FSK-8002 Scientific writing – why and how? - 3 stp

This course is designed to provide ph.d. candidates with knowledge and skills to critically evaluate and produce academic text in their disciplines. Lectures, seminars, and assignments are going to focus on these three 3 aspects:

• Academic writing in English - we want ph.d. candidates to become confident academic writers in English. Lectures and exercises are going to focus on most common problem areas, such as text structure, clarity, argumentation, revising and editing strategies. This is an interdisciplinary course, and each research discipline has its own terminology and conventions. Mentors from different research disciplines are going to provide discipline-specific feedback.
• Writing takes time and is a natural part of the PhD`s everyday life as researcher. We want participants to reflect about the following questions: How do you integrate writing in your work life and what kind of writing habits do you have? Do you work together with others on text editing and how can you provide helpful feedback to peers? Course participant will be able to practice this in writing groups.
• Publication - there are many decisions to take before the final submission of a manuscript to a research journal: Who should be included as authorship in the manuscript? And how do I organize and make my data sets available for others after publication?

When should ph.d. candidates take this course?

Each participant must have a manuscript draft ready for submission 1 week after the registration deadline of this course (i.e. approximately 1 week after the 1st of September), since participant are going to work on their own manuscript throughout the autumn semester. The manuscript draft may be at an early or more advanced stage but should at least contain an introduction and the methodology of the planned manuscript (not necessary with a finished data set and/or finished data analysis). Each candidates´s manuscript will be constructively reviewed by a mentor from their discipline and receive feedback during group work with fellow ph.d. candidates. This gives participants the great opportunity to progress in their writing process and significantly improve the manuscripts throughout the course.

Application code 9301.

This course is aimed at PhD candidates from all scientific disciplines, but is open for postdoc fellows if seats are available. If PhD candidates aim to include the credits from the course in your 30 mandatory PhD ECTS you should discuss it with your supervisor.

PhD candidates from UiT and other universities in Norway may be admitted to the course. PhD candidates not registered at UiT must upload a document from their university, stating that there are registered PhD candidates. This group of applicants does not have to prove English proficiency and are exempt from semester fee.

Proficiency in English must be documented - list of countries

Proficiency in English - PhD level studies

Maximum 30 participants.

If more than 30 applicants, priority will be given as follows:

• Participants admitted to the PhD programme at UiT that are in the 2. - 4.year of their PhD project
• Participants admitted to the PhD programme at UiT that that are in the first year of their PhD project
• Participants in the Associate Professor programme (Førstelektorprogrammet)
• PhD candidates from other universities
• People with a minimum of a Master´s degree (or equivalent), who have not been admitted to a PhD programme. Holders of a Master´s degree must upload a Master´s Diploma with Diploma Supplement / English translation of the diploma and must document proficiency in English. A detailed list of various criteria to qualify for English language proficiency can be found here: English proficiency

Please contact Ingjerd Gauslaa Nilsen at the BFE-faculty if you have troubles or questions regarding registration to the course. 

The course will be cancelled if less than 10 participants.

Knowledge

• Know Academic English conventions and genres
• Know how to structure an academic text
• Know the guidelines and practices behind authorship & the publishing process
• Know discipline-specific terminology and conventions

Skills

• Develop academic text according to scholarly standards
• Describe and apply relevant author guidelines to make sound decisions about authorship status
• Document datasets according to the guidelines for academic publications
• Critically evaluate and revise own and others academic text
• Critically evaluate the use of artificial writing assistants
• Become aware of own writing behavior and adjust the writing process accordingly

General competence

• Develop your academic manuscripts with the help of knowledge and skills acquired during this course
• Develop strategies to become aware of and adjust writing behavior and habits
• Reflect on role as an academic author in presenting and publishing research work