NKEA09010U Scientific Writing, Planning and Presentation

Volume 2013/2014
Education
MSc Programme in Chemistry
Content

The course addresses higher-level aspects of communication (both written and oral) as required by a Masters student.

Learning Outcome
Knowledge:
software for searching and organising literature
software for making figures
basic knowledge on patenting and commercilization of research results
good scientific practice at UCPH
Vancouver guidelines good practice

Skills:
to write a cover letter
to write a small grant application
to structure a research project
to perform a literature search
to present research in front of a group
to write a research communication

Competency:
to plan, carry out, and communicate a reserach project
Literature
The Elements of Style
William Strunk, E.B. White
Publisher: Longman; 4th edition (August 2, 1999)
ISBN-10: 020530902X
ISBN-13: 978-0205309023

Lecture slides uploaded to Absalon
A mixture of lectures, group work, exercises, and student presentations
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Practical exercises
  • 9
  • Preparation
  • 10
  • Project work
  • 145
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Other
Assignment 1- Cover letter (acceptable in Danish or English) (10% of total grade)
Assignment 2 - Grant Application (acceptable in Danish or English) (20% of total grade)
Assignment 3 - Outline (English only) (20% of total grade)
Assignment 4 - Presentation (English only) (20% of total grade)
Assignment 5 - Paper (English only) (30% of total grade)

1. Non-English (eg. Danish) words in the text or graphics (technical names excluded)
2. Spelling errors that would have been corrected with spell-check
3. Using more than ten incorrect words (not spelling problems)
4. Missing axis labels on a graph
5. Missing figure/table captions
6. Figures not referenced in the text
7. Less than 10 references total or less than 7 references to journal articles
8. Missing elements (each counts as one mistake)
a. Introduction
b. Methods
c. Results and discussion
d. Conclusions
9. Over the text limit
10. Font size and line spacing other than that specified in the assignment
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Exam period
Continuous evaluation of the 5 Assigmentsnew assignment
Re-exam
A new assignment
Criteria for exam assesment
For each assignment a list of formal errors is defined and given to the student before the Assignment
For example:
Use of words outside the language chosen (eg. no Danish in an English letter)
Spelling errors that would have been corrected with spell-check
Using more than five incorrect words (not spelling problems)
Missing information (each counts as one mistake)
a.    What you are applying for
b.    How they can contact you
Wrong lenght
Font size and line spacing other than that specified in the assignment

Each error leads to a decrease in the grade