I wish to inform you about new training opportunities in scientific writing that should be of great interest for Biologi del Veneto. In particular, I'd like to bring your attention to the following online courses in asynchronous mode (work at your own pace; ai propri ritmi):
Basic Techniques of Scientific Writing in English addresses key issues of English grammar and style pertinent to writing research articles. The course is broadly organized in three areas: macro-level writing (sentences, paragraphs, sections), sentence-level issues (verb tenses and voice, working with nouns, expressing claims, and making comparisons), and micro-level details (capitalization and abbreviations). The course has eight units.
Reporting Quantities and Statistics focuses on how to present numerical data in text. To address this challenge, the course reviews important concepts of quantitative research (e.g. precision, significant digits, SI units, concentrations, types of variables, hypothesis testing, significance) and then explains how to unambiguously write sentences that report quantitative results. A unique feature is that the course addresses the substantial divide between medicine and biology in how statistical results are interpreted and described in text and offers suggestions for biomedical researchers. There are ten units.
In both courses, each unit has one or two video lessons, a printable summary, a moderated discussion forum, and a quiz. Quiz questions are randomly drawn from a bank of 250 questions (per course), so each time a quiz is repeated a new set of questions is proposed. Participants should repeat each quiz until they correctly answer every question; they can continue to repeat quizzes for reinforcement.
The courses are designed for early career researchers who aim to become skillful, independent writers of research articles. The asynchronous format (work at your own pace) is ideal for busy people whose primary responsibility is laboratory or clinical work, as there is no need to be present at live lectures that conflict with these duties. Different from single-day residential events, the asynchronous format delivers content in short lessons, thereby avoiding information overload and allowing participants to repeat topics until they have mastered them. Nonetheless, the interactivity of a residential event is maintained through moderated discussion fora. This feature renders the courses ideal for society members who study together.
The courses have been designed by, and are moderated by, me, Valerie Matarese. I am a former biomedical researcher and native English speaker with over 25 years' experience as scientific editor and trainer in research writing in Italy (and beyond). Based on this experience, I designed a training program called "Effective Biomedical Writing", with a series of courses given so far in residential mode (see here for a list of prior training events). Now, two courses are available online on a Moodle e-learning platform. For groups of 5 or more persons, the enrollment fee is substantially discounted.