Instructors: Sara Carena

General information

This module is pass/fail.

All student participants will have to give presentations to the class during the semester, and submit writing samples for evaluation. While it is uncommon to fail this class, it is not impossible. Please be aware that in case of failure, the earliest possible time that the class can be repeated is the summer semester of next year. Because of the nature of the course (workshop), your physical presence during the semester is required, and there is no possibility to "just retake the exam" at any other time.


Prerequisites
 
Students must have their own material to work with. Most exercises will be done on your own writing samples. This means that only students who have started their Master thesis will really be able to participate. If you have not started the thesis, you will have to come up with your own project to write about. The students who will profit most from this class are those who are actively writing their Master thesis, and who are planning to defend it by the summer.


Course general information  and structure

This course is about taking your own results (which you have produced yourself, and which therefore you should be very familiar with), writing them up, and presenting them to an audience. It is not about producing the results themselves (that is something you already have an advisor to help you with), or reading papers by someone else and presenting them (that is a literature seminar). Therefore do not expect to get any advice in this class concerning the contents and goals of your scientific work.

This is not a language class either. While we will work on grammar and spelling issues (which native English speakers have just as much as non-native speakers), the main focus will be on how to structure a scientific paper or presentation. Therefore if you know that you have significant problems with English grammar and spelling, be prepared to put in extra work on your own time outside class. That is best done before the start of the semester.

At each meeting we may either do some basic writing exercises, work in pairs at correcting written work, or practice short presentations. Any feedback to individuals will be given exclusively during class, as this is part of the workshop learning environment.


Textbooks (required)

For P14.1 - Scientific Writing: A. Wallwork (2011), English for Writing Research Papers, Springer, 325 pp.

For P14.2 - Scientific Presentations: A. Wallwork (2011), English for Presentations at International Conferences, Springer, 179 pp.

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Updated 09.02.2016
 

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