The LDC Development Programme is offering postgraduate researchers the chance to develop their writing for a wider audience via their Communicating Research Online course.
The course runs for eight weeks and begins on Monday, 11 February. During the course you will develop an article you have written through a step-by-step process, while receiving feedback and support from other postgraduate researchers from a range of disciplines.
The course includes at least one webinar with tips and ideas to help you enhance your writing and to encourage you to share ideas. At the end of the course you will engage in a peer review process, gaining valuable insight into how this process works. The peer review will develop your skills in delivering a critical review with constructive feedback.
Juliette Doman is a postgraduate researcher in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Speaking about the course, Juliette said: “Last year I took the Communicating Your Research Online: Writing for a Wider Audience course. I wanted to develop my writing skills and publicise my research online.
“Doing the course helped me write a pitch and then develop this into an article for The Conversation, which was published a few weeks after the end of the course. Getting feedback from peers on the course helped motivate me and gave me the confidence to do the pitch, and learning to think about the audience and main message helped me write the article.’
You can read Juliette’s article ‘How indigenous women who survived Guatemala’s conflict are fighting for justice’ on The Conversation here.
Bhavik Ajaykumar Mehta from the Faculty of Science and Engineering also took the course and said: “I joined the course because I wanted to learn how I can talk about my work to people outside of my field of research. It was a challenge I have been faced with since many of my friends are not familiar with a large aspect of my work and so I wanted to gain experience writing about it in a way that everyone would understand.
“It was an intensive course, but well spread out and so I was able to write my own piece as well as evaluate the work of others. The course did help me build confidence in my ability to communicate my research to a wider audience and I’m happy to have been a part of it.’
How do I register for the course?
To find out more information and to register for the course, please visit the Communicating Research Online: Writing for a Wider Audience’s Eventbrite page.
Where can you publish your work?
As a postgraduate researcher there are a number of ways you can communicate your PhD research to an audience outside your research area and gain recognition from academics outside of your research area.
University News is well-read by staff, academics and journalists. You can submit articles to University News, via our Becoming an Expert or Postcard series. To publish a story, contact a member of the University’s news team with your idea.
You can also pitch an article for an international audience of academics to The Conversation.
Alternatively you could even start your own blog, with opportunities for a larger audience and to explore wider styles of writing, but with longer term commitments.