6 ECTS credits
150 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 4023179FNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.
With an introduction to the academic culture the student learns about the professional expectations regarding publications. The classes (with classroom tasks) on academic writing concern the structure of a professional publication (types of articles), from the onset, planning, choosing a topic, details of actual writing (vocabulary, style, et cetera) to coping with remarks made by peers. Concerning reference styles the student is introduced to the American Chemical Society reference style (ACS) and the Royal Society of Chemistry reference style (RSC). Students are shown the tricks of the trade regarding scientific writing as well as scientific oral presentation (peer2peer: writing an abstract, creating a graphical abstract, designing a scientific poster, preparing a computer presentation and writing a scientific paper, performing a pitch and doing a conference presentation. Weekly assignments will be assessed in class. Science communication (expert2non-expert) —oral ad writing— will also be practiced: talking to journalists, writing a newspaper column, playing the social media. Meanwhile, students learn to be empathic by role playing as peer reviewers, journalists, and laypeople. Students are introduced to all kinds of ethical issues related to scientific and science communication with which they learn to deal inspired by humanistic values. Evidently, all assignments are content wise related to the topic the student is performing research on in view of his/her master thesis – the assignments do not need any further topical reading. All comes together in a final public poster session by the end of the semester to which the faculty is invited.
Lesschema:
01: the academic culture, incl. the peer review process, pyramid of proof + academic writing (part 1).
02: academic writing (part 2) + reference styles (ACS/RSC) + academic abstract / assignment 1ABS.
03: academic abstract / peer review + graphical abstract (preparation in class).
04: graphical abstract / peer feedback + scientific poster / assignment 2POS.
05: public speaking (in general; verbality, para-verbality, non-verbality) + conference talk + conference computer presentations.
06: ethics (regulations, ethical charters, publication ethics, early publication, honesty, responsibility, adequacy, professional attitude).
07: scientific poster / peer feedback + academic writing (part 3).
08: science communication (in general) + radio pitch / assignment 3RAD.
09: radio pitch / peer evaluation + radio and television debates (how it works).
11: playing the social media + newspaper column / assignment 4COL.
11: newspaper column / review + newspaper interview / role playing.
12: public poster session: poster presentations (faculty invited).
13: [exam] conference presentation.
Verplicht: slides, exemplary articles.
Aanbevolen: Cottrell, S. 50 ways to excel at writing; MacMillan International Higher Education, 2019.
The course relates to the learning outcome 13 (‘The Master can report to a specialized and non-specialized public, both orally and in writing (incl. proper referencing) and can use these skills in transferring discipline-related know-how’) and learning outcome 14 (‘The Master has a high sense of accuracy, motivation and perseverance and can function in an international multidisciplinary team in a professional and responsible way’). The student is able to communicate adequately, professionally and ethically with peers and laypeople about his field of research, orally as well as in writing. The student correctly uses ACS and RSC. The student can express adequately his/her research by means of abstracts, graphical abstracts, posters, computer presentations, pitches, and interviews. The student knows how to write a state of the art scientific paper. The student understands the difference between scientific (expert2expert) and science communication (expert2non-expert, educate, fascinate). This course in competence oriented.
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Tasks: 1ABS(final) [5%], 2POS(final) [25%], 3RAD [10%], 4COL [15%]
Formative: assiduity and deadlines [5%]
Oral: 10 minutes conference talk (full option) [15%]
Paper [25%]
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Chemistry: Default track (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Chemistry: Analytical and Environmental Chemistry
Master of Chemistry: Chemical Theory, (Bio)Molecular Design and Synthesis