PhD Courses in Denmark

Writing Scientific Papers in English (WSP) 

The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, Odense
Teaching language: English - ECTS / weighting: 5 ECTS / 0.083 full-time equivalent.

Teacher: Bridget Hallam
Period: Spring / Autumn.
Offered in: Odense

Prerequisites: 
Enough results to write about, written into a reasonably good, complete draft of a scientific paper. This means that the course is not so suitable for new PhD students but better for those who already have done work worth submitting to a conference.

Content - Key areas:

This course guides each student through maturing their own scientific paper through two revisions, resulting in a submission more likely to be accepted.

Online lectures covering the characteristics of a good paper and how to write one, including how to find relevant papers to cite. Students rework their paper based on the information given and prepare 10-min presentations explaining the background to their work. Papers (version 1) are submitted via a formal conference management system.

Timetabled Presentation Day:

Halfway through the course, students give their presentations and choose which of their classmate's papers they wish to review. Lecture on publishing papers, the reviewing process, and how to respond to reviews. Students are assigned two of their classmates’ papers to review. They submit their reviews via the conferencing system.

Students the edit their papers according to the classmate reviews and send the revised paper (version 2) to a) the conferencing system and b) a suitable reviewer that they have found. Students edit their paper according to the professional review they receive.

FINALLY:
When they are ready, students hand in the professional review, their revised paper (version 3) and a covering letter. Bridget then reviews the v3 paper and assesses the rest.

Learning outcomes:

To improve the chance of your papers getting accepted; and to take people through the paper review process. Students also get experience using a standard conferencing system.
Wider goal: to improve the quality of scientific paper-writing in English.

Literature: 

Course overheads, web pages.

Time of classes: 

The course runs in spring and autumn each year. All the course is online except for the presentation day. The autumn presentation day is normally the last Monday in August.

The spring presentation day is normally the first Monday in May.

Lessons:
Most of the 5 ECTs of work is done in your own time, some before and some after the timetabled day. Deadlines have been spread out to allow space for your other commitments.

Form of instruction: Online lectures, emails, presentations, written.

Evaluation
Individual examination, pass/fail, approval by the teacher.

Assessment for this course involves satisfactory (pass/fail) production of several elements:

a) a paper written by the student about his/her own work;
b) a presentation of this paper;
c) two reviews of fellow-students' papers;
d) an improved version of their own paper;
e) a final version edited according to a professional reviewers' comments;
f) a covering letter.

Price:
* PhDs enrolled at the Faculty of Engineering at SDU: Free
* Other PhDs: DKK 1.000, - pr. ECTS

Sign-up or questions: Send an email to Pia Mønster Kristensen pmkr@mmmi.sdu.dk and/or Bridget Hallam bdh@dti.dk.