Course Scientific Writing and Communication

The course Scientific Writing and Communication is being offered by the Graduate School of Natural Sciences/GSNS and Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Aarhus University, fall 2021.

Hours per week: 16.

Capacity limits: Minimum 10 and maximum 24 participants

Criteria for participation: PhD students would benefit most from this course. MSc students can sign up if places remain available.

Aim: The objective of this course is to introduce participants to the principles and practice of writing scientific publications and of scientific communication. The main emphasis is on the most common form, the “primary scientific paper”, but other forms will be covered. Matters related to oral presentations, poster preparation and proposal writing will also be discussed. Participants will become familiar with the forms of presenting new findings to various scientific forums.

Please note that the main focus of this course is on how to structure a scientific text, i.e. the rules and requirements, building up the actual text, presenting findings, etc., and not very much on the actual language, i.e. grammar, vocabulary, language structure, etc. The latter will only be touched briefly upon.

Learning outcomes: At the end of the course the students should be able to:

• Judge and decide about the appropriate form and forum for their work
• Evaluate potential publication forums
• Write a scientific manuscript that conforms to the rules and requirements of scientific journals
• Analyse their presentation efficiency and improve it in their written work
• Deal with scientific editors, and others involved in the scientific publishing process
• Prepare and present effective oral presentations and posters
• Prepare a scientific project proposal

Compulsory programme:

Participants have to be present at 80% of the lectures (this means that participants can miss max. two half-days), and actively participate in the group discussions and exercises. Additionally, participants have to complete four written assignments.

Content:

• The current structure of scientific literature, the basics of scientometrics, the main features of the scientific information ‘industry’, how to decide where to publish
• The different arts of a primary scientific paper and how to write them
• The publication process (manuscript preparation, submission, dealing with editors, technical editing and printing)
• Requirements of grammar and style
• Principles of preparing figures and tables
• Oral presentations: preparation and delivery, poster preparation, conference participation
• Proposal writing and project management

Teaching methods: Lectures, exercises, group discussions

Course assessment: Pass/fail on the basis of attendance, activity, and appropriately prepared four assignments on the following topics:

1. On the basis of an abstract of a published paper, analyse and if necessary, modify the title.
2. Write a max. 2 page evaluation of a summary of a published paper or conference abstract.
3. Write an analysis of a published figure.
4. Prepare and send a larger piece of (your own) work. This has to be either:- a major part of a manuscript: an introduction, material & methods section, results, discussion AND at least one figure designed by yourself, complete with title/caption. Sending more than this possible, even a complete manuscript. OR: - a (newly designed) poster.

All assignments have to be formatted as a "mini-manuscript" and sent eletronically

Literature:
Day RA & Gastel B 2006. How to write and publish a scientific paper. 6th ed. Cambridge Univ. Press
Cargill M, O’Connor P 2009. Writing scientific research articles. Wiley-Blackwell

Instructors: Dr. Gabor Lövei, Senior Scientist, Adjunct Professor

Venue: “Det Blå Auditorium in ”Victor Albeck Building, Vennelyst Boulevard 4, DK-Aarhus C

Registration:
Participation in the course is without cost for PhD students from Aarhus University.

Due to an Agreement between Danish Universities coming 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:

• 27 September 2021 09:00 - 16:00
• 28 September 2021 09:00 - 16:00
• 29 September 2021 09:00 - 16:00
• 01 November 2021 09:00 - 16:00
• 02 November 2021 09:00 - 16:00
• 03 November 2021 09:00 - 16:00