Attention: At 04.12. the Workshop will take place in room 363, LIN.

Seminar Content

Preparing a manuscript for publication requires two sets of skills: writing and editing.
During this workshop, you will learn techniques to help you improve in both areas. You will have the chance to put your current research into written form and then edit it, so that it gains in clarity and becomes more interesting to your target audience. I will introduce an algorithm for converting your research project into a publishable format. This algorithm will speed up your writing and make the process more fun.

It answers the questions:

• What information do I put into my manuscript?
• How should I structure this information?
• What´s the best way to organize my text within a given section?
• What are the hallmarks of good English prose?

In addition to the above‐mentioned benefits, you will have two and a half days of immersion in an Englishspeaking environment. You will be discussing your research with your peers and with me and getting specific feedback about the merits and weaknesses of how you describe it. In the end, you will be able to clearly identify and communicate those things that make your research important, you will have developed a network of fellow science writers with whom you can exchange feedback on future work, and you will be able to more confidently approach your next science‐writing task.
One final note about content: although we will be focusing on the preparation of an English language manuscript, much of what we will be discussing will apply just as well to manuscripts in any language (e.g., German). The workshop content also covers good communication practice in general, which will be helpful in preparing scientific presentations or other public speaking tasks.
One final note about format: the workshop is interactive. Each time you receive some new information, you will then get a chance to put it into practice in your own piece of writing. There will also be many opportunities for working in pairs or in small groups. Practice and feedback are the keys of making progress. You will get a good deal of both – and have fun in the process!

Researchers and other academic staff increasingly need to publish some of their work in English. This helps them reach a wider audience and improve their academic standing. Sometimes their level of English leads reviewers to reject the papers or readers to misunderstand or under-appreciate the contents. The result is that their peers misunderstand or under-appreciate the author’s good work.

The workshop comprises two-and-half days of interactive sessions that take participants step-by-step through the writing and revision of a paper or other similar document. On the first two days, the participants apply the theory to their own texts and receive an individual feedback session with the trainer on their texts and tips on how to improve their writing. This writing is an integral part of the course. Experience shows that, the more people put into this course, the more they learn.

By the end of the course each participant will have polished at least one text and will be able to approach their next paper with confidence.

Trainer

Billy Uber studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, US, and worked in the chemical industry as a research and development engineer. Since 1998, he has lived in Baden-Baden, DE, where he has been active as a language trainer, translator, systemic mediator and coach. Since 2007, he has been facilitating workshops in the fields of effective communication and leadership.

Registration via graduate.academy@ovgu.de