Writing Science

WS 24-25

Engels

Beschrijving

In this course, students learn to think about scientific writing as storytelling. Every week, teacher and students will engage in group analysis, dissection, and editing of written work, both of previously published papers and own manuscript sections. Through writing exercises and peer review, students will learn about proper paper structures, effective figures and tables, power positions, and SUCCES elements.

Contents

* Scientific papers as stories

* Creating an outline

* Story structure and story elements

* IMRaD

* Paragraph structure

* Sentence structure

* Energizing writing

* Approaches to revising

Final competences

1. Knowledge on theory about writing sentences, paragraphs, papers

2. Ability to provide constructive criticism to colleagues (peer review)

3. Ability to engage the reader

4. Ability to apply SUCCES and OCAR concepts in writing manuscripts

5. Write sections of a manuscript throughout the semester

Teaching methods

Lectures, group work, peer assessment, independent work, in-class discussions, independent work (written assignments and peer review). A typical class consists of three parts: lecture by the instructor, analysis of written work as a group, and writing exercises and peer group discussion.

Target audience

Recent graduates, PhD students, adults interested in R&D

Exam / Certificate

Grading will be based on written assignments (40%), peer group discussions during class (25%), and a written exam (35%).

Type of course

This is an on campus course.

Schedule

Six Mondays and Wednesdays evenings in October 2024:

7, 9, 14, 16 & 21 2024, from 5 pm to 6.30 pm. 1st Floor, Classroom 1.1

23 October 2024 3th Floor, Classtoom 3.3

Venue

Faculty of Science, Campus Sterre, Krijgslaan 281, 9000 Ghent, Building S1

Textbooks

Heard SB (2022) The Scientist’s Guide to Writing. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, USA. 368 pp. https://scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/the-scientists-guide-to-writing/
Schimel J (2012) Writing Science: How to write papers that get cited and proposals that get funded. Oxford University Press, New York, USA. 221 pp. https://www.bol.com/be/nl/f/writing-science/33430004/

PDFs of book chapters will be provided for assigned readings. Two copies of these textbooks can be borrowed from the instructor for those wo prefer physical books.

Fees

The participation fee is 540 EUR for participants from the private sector. Reduced prices apply to students and staff from non-profit, social profit, and government organizations. An exam fee of 35 EUR will be applied.

Industry, private sector, profession*: € 540
Non profit, government, higher education staff: € 405
(Doctoral) students, unemployed: € 245| Full reimbursement by Doctoral Schools is possible (see details below).

*If two or more employees from the same company enrol simultaneously for this course a reduction of 20% on the course fee is taken into account starting from the second enrolment.

Registration

To register, add the course below to your shopping cart and proceed to checkout.

Is this your first registration for a Beta Academy course? In that case, you will need to create an account first. Afterward, you will receive a confirmation email to activate your account on the academy platform. You do not have to click on the activation link but can immediately return to your shopping cart to complete your course registration. If you do not receive a confirmation email for your course order, please contact our Science Academy at science-academy@ugent.be.

Are you currently on the Nova-academy website? To proceed with the registration, simply click on the "More information" box located on the left side.

UGent PhD students

Doctoral School pays for your course on the condition that you sign the attendance list for each lesson. If you are absent, please notify our academy in advance by email and provide the necessary documents.

We follow the No Show polity of the Doctoral School!