EPINOR Summer School 2014

All EPINOR students were invited to join as well as their supervisors. In response to many requests from our students the theme of the year was Scientific Writing, Statistical Writing and Poster presentations. Another important part of the EPINOR Summer School was the social activities. Students and supervisors met both in the city of Tromsø and in the wild at Villmarkssenteret.

Part one: Scientific writing and Statistical writing

Janet Holmén was responsible for the four day course. She is an experienced lecturer in scientific writing. Together with statistician Sven Sandin they developed a suitable course for the field of populations based epidemiology on a PhD level. Sven Sandin comes from Karolinska Institutet. He held an own session about statistical writing.

SLIDE 1

The STROBE Initiative (Sven Sandin) from kgr023

SLIDE 2

Statistical Writing. Tables and Figures (Sven Sandin) from kgr023

SLIDE 3

The course consisted of

• Basic structure of scientific articles
• Writing and rewriting for content, clarity, and conciseness
• Supporting the text (figures, tables, references)
• The publication process and peer review
• Grant writing
• Writing for the general public as well as
• statistical writing

All course participants was asked to bring a prepared text to the course. This was a text that the participants worked on during the course.

Part two: Poster

Poster presentations was required by all students who participated at the Summer School. The posters were open for viewing from Monday to Wednesday. The viewing took place during the breaks of the scientific writing course. A jury evaluated each poster and the best poster was rewarded during Thursday afternoon.

The InDesign and Poster Course

The course takes it’s starting point in the UiTs poster template, however the course content should be usable for anyone with access to InDesign who want to make a scientific poster. Here are some interesting links to guides on how to make a good poster: Ten simple rules Dos and donts of poster presentation Poster PerfectScientific Posters When preparing you poster presentations for the Summer School please be aware that the maximum size: 70 cm wide by 100 cm high Please prepare posters in portrait format otherwise we will have problems fitting them onto the display panels.

Part three: FUN!

We also aimed to have some fun while we were gathered. On Monday evening the participants got the chance to enter the Spa Boat Vulkana. We had a barbecue dinner by the dock in the midnight sun, followed by a sea bath, hot tub and sauna. On Thursday we had the course day at Tromsø Villmarkssenter. Both the course and the dinner took place at the centre. After the scheduled course day your supervisors meet the participants and had joint time for other activities. The participants could choose between going on a kayak trip in the ocean with a guide, or to have a walk in the woods and a closer look at all of the Huskys at the premises.

Are you a supervisor?

We arranged a separate two-day program 5.- 6.June, lunch to lunch. This mini-conference was developed in cooperation with itim.org and was led by experienced lecturer Carel Jakobs. The theme was how to improve the supervisor – student relation, taken into account the limited hours they are given. Based on experience from other neighboring countries, we aimed at developing a proposal to an agreement that supervisors and PhD students in Norway may commit to, before starting their cooperation. Supervisors are welcome to join the whole summer school week.