Scientific Writing Workshop Info
Dates: September 9-11, 2024 (immediately preceding the BioCat annual conference)
Registration deadline: TBD
Workshop leader: Dr Daniel Soule of Professional Writing Academy
Registration: Coming soon
Highlights
- Three days intensive course tailored for chemistry, biochemistry and biocatalysis
- Work on your own manuscript during the course
- Limited capacity – 20 seats
Content
BioCat National Graduate School in Biocatalysis invites students to register for a three day workshop on scientific writing, tailor-made for PhD candidates. The workshop will be led by Dr Daniel Soule, who is an experienced academic writing trainer, and aims to provide structure, advice and motivation through writing a paper for publication.
The exercises will focus specifically on writing for biocatalysis journals, and participants are expected to work on their own papers. There will be a balance between plenary sessions, group discussions, individual writing time and one-to-one work with an experienced academic editor. After the workshop, participants can continue to work on their manuscripts and send their draft to Daniel Soule for direct editorial feedback.
Topics
- Planning and editing
- Understanding the writing process
- Breaking down the structure of papers to generate writing goals
- Techniques for being an effective writer
- Understanding the stylistic demands of chemistry and biochemistry journals
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, participants should be well on the way to producing a draft of their research paper. In addition, they will learn more about the writing and publication process.
Required materials
Participants need to bring a manuscript draft or any other material, such as literature searches or data analysis, which they can draw on through the workshop, and a laptop. Participants must also bring a copy of an article from the journal they wish to submit their paper to. A comprehensive workbook and a ‘Guide to Academic Punctuation’ will be handed out during the workshop.
Workshop Schedule
Day 1 – Monday Sept 9
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 11.30 | Departure from Stavanger airport by bus |
| 11.40-12.00 | Arrive at Sola Strand hotel and check in |
| 12.00-13.00 | Lunch |
| 13.00-14.30 | The writing process: targeting, planning, drafting and editing a research paper or chapter |
| 14.30-15.00 | Coffee break |
| 15.00-16.30 | Writing time: One-to-one editing available |
| 16.30-19.00 | Free time |
| 19.00 | Dinner |
Day 2 – Tuesday Sept 10
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 7.00-9.00 | Breakfast |
| 9.00-10.30 | Writing introductions and conclusions: understanding meta structure and theme |
| 10.30-11.00 | Coffee break |
| 11.00-13.00 | Writing time: One-to-one editing available |
| 13.00-14.00 | Lunch |
| 14.00-15.30 | Writing better paragraphs and sections: also the key to structural editing |
| 15.30-16.00 | Coffee break |
| 16.00-17.30 | Writing time: One-to-one editing available |
| 17.30-19.00 | Free time |
| 19.00 | Dinner |
Day 3 – Wednesday Sept 11
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 7.00-9.00 | Breakfast |
| 9.00-10.30 | Steelman questions and the didactic planning method |
| 10.30-11.00 | Coffee break |
| 11.00-12.30 | Writing time: One-to-one editing available |
| 12.30-13.30 | Lunch |
| 13.30 | Main conference begins |
About the workshop leader
Dr Daniel Soule is the director of The Research Writer, a training organisation specialising in supporting academic researchers as they write and publish.
Dan has 10 years experience of academic and research-writing training in universities and other research institutions, and has helped thousands of postgraduates and research staff write complex documents including research articles, theses and dissertations for academic, lay and popular audiences.
Dan received his PhD from the University of Glasgow and has been both a research fellow for at a multi-university research consortia as well as a lecturer for more than five years at Glasgow Caledonian University. He now works in universities, clinical and research settings across the UK, Ireland and Norway, including Russell Group universities and national graduate Schools.
He’s both a published researcher, with a monograph and research papers, as well as a creative writer, with many short stories, poems and non-fiction essays and reviews.
Registration
Registration for this workshop is connected to the registration form for the BioCat Annual Conference.
