Course Science Writing and Communication

The course N/T607/02 Science Writing and Communication is being offered by the Graduate School of Natural Sciences/GSNS and Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Aarhus University, fall 2025.

Course parameters: No. of contact hours/hours in total incl. preparation, assignment(s) or the like: 20/110

Objectives of the course: The aim of this course is to: 1) Equip students with the tools they need to approach and deliver a high quality, high impact scientific paper, proposal or poster. 2) Give students a space for immediate and direct feedback to progress more rapidly with their active or developing manuscripts or proposals

Learning outcomes and competences:
Students should be able to:

• Define a strategy for approaching and completing manuscripts
• Understand the components of a typical scientific research paper and the process of writing and publishing manuscripts
• Structure and write a scientific manuscript that is concise and engaging
• Assess and evaluate their writing (and others’) for clear, cohesive delivery of their research
• Understand the presentation of a poster (layout and content) and its goals
• Learn the components of a grant proposal and how to captivate reviewers

Compulsory programme:
Outline preparation before lectures start, participation in lectures and workshops, and completion of final assignment (paper/part of paper or poster for evaluation within two weeks of completion of lectures)

Course contents:

• One week before lectures, students will receive an assignment on outlining- an overview of their purpose, some examples, and guidelines for writing one. Students should complete the assignment and bring it to the first lecture. We will be actively working on developing this throughout the course.
• Day 1-2: These days are full on- focused on all the tools needed to complete the course and to improve your writing, including: 1) Diving into the what, who, why, and how of each part of a scientific paper, 2) rules to write by for high impact, writing efficiency, and critiquing scientific articles, and 3) designing a paper. We will also begin to evaluate and improve your outlines.
• Day 3: 1) Visual aid, posters, graphical abstracts and design, 2) The publishing process, 3) Guided writing session. Outlines will be handed in for review at the end of this week.
• Day 4-6: A mix of student-selected lectures, prepared lectures and guided writing sessions.  Final assignments should be handed-in 1-2 weeks after the lecture series

Prerequisites:
At minimum students should have a topic for a proposal and some familiarity with their study focus, or the start of results for a manuscript- though the course is designed to be helpful at the earliest stages of writing a manuscript

Name of lecturer:
Ashley Pearcy Buitenwerf

Type of course/teaching methods:
Lectures, workshops, assignments

Literature:
Hofman, AH 2014. Scientific Writing and Communication: Papers, Proposals and Presentations.

Heard, SB 2022. The Scientist’s Guide to Writing: How to Write More Easily and Effectively throughout Your Scientific Career.

among others

Course homepage:
Will be managed through correspondence with the lecturer

Course assessment:
Participation in workshops and hand-in of final assignment showing the integration of feedback from the course. Day 1 & 2 are non-negotiable for attendance.

Provider:

Special comments on this course:
This course focuses on strategy and full paper development. It is complementary to the Academic Writing courses.

The Science Writing Toolkit is a reduced, workshop-style version of this course similar to the first two days. While it works to have the Toolkit prior to this course, it is not recommended to take the Toolkit if you’ve already done the full Science Writing Course. 

Place:
Aarhus University, Aarhus

No show fee:
Course participants on our transferable skills courses, who do not show up at the course or cancel their course participation after the course cancellation deadline (without providing a doctor’s note), may have to pay a no-show fee, unless someone from the waiting list is able to take part in the course instead.

The no-show fee is DKK 1,200 (the price of one ECTS). The no-show fee has been introduced due to many late cancellations, thus preventing people from the waiting lists to have a seat at the courses.

Registration:

• Participation in the course is without cost for PhD students from Aarhus University

Due to an Agreement between Danish Universities that came into force as of 1 January 2011, participants from other universities than Aarhus University will have to pay DKK 1,200 per ECTS. In principle this also applies to external parties, but exemption can be granted under specific circumstances.

Please be aware that your registration for the course not necessarily equals your admission for the course. You will receive an e-mail after the registration deadline regarding whether you are admitted for the course or if you are registered on the waiting list. Please note that seats are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Course dates:

• 03 November 2025 09:00 - 15:30
• 04 November 2025 09:00 - 15:30
• 05 November 2025 09:00 - 15:30
• 10 November 2025 09:00 - 15:30
• 11 November 2025 09:00 - 15:30
• 12 November 2025 09:00 - 15:30