BIO 384C, Fall 2015

This is the home page for class BIO 384C, Subjects and Skills for Graduate Students in the Biological Sciences.

Syllabus and schedule: BIO384C_syllabus_fall2015.pdf

Lectures

1. Aug. 27, 2015 – Overview of course goals and materials
(Ochman, Wilke)

Readings:

2. Sep. 1, 2015 – Becoming a better writer: Avoiding the official style
(Wilke)

3. Sep. 3, 2015 – What makes for good writing and a good abstract?
(Ochman)

Readings:

4. Sep. 8, 2015 – Becoming a better writer: Topic and stress position
(Wilke)

5. Sep. 10, 2015 – How to prepare a grant application or research proposal
(Ochman)

Readings:

6. Sep. 15, 2015 – Copy-editing text
(Wilke)

7. Sep. 17, 2015 – The Hook: Setting up the problem
(Ochman)

Readings:

8. Sep. 22, 2015 – Outline for a Specific Aims page
(Wilke)

9. Sep. 24, 2015 – Punctuation
(Ochman)

Readings:

10. Sep. 29, 2015 – Outline for a Specific Aims page, Part II
(Wilke)

11. Oct. 1, 2015 – Combining writing style with writing contents: Thinking about the Specific Aims
(Ochman)

Readings:

12. Oct. 6, 2015 – Writing a scientific paper
(Wilke)

13. Oct. 8, 2015 – Evaluating scientific productivity
(Ochman)

Readings:

14. Oct. 13, 2015 – Factors to consider when making figures
(Ochman)

15. Oct. 15, 2015
(Ochman)

16. Oct. 20, 2015 – Making figures with R
(Wilke)

17. Oct. 22, 2015
(Ochman)

18. Oct. 27, 2015 – Making figures with R, Part 2
(Wilke)

19. Oct. 29, 2015 – Giving presentations
(Ochman)

Readings:

20. Nov. 3, 2015 – Giving presentations
(Wilke)

21. Nov. 5, 2015 – Student presentations
(Ochman)

22. Nov. 10, 2015 – Student presentations
(Ochman)

23. Nov. 12, 2015 – Student presentations
(Ochman)

24. Nov. 17, 2015 – Student presentations, parallel structure
(Wilke)

25. Nov. 19, 2015 – Avoiding Jargon
(Ochman)

Readings:

26. Nov. 24, 2015 – Significance & Innovation, figure captions
(Wilke)

Readings:

Assignments (please read carefully!):

27. Dec. 1, 2015 – Proposal review
(Wilke)

28. Dec. 3, 2015 – Mock review panels
(Ochman, Wilke)