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Writing an abstract- does this meet the assessment criteria?

hypercolius

Hi,

I'm a 22-year old physics student with ASD. Making writing concise, 250-word abstracts with specific criteria an absolute nightmare. As well as me being only allowed to present this orally and not on a poster. 

I applied for two conferences this year with my research. One (BCUR 2025) accepted it, and so did the extremely competitive Posters in Parliament event. One (ICUR) did not. They sent me the abstract to review, which I did. It needs to meet the following criteria:

www.icurportal.com/.../

Here is my abstract and title. Do you think it meets the criteria? Would you find it interesting? 

Identifying Magnetic Activity Cycles in Sun-Like Stars: An Analysis of p-Mode Oscillations and Flares for Stellar Modeling, ‘Earth 2.0’ Candidate Selection, and Power Grid Protection 

"

Many stars, including our Sun, exhibit long-term variations in their magnetic fields, known as “magnetic activity cycles.” These cycles produce energetic flares, sometimes hurling hazardous jets of material into space, and influence the star’s natural sound waves (“p-mode” oscillations). Understanding how these fields arise remains a central question in astrophysics, yet the consequences of extreme flare events—entire cities losing power— can be felt at home. 

Our project therefore asks: do these cycles appear in underutilized data from star observations? How might they inform predictions of habitability or hazardous flares?

We studied 160 Sun-like stars, analyzing changes in p-mode frequencies and detecting flares, both key indicators of elevated magnetic activity. Nine stars revealed significant oscillation shifts, and a further 10% exhibited abundant flaring. One star simultaneously displayed p-mode variations and intense flares, a highly unexpected result since it is assumed that flares suppress p-modes. We also uncovered a possible link between these oscillations and brightness variability—a major finding if confirmed.​

By revealing how magnetic cycles manifest in stellar environments, such results can be used to evaluate exoplanet habitability—given flares can evaporate planetary atmospheres—and protect against threats to Earth’s infrastructure if a Carrington-scale event reoccurs. Such a flare might cause global power outages, potentially requiring years to restore. Studying these cycles helps mitigate these risks and refine understanding of how stellar magnetic fields are generated. This work opens paths for future research to expand on these findings, providing deeper insights into the magnetic activity cycles of Sun-like stars.

"

Parents

  • I hope you don't mind a little critical input but the intent is to help make the flow of the reading easier on the mind.

    I see three points where you break the sentence with an aside or illustration. These are:

    , sometimes hurling hazardous jets of material into space
    —entire cities losing power—
    —given flares can evaporate planetary atmospheres—

    These disrupt the flow of words and can affect the flow on information to the reader. I would try to exclude these unless they are necessary and where they are necessary then add them at the end of the paragraph to illustrate what you say.

    Overall it reads well, gets the point across and does what you want it to do.

    I am guilty of the same writing style myself and I have the same feedback about avoiding these interruptions. To me it is an element of my ADHD kicking in so I need to be concious that my fragmentary thinking style does not translate to good reading style,

    I woud follow the guidelines from the following link about how to write an abstract - build it up by checking off the categories of information needed and then bridge the facts with some nice prose:

    https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/writing-an-abstract-for-your-research-paper/

    Keep up the good work.

Reply

  • I hope you don't mind a little critical input but the intent is to help make the flow of the reading easier on the mind.

    I see three points where you break the sentence with an aside or illustration. These are:

    , sometimes hurling hazardous jets of material into space
    —entire cities losing power—
    —given flares can evaporate planetary atmospheres—

    These disrupt the flow of words and can affect the flow on information to the reader. I would try to exclude these unless they are necessary and where they are necessary then add them at the end of the paragraph to illustrate what you say.

    Overall it reads well, gets the point across and does what you want it to do.

    I am guilty of the same writing style myself and I have the same feedback about avoiding these interruptions. To me it is an element of my ADHD kicking in so I need to be concious that my fragmentary thinking style does not translate to good reading style,

    I woud follow the guidelines from the following link about how to write an abstract - build it up by checking off the categories of information needed and then bridge the facts with some nice prose:

    https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/writing-an-abstract-for-your-research-paper/

    Keep up the good work.

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