Writing for Research Students in the Sciences

Course Code
50118020

Course has already taken place

Provider
Unknown provider

Tutor(s):
Susan Mitchell

Suitability
Students from Science & Engineering disciplines (who are native speakers
of English or fluent in English as a second language) in their first or
second year. PLEASE NOTE: If you have previously attended any
Scientific Writing courses, e.g., in Engineering and MAPS – you will not
need to come to this one.

If the course is full, then please register on our waiting list by
emailing your details to pgrdev@leeds.ac.uk.

Date(s)
Wednesday, February 10, 2016, 09:30 to 16:15

Max Places:
22

Description
PLEASE NOTE: Participants will need to bring a sample of their own
academic writing with them (2-4 pages, A4).
This full-day workshop is designed for postgraduate researchers who
write papers, theses, books or reports as part of their work. The
workshop consists of intensive tuition and gives participants immediate,
useable methods of improving prose, developing arguments, strengthening
organisation and avoiding common errors.
At the end of the workshop participants will:

• have an understanding of essential editorial techniques to
improve clarity and shorten prose;
• be aware of common errors in scientific writing and have
strategies to avoid them;
• be better able to prioritise written information and emphasise
major points;
• have professional strategies to bring out underlying principles,
making the prose not only descriptive and factual but also scientific
and reasoned.

This workshop will cover editorial techniques; writing for particular
audiences; removal of redundant words and phrases; grammar, punctuation
and proof-reading; flow, parallelism and rhetoric; solving writers’
block; emphasising the ‘message’; giving writing shape a sense of
direction, organisation and purpose; topic sentences and signpost words
and learning from other people’s mistakes.
The day itself involves instruction, group exercises and discussion –
all designed to allow participants to reflect on their writing, to
develop their confidence and critical thinking, and to ensure that their
writing is of publishable standard.
Susan Mitchell has worked as a freelance science editor and has a
background in education and training. During the last 14 years she has
run courses on writing and one-to-one workshops at universities and
academic institutions throughout the UK. She also provides writing
retreats for the European Synchrotron Research Facility in Grenoble.

Quotes from participants;

‘The course with Susan Mitchell is a fantastic course to attend. I found
that it answered all my long standing queries about scientific writing
as a genre and I have come away from this course a better writer of
academic texts. I can’t recommend it highly enough. This course has been
a superb investment of energy and time for long term benefits. The
explanations are clear; the course well structured; the tutor friendly
and very helpful. Thank you for this course.’

‘I just wanted to say how informative I found Susan Mitchell's course on
scientific writing. It was so thoughtfully presented and funny. For the
first time in my life, grammar was made to appear interesting! The
lesson was given with such clarity and understanding, I gained
enormously from listening to an expert in action.’

‘Enjoyed this course. Lots of useful information delivered at the right
academic level. Will recommend to colleagues.’