS (recommended)
or other discussion widget to
your site.
 Register (free) at
www.disquis.com
 Verify your email address
as requested
 On the DISQUIS installation
page, select the tumblr
platform and follow the
steps
 You must allow Guest
Commenting under Admin>
Settings > Community
Rules > Allow Guests to
Comment

8. CONTENT PLACEMENT
Remember – blog software (like Tumblr) will place the most
recently added item at the top.
If you want your page to appear (from top to bottom) as Abstract
> Presentation > Video, then you need to post in reverse order:
Video > Presentation > Abstract.
We do not require a specific order – just that all three elements
(plus a Discussion widget) appear on your page.

9. ADDING AN ABSTRACT ON TUMBLR
 From Dashboard select Text
 Under “Title” enter
“Abstract”
 In the “Post” field enter your
formal project title followed
by your abstract contents
(~200 words)
 Select “Publish Now” if you
are satisfied with the
placement order of the
abstract (see previous
slide). You may return to
edit abstract contents later.

10. EDITING CONTENT
 Blog software often has limited text formatting capabilities
 If you need special characters, you may cut and paste from a
word processing software
 Many special characters will work
 such as ≤, Σ, Δ, Ʊ
 Subscripts and Superscripts often will not display
 Example: C 6H 12O 6 may appear as C6H12O6
 You may wish to say “Glucose” rather than
C 6H 12O 6
 You may also insert an image of a complex
formula or concept
 You may edit using the HTML feature if you have that
expertise

11. ADDING A SLIDE PRESENTATION (TUMBLR)
 Upload the technical
slide presentation to a
hosting site such as
SlideShare or Google
Docs
 Generate embed code
from the slide hosting
site
 Add a “Text” post on
Tumblr
 Click on the .HTML
Code Button
 Insert the embed code
and save

12. Hint: Adding the slide presentation to the same post as the
abstract is an easy way to maintain the positioning. Using
Tumblr, you may accomplish this by doing the following:
• Open the “Abstract” post by clicking edit
• Click on the .HTML button and scroll to the bottom
• Insert the embed code and save
Otherwise, you may add the presentation as a separate post
(see previous slide).

13. ADDING A PERSONAL VIDEO USING
TUMBLR
 From the
Dashboard, select
Video
 You my embed the
video from a hosting
site (YouTube, Vimeo)
by adding the URL or
you may upload the
video directly
 Adding a caption is
optional but often
a nice touch

14. SHARING YOUR PRESENTATION SITE
 Submit the URL of your presentation site by email to
meetings@sigmaxi.org
 Your site will be linked at the Student Research Showcase hub
hosted at www.sigmaxi.org
 You may view student presentations and other content at the
Showcase hub

15. STUDENT – JUDGE DISCUSSION PERIOD
 During the week of the
Showcase (Monday -Friday),
judges will pose questions
to you on your site (via
DISQUIS)
 Once a judge (or anyone)
has posted a comment, you
will receive an email notice
from DISQUIS
 Log into your DISQUIS
account to reply to the
comment as well as to
"Delete", "Approve", or
"Spam“ as appropriate

16. RECOGNIZING OUTSTANDING
PRESENTATIONS
 After the discussion period ends, judges will provide
evaluations and rank the best presentations
 Awards will be announced on the Monday after the conclusion
of the Showcase
 Award winning presentations will be featured on the Sigma Xi
website and in American Scientist Magazine
 Top High School, Undergraduate and Graduate Presentations
will receive a cash award.
 All student presenters will receive feedback from judges

17. FOR MORE
INFORMATION VISIT
WWW.SIGMAXI.ORG
Or email meetings@sigmaxi.org