Topics.
Questionnaire for the Best Oral and Poster Award Winners
At the 37th Annual Meeting last November, 3 Best Oral Awards and 9 Best Poster Awards were selected from the general presentations. We received comments from the award winners in our newsletter, and we also conducted an anonymous questionnaire to find out the true feelings of the award winners, and received responses from 11 of them. We also asked them to self-analyze the factors that contributed to their winning of the awards. We hope that this survey will be of great help to those members who are working hard day and night to win awards in the future.
Q1: Were you aware of the award from the time you submitted your abstract?
| I was very much aware of it. | 3 persons |
| Somewhat aware of it | 3 persons |
| Not really aware of it | 4 persons |
| Not aware of it at all | 1 person |
The number of respondents was almost evenly divided between those who were aware of the award and those who were not aware of the award. Some of the presenters expected to receive the award and prepared for it from the time of abstract submission, while others received the award unexpectedly.
Q2: How did you feel after your presentation?
| Strongly | 3 persons |
| Somewhat | 5 persons |
| Can’t say either way | 1 person |
| Almost none | 2 persons |
| Not at all | 0 persons |
More than 70% of the presenters felt a positive response after their presentations. Some of them were confident in their presentation, but the best part of the conference presentation is that they can feel the evaluation from other researchers through the presentation and Q&A session.
Q3: How did you feel when you heard that you received the award?
| Happy | 9 persons |
| Surprised | 2 persons |
| Confused | 0 persons |
| embarrassed | 0 persons |
| puzzled | 0 persons |
Naturally, the majority of the teachers felt happy. Considering the tendency of the answers to Q1 and Q2, it seems that the teachers who answered “surprised” were not aware of the award and did not feel any positive response after the presentation, and were surprised at the news of the award.
Q4: Who did you tell first when you received the award?
| Supervisors | Seven people |
| Lab members/colleagues | 3 persons |
| Family members | 0 persons |
| Partners | 1 partner |
| My own secret | 0 persons |
The majority of the teachers shared their presentation first in their workplaces or laboratories. There may be some co-presenters in the office or laboratory, and they may want to share the joy and express their appreciation among the presenters first. It is also nice that you told your partner first.
Q5. Where is your certificate now?
| It is displayed at my university or office. | 2 persons |
| I keep them at my university/workplace | 7 persons |
| Displayed at home | 1 person |
| Stored at home | 1 person |
| Thrown away, missing, etc. | 0 persons |
This is the second year that we have conducted this survey, and the responses to this question are very different from last year. This year, it seems that most of the teachers have put away their certificates. Please display them instead of enjoying them secretly! If you are in the same office or laboratory as the prize winner, please prepare a frame and space!
Q6. Please describe the reasons why you received the prize. （Q6. Self-analysis of the reasons for receiving the award.)
| The theme was good | 6 persons |
| Novelty of the results obtained was high | 5 persons |
| Conclusions could be drawn from good quality data | 3 persons |
| I was able to draw conclusions based on a large number of data | 1 person |
| Novelty of the analysis method was high | 1 person |
| Excellent discussion | 0 persons |
| Excellent preparation before presentation | 3 persons |
| Excellent presentation skills | 2 persons |
The factors that led to the award were the selection of the theme, novelty (including analysis methods), and quality of the data. Also, the importance of being well-prepared and making an easy-to-understand presentation is evident. On the other hand, the responses were relatively varied. Therefore, it may be more important to identify the strengths of your research and appeal to them than to satisfy all of the points listed here.
Q7. This year’s annual meeting is a joint meeting with the Cytochrome P450 International Conference, and will be held in Shizuoka City from September 23 to 29 ( https://www.2023iccp450-jssx.org/). Are you planning to attend?
| I would like to attend as much as I can, and if possible, I would like to submit an abstract. | 6 persons |
| I will attend as much as I can, but abstract submission is difficult. | 2 persons |
| I am not sure whether I will attend or not | 2 persons |
| Do not plan to attend | 1 person |
The majority of the participants are planning to attend the Annual Meeting again this year and are aiming to submit their abstracts. Some of the award winners have received the award for two consecutive years. I hope that the award winners will continue their research and challenge again and again without being satisfied.