Michael Alley
The Craft of Scientific Presentations
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70 PhD students in Norway learn the assertion-evidence approach
and other principles of communicating scientific research

From May 9-13, 2016, a talented group of 70 PhD students from universities across Norway and from the European continent convened at Simula Research Laboratory  to learn advanced principles of communicating scientific research. The students came from a variety of science and engineering disciplines, including biology, chemistry, computer science, geology and physics. Teaching the course was Michael Alley, the author of The Craft of Scientific Presentations and The Craft of Scientific Writing. Also helping teach were five students from Pennsylvania State University: Michelle Kehs (PhD student in mechanical engineering), Jess Menold (PhD student in mechanical engineering), Jess Spoll (B.S. in engineering science), Kelli Lenze (B.S. in mechanical engineering), and Rachel Perini (B.S. in mechanical engineering). Simula Research Laboratory hosted the course.

This week was the first week of the two-week course, which is entitled Communicating Scientific Research. During this week, students learned the assertion-evidence approach to scientific presentations. To practice this approach, the students prepared, practiced, and delivered a conference presentation. Students also studied scientific writing and the creation of scientific posters. A highlight of the week was a presentation on scientific outreach by Jørn Hurum. In September, students will take the second part of the course, which includes the topics of proposal writing, proposal presentations, elevator pitches, and scientific films. 

What this first week of Communicating Scientific Research revealed was that a teaching team of one instructor and five trained peer mentors could teach advanced principles of scientific communication to a large number of graduate students at a deep level and in a relatively short amount of time. Participants are encouraged to use the forum below to discuss how they have used principles of the course in their research presentations and writings.
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