Articulating Your Research: Papers, Posters, Grants, and Presentations
This workshop is designed to hone participants’ skills in planning and executing some of the most common forms of academic communication they are likely to encounter in their research career. We will discuss writing styles and best practices, tips on how to plan and begin to write a document, grantsmanship, oral presentation, and figure design, among other topics. The course will comprise four one-hour seminars, each focusing on a different type of document regularly encountered by academic scientists: abstracts, posters, grant proposals, manuscripts, and research talks.
Dates & Location
Dates: this course is now complete
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Course Fee: $10
Session Descriptions
1) Abstracts and posters
This session will focus on key considerations when writing abstracts and designing posters for academic conferences. Topics will include: how to target your work to specific audiences or to meet specific objectives; identifying and emphasizing your take-home messages; how to decide what to include (and what not to include); visual and graphic design considerations; and how to engage people at your poster.
2) Grant proposals
In this session we will cover topics related to preparing research grant proposals. Focusing on the NIH granting mechanisms, we will discuss how to identify key information in the solicitation (and what to do with it), the sections of a grant proposal, how to design and perfect the Specific Aims page, and tips on general grantsmanship.
3) Manuscripts
This session will discuss the different types of scientific manuscripts (data, review, letter, etc.). We will cover what to include in each section of the paper, how to target your audience, and best practices in scientific writing.
4) Talks
Giving a good scientific talk can be key to advancing your research career. In this session we will discuss what you should consider when writing a talk, including how to target and engage a specific audience, how to make your slides work for you (not against you), and best practices in public speaking.
About the Instructor
Gabrielle earned her degree in neuroscience from the University of Chicago in 2010. Following a short postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University, she transitioned to the scientific communications field and founded Red Pen Scientific. She now uses her highly developed skills in writing, oral presentation, and data visualization, to help other scientist communicate their ideas clearly and effectively.
About Red Pen Scientific, Inc.
Red Pen Scientific, Inc. is a consulting firm specializing in scientific communications support for biomedical researchers. Over the past 11 years, we have helped clients maximize the impact of their written and verbal communications. Services include strategic planning and funding assessments to determine the best approach to support a research plan; writing help and coaching for grant applications, manuscripts, posters, or oral presentations; informed and experienced pre-submission review of applications and manuscripts; and project management support for larger or more complicated projects. Our experience includes grants submitted to NIH, NSF, DoD, and private foundations, as well as manuscripts submitted to top-tier journals. Visit the website to learn more.