Mathematicians rarely have the opportunity to present their research directly to a broad scientific audience. One of the few venues to do so is publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Published weekly and online, this prestigious journal features papers covering a wide range of disciplines, from applied mathematics and computer science to molecular biology and the social sciences. PNAS also has a strong media relations effort, which encourages wide dissemination of research results to the general public. Unfortunately, even when mathematicians do take advantage of this opportunity, they often fail to communicate well and end
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Focus of a paper or presentation It’s difficult for even the best communicator to write or present well without a clear focus. For example, a presentation titled “Hadamard Matrices” that presents everything the student knows about Hadamard Matrices will be difficult to structure well, and the audience is likely to wonder why details are being presented. A more specific focus like “A Method for Constructing Quasi-Cyclic Generalized Hadamard Matrices” is likely to be easier to structure. If a paper draft seems choppy or poorly structured it’s often helpful for the student to outline what he or she has written and
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