Graduate School of Life Sciences course timetable

The Scientific Paper Seminar is a 2-day writing workshop for early-career scientists. It teaches the skills required for producing research papers of the highest quality for the world's top journals. The workshop is designed to give participants the confidence to begin publishing in the increasingly competitive world of science. The course instructors are Mark Buchanan and Justin Mullins, two highly experienced scientific writers/editors.

Because pre-course work is required, all bookings must be made by 1st May 2015. You will then be contacted with a request for a small piece of pre-course work which the trainers will need to have by Friday, 22nd May 2015.

Cancellations cannot be accepted after the 1st May 2015, so please make sure you are commited to attend before you sign up.

A workshop of two half-day sessions that are one week apart, developing:

• Knowledge of critical thinking, with respect to logic and argument development
• Skills in application of critical thinking using case studies and debate involving bioethics

Developing your critical thinking and recognising how human elements impact on scientific enquiry will support you in making more appropriate decisions in the direction of your scientific projects.

As scientists, your skills of critical thinking are well developed in hypothesis testing, observation and empirical experiment. This workshop will incorporate other modes of logic and reason into your scientific thinking. Once these skills have been looked at, they will be use on example discussions in the areas of social and ethical issues in biotechnology – including reproductive cloning and use of bio-information. Please note that these are example topics for practicing the skills and are not the topic of the course.

Workshop leader: Caroline Broad is a Philosophy graduate with a passion for the practical applications of critical thinking; especially in the global, highly technical world we now live in; Caroline has spent ten years working in biotechnology field, previously as an employee for AZ owned MedImmune. She is a visiting lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College, teaching Advanced Concepts in Bio business; delivers workshops to post-docs at Imperial College in Innovation skills and creative problem solving.

A workshop of two half-day sessions that are one week apart, developing:

• Knowledge of critical thinking, with respect to logic and argument development
• Skills in application of critical thinking using case studies and debate involving bioethics

Developing your critical thinking and recognising how human elements impact on scientific enquiry will support you in making more appropriate decisions in the direction of your scientific projects.

As scientists, your skills of critical thinking are well developed in hypothesis testing, observation and empirical experiment. This workshop will incorporate other modes of logic and reason into your scientific thinking. Once these skills have been looked at, they will be use on example discussions in the areas of social and ethical issues in biotechnology – including reproductive cloning and use of bio-information. Please note that these are example topics for practicing the skills and are not the topic of the course.

Workshop leader: Caroline Broad is a Philosophy graduate with a passion for the practical applications of critical thinking; especially in the global, highly technical world we now live in; Caroline has spent ten years working in biotechnology field, previously as an employee for AZ owned MedImmune. She is a visiting lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College, teaching Advanced Concepts in Bio business; delivers workshops to post-docs at Imperial College in Innovation skills and creative problem solving.

An Introduction to R: Software For Statistical Analysis, with Dr Simon R. White, MRC Biostatistics Unit, and Dr Adam P. Wagner, University of Cambridge.

GNU R is (freely) available for all major platforms (Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.) and is growing in popularity in academia and beyond for carrying out statistical analysis and data manipulation.

The aim of the course is to introduce participants to the basics of statistical analysis and the open source statistical software GNU R.

Participants will actively use R throughout the course, during which they will be introduced to principles of statistical thinking and interpretation by example, exercises and discussion about a range of problems. The examples will be used to present a variety of statistical concepts and techniques, with no focus on any specific discipline.

Participants Without a Raven Password: If you do not have a Raven's account and would like to attend this course, or have other booking queries, please email Adam Wagner (apw40@medschl.cam.ac.uk).

An Introduction to R: Software For Statistical Analysis, with Dr Simon R. White, MRC Biostatistics Unit, and Dr Adam P. Wagner, University of Cambridge.

GNU R is (freely) available for all major platforms (Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.) and is growing in popularity in academia and beyond for carrying out statistical analysis and data manipulation.

The aim of the course is to introduce participants to the basics of statistical analysis and the open source statistical software GNU R.

Participants will actively use R throughout the course, during which they will be introduced to principles of statistical thinking and interpretation by example, exercises and discussion about a range of problems. The examples will be used to present a variety of statistical concepts and techniques, with no focus on any specific discipline.

Participants Without a Raven Password: If you do not have a Raven's account and would like to attend this course, or have other booking queries, please email Adam Wagner (apw40@medschl.cam.ac.uk).

An Introduction to R: Software For Statistical Analysis, with Dr Simon R. White, MRC Biostatistics Unit, and Dr Adam P. Wagner, University of Cambridge.

GNU R is (freely) available for all major platforms (Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.) and is growing in popularity in academia and beyond for carrying out statistical analysis and data manipulation.

The aim of the course is to introduce participants to the basics of statistical analysis and the open source statistical software GNU R.

Participants will actively use R throughout the course, during which they will be introduced to principles of statistical thinking and interpretation by example, exercises and discussion about a range of problems. The examples will be used to present a variety of statistical concepts and techniques, with no focus on any specific discipline.

Participants Without a Raven Password: If you do not have a Raven's account and would like to attend this course, or have other booking queries, please email Adam Wagner (apw40@medschl.cam.ac.uk).

If you cannot lead yourself, how can you influence others or be a productive member of a team?

Join us for an intensive 1-day, experiential workshop exploring the core elements of leading self and others positively and effectively. We start with self-leadership: purpose, values and how well I live them, and what gets in the way? It includes mental and neurophysiological tools for reducing fear (a.k.a. stress, tension), accessing presence/ the zone (often referred to in current trends as dynamic "mindfulness") all leading to increase the ACT of leadership - Awareness, Connection and Transformation - for self and others.

Having established this firm foundation, we build the capacity for open, productive, adult-to-adult interactions with others with emotional intelligence, trust, delegation and handling conflict.

This day-long training course consists of a mixture of taught and interactive practical elements intended to show participants how to get the best out of Twitter for research purposes.

Please note that this course requires you to have an existing working knowledge of Twitter. In order to apply you must fill in an application form available at the following address

https://cambridge.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/come-fly-with-me-application

Why is YouTube popular? Because people love watching videos. A research video can be a great way to get your message across to your collaborators, your friends, and the wider world as well as being a condition of some funding bodies.

But it isn't easy to do well - and this is where this course will make a difference. Come along and learn the skills needed to plan and shoot high quality footage for research videos so that your video can stand out from the crowd. You just need yourself, a camera phone and your enthusiasm!

Many basic numeric messages are inadequately communicated because of poor presentation. This course illustrates some of the problems and demonstrates ways to improve the reception of messages by different target audience. This one-day course is the foundation to all presentations of statistical information. The basic principles of presenting information in tables, charts, maps and text are explained. These are illustrated and then reinforced through practical exercises.

The course is for anyone who is involved in communicating statistics to non-statisticians, or who reports on data within organisations, to specific communities and to the general public where a message is being delivered.

Download the poster at http://www.gradschl.lifesci.cam.ac.uk/GRASP/clear-vision-poster/view

The course takes an evidence-based approach to writing. Participants will learn that publishing is a game and the more they understand the rules of the game the higher their chances of becoming publishing authors. They will learn that writing an academic article and getting it published may help with their careers but it does not make them better researchers, or cleverer than they were before their paper was accepted; it simply means they have played the game well.

Suitable for GSLS postgraduates in any discipline who are keen to learn how to write academic papers and articles efficiently as well as more established researchers who have had papers rejected and are not really sure why.

If you want a better chance of your name on a paper, this is for you!

Trainer

Olivia Timbs is an award-winning editor and journalist with over 30 years' experience gained from working on national newspapers and for a range of specialist health and medical journals.

Academics can make as much of an impact from what they say as what they write whether it be through teaching, conferences or job presentations. Working with a trained actor and an academic, this workshop will take participants through the process of how to write and deliver a speech.

In the first session you will cover how to structure a speech, the use of appropriate language and imagery, audio-visual aids and how to master the Q&A.

In the second session, we will focus on your performance. Drawing on acting techniques, participants will discover how to improve their diction, resonance, range and articulation as well as relaxation and breathing techniques to calm nerves.

This workshop is designed for PhDs and Postdocs at any stage of their academic career.

There is a growing research base on how to approach influencing in a positive and ethical way. In this workshop you will practice techniques to improve your influencing skills and develop your natural influencing style.

Great ideas need people to get behind them. Teams need to be motivated towards their objectives. Academics and funders need to be convinced of your project’s worth.

We will explore the power of language, rapport, consensus and reciprocity within influencing. We will practice key influencing skills that will help you develop effective committed relationship with the right people for your purpose.

Trainer: Caroline Broad is a Philosophy graduate, with seven years experience working in the bio science industry and 15 years delivering skills development workshops.

This series of lectures provides a basic introduction to neurobiology. If you are a new graduate student working in another area but think your research might benefit from some understanding of neurobiology, this is for you. If you have done an undergraduate course in neuroscience of any kind, this is NOT for you.

This series of lectures provides a basic introduction to neurobiology. If you are a new graduate student working in another area but think your research might benefit from some understanding of neurobiology, this is for you. If you have done an undergraduate course in neuroscience of any kind, this is NOT for you.

This series of lectures provides a basic introduction to neurobiology. If you are a new graduate student working in another area but think your research might benefit from some understanding of neurobiology, this is for you. If you have done an undergraduate course in neuroscience of any kind, this is NOT for you.

A crash course in what you need to know about scientific writing. This lecture is aimed at those writing scientific papers, but many of the principles apply equally to writing a doctoral dissertation. The examples given are mostly in the area of of Biochemistry research, but applicable to many others.

There are some key working relationships that require development and management throughout the course of a Ph.D. If this is discussed and understood at the earliest opportunity students can be proactive in managing such relationships, enhance transferable skills and have a better research experience.

Your lab notebook is one of the most important and precious objects you, as a scientist, will ever have. This course will explore how keeping an exemplary laboratory notebook is crucial to good scientific practice in lab research. The course will consist of a short talk, a chance to assess some examples of good and bad practice, with plenty of time for questions and discussion. You might like to bring along your own lab notebook for feedback. (Please note that issues relating to protection of Intellectual Property Rights will not be covered in this course).