Mastering the oral and visual dynamics of academic presentations
Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen
This is a generic course. This means that the course is reserved for PhD students at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at UCPH.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at the Graduate School, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to the waiting list.
The course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD students at NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
1. Integrate oral delivery and visual design effectively to enhance the impact of academic presentations in teaching and research contexts.
2. Apply principles of visual storytelling and design to create compelling research posters and slide decks based on their own data.
3. Demonstrate refined presentation performance techniques (clear speech, engaging storytelling, and confident body language) when delivering research content.
4. Adapt communication strategies to diverse academic settings – from small seminars to large conferences – ensuring clarity and engagement across formats.
Content
This two-day intensive course focuses on mastering the dynamic interplay between oral delivery and visual design in academic presentations. Participants will learn advanced visual storytelling techniques, effective presentation design principles, and performance skills to elevate their research communication. The aim is to enable PhD students to deliver high-level presentations with clarity, confidence, and impact.
The teaching format is highly interactive, and case based. Each participant works with their own research project data to develop presentation materials, ensuring the content is directly relevant to their field. Practical exercises and peer feedback are integrated throughout to reinforce learning.
By the end of the course, participants will have gained practical experience and enhanced confidence in integrating oral and visual elements for any academic audience.
Participants
The course is open to PhD students from all graduate programmes. No formal prerequisites are required. Participants will use their own research content to develop posters and presentations, making the training directly applicable to their work.
Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD students from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:
All graduate programmes
Language
English or Danish, dependent on participants.
Form
Case-based learning with a strong practical focus. The course includes short lectures, group work, and guided discussions, but emphasizes active participation. Students engage in exercises and critiqued sessions each day. Each participant receives personal feedback.
As preparation the participants are expected to have reflected on the material they like to work with during the course, either a presentation of their own research project in general or of a central part of the own PhD project.
Prior to the course, participants are asked to send a brief description of their own communicative challenges and purpose of participating in the course (i.e, your personal learning goal(s)). Max ½ page.
Course director
Nicole Schmitt, Prof. mso, Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (SUND), UCPH, nschmitt@sund.ku.dk
Teachers
Bent Nørgaard, Communication Consultant and Stage Director, www.bentnørgaard.dk
Gert K Nielsen, Graphic Designer, Centre for Online and Blended Learning, SUND, UCPH
Dates
28–29 October 2025
Course location
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The Panum Institute, Mærsk Tower, room 7.15.92
Registration
Please register before 28 September 2025
Expected frequency
2 times per year
Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules.
Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrolment.
Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor.