MooSciTIC: a shot of science! - Scientist’s toolbox for communicating and building projects

Research support

In both Northern and Southern countries, the most widely used indicators of a successful scientific career rely upon both a steady rate of publication in peer-reviewed impact factor journals and success in securing competitive grants. As for higher education, teachers are also expected to handle long teaching hours and large student cohorts, sometimes without having had access to basic training in teaching techniques (especially at the onset of their career). In the North, such skills may be taught in the course of the PhD or as part of continuing professional education but teachers and research scientists from the South generally lack an access to such trainings. This is especially true for those from Western Africa, where the scarcity of domestic fundings makes empirical self-training through successive trials and errors all the more costly.

Objectives

Through this training session, the participants will:

Program

Duration : 8 days

. How to write a scientific article (5h course + variable in-room practical). Complemented through tailor-made practicals based on sample draft manuscripts brought by the participants (approx. 30 min/person and per document).

· How to prepare a grant proposal (5h course + variable in-room practical). Complemented through tailor-made practicals based on sample draft projects brought by the participants (approx. 30 min/person and per document).

· Project management tools (3h in-room practical). Includes an introduction to the use of free softwares for building mind maps (Freeplane) or for collaborative project management (Redmine).

· How to build up and manage a bibliographical database. Includes an introduction to the use of free personal library management softwares: Zotero, Mendeley.

· An overview of the scientific investigative process through a case study: An inexplicable disease (in-room practical, from 2 to 5h).

· Scientific misconduct: a case study (2h course).

· How to prepare an oral communication (2h course)

· How to write and organize a scientific resume (2h course)

· How to build a scientific poster (2h course)

· Basic guidelines for the construction and the management of a training session (3h course)

· enhance the clarity and consistency of their scientific publications (research articles, posters and oral communications) as well as their publication efficiency and visibility;

· optimize their success rate when applying to calls for projects through avoiding the most common pitfalls associated with targeting a call or elaborating the project itself;

· manage more efficiently their contribution to a project or that of their collaborators while ensuring that objectives are met in a timely fashion;

· improve their overall teaching practices.

Audience

Teachers and research scientists at any stage of their career, including 2nd to 3rd year PhD students. Life Sciences field. Priority to the West African region.

Language

English or french

Trainers

Estelle Jaligot et Thierry Beulé - CIRAD UMR DIADE

François Sabot - IRD UMR DIADE

Partners :

Université d'Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Bénin
LMI PathoBios, Burkina Faso
LabEx CeMEB
LabEx Agro / Agropolis Fondation

Prerequisites

To be involved in higher education of Life Sciences and/or in scientific research. To have a regular scientific production under the form of both publications and applications to calls for projects.