Term I: M2 and above
This course is intended for M2 and doctoral students, as well as for postdoctoral staff and junior faculty members. We will look at the structure of scientific research papers, paying particular attention to the function of different sections of a paper and the variable language styles associated with each section. We will also examine some of the more advanced grammatical aspects of scientific English that you will encounter in your reading and writing.
More importantly, though, students will produce their own scientific manuscript based on their research findings. Each week you will be asked to write, between classes, a section of your manuscript, and some of the time during each class will be devoted to analysing the text that you produce. I will also make written 'editorial' comments on your text, so that it can be modified and refined continuously as the course progresses.
The course is intended to develop your writing skills in a practical way that is relevant to your needs as scientific communicators. Classes will thus, I hope, be 'interactive' experiences rather than 'lectures', and you will be encouraged to highlight any aspects of writing in English which you find particularly difficult.
Class size will be limited to about ten participants. Additional courses can be timetabled according to demand.
Term III: M1 Bioinformatics
First-year students in the Bioinformatics Department are required to take this course. However, since participants will not have enough research data of their own to prepare a manuscript, the course content will resemble that of 'Methods of English Communication I'.
