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Available Courses
- New! Creating Successful Research Posters
- New! Effective Science Communication
- Getting an Academic Research Position
- Scientific Writing and Publishing
- Finding Funding Opportunities
- Persuasive Grant Writing
- Interpreting Scientific Results
- Data Analysis: Planning and Preparing
- Data Analysis: Conducting and Troubleshooting
- Advancing your Scientific Presentations
- Networking for Researchers
- Effective Collaboration for Researchers
- Managing Research Data to Unlock its Full Potential
- Narrative Tools for Researchers
- Experiments from Idea to Design
- Bonus free course: Focus on Peer Review
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Course Descriptions
New! Creating Successful Research Posters
- How to craft great engaging research posters and prepare a handout and conversation that will captivate your audience.
- For researchers in the natural sciences who would like to learn how to create and present an effective research poster
- 10–35-minute lessons
What's in the course?
Module 1: Creating Successful Research Posters
- Set communication goals for your poster presentations
- Identify your audience and select your key message and supporting material
- Select the visual elements and supporting text for your poster
- Design a poster that will communicate your key message effectively
- Use your poster to spark great conversations about your research.
New! Effective Science Communication
- How to effectively communicate research with non-experts
- For anyone, including researchers in the natural sciences who would like to communicate their research to a broader audience
- 10-30 minute lessons
- Taught by 8 experts in science communication, science writing and editing, science outreach, engagement and presentations, and the Springer Nature press office
- Receive a certificate when you complete the module
What's in the course?
- Module 1: Effective Science Communication
Getting an Academic Research Position
- How to get an academic research position that suits you perfectly
- For researchers in the natural sciences seeking to take their next career step, either as a new postdoc or in a new faculty role
- 10-30 minutes lessons
- Taught by 11 experts in research career development, including experienced academic researchers, Nature Portfolio journal Editors, and coaching and careers specialists
- Receive a certificate when you complete each part of the course
What's in the course?
- Module 1: Exploring your values, interests, skills and career goals
- Module 2: Finding a research position
- Module 3: Applying for a research position
- Module 4: Excelling at the interview
Scientific Writing and Publishing
- Offers guidance on how to write and publish a great research paper
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to get published
- Short 10 minute lessons
- Taught by Nature Research journal editors – so you hear tips from the experts
- Receive a certificate when you complete each part of the course
What’s in the course?
- Part 1: Writing a research paper: How to write clearly, write a great title and abstract, and structure your paper — as well as how to manage and present your data
- Part 2: Publishing a research paper: How to select a journal for publication, submit your article, and navigate the editorial process — including how to write cover letters, the peer review process, and editorial decisions
- Part 3: Writing and publishing a review paper: What makes a great review paper, how to plan and write a review, and how to referee a review paper
Finding Funding Opportunities
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to find funding opportunities or mentor others through the process
- Short 10-30 minute lessons
- Taught by 5 experts in obtaining research funding including a former program director at a major funder, experienced researchers, and a research management consultant
- Receive a certificate when you complete this 1 module course
What’s in the course?
Module 1: Finding Funding Opportunities
- Understand the funding landscape and the importance of finding the best-fitting opportunities
- Identify your funding requirements taking into consideration your personal and professional circumstances
- Search for and keep track of suitable funding opportunities
- Select the most appropriate funding opportunities based on your needs
Persuasive Grant Writing
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to use narrative tools to improve the quality of their grant applications to make them more informative and persuasive
- Short 15-minute lessons
- Taught by 9 experts in grant writing including researchers, program officers from funding bodies and the Chief Editor of the Nature Research Editing Service
- Receive a certificate when you complete the 3-module course
What’s in the course?
- Module 1: Before starting your grant application: How narrative tools can improve the overall quality of your grant application
- Module 2: Targeting your audience: How to align your grant application with the requirements and objectives of its audience - your chosen funder
- Module 3: Creating a narrative: Learn to apply narrative tools when writing your grant application to make it more informative and persuasive
Interpreting Scientific Results
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to interpret their scientific findings with more confidence, or mentor others through the process
- Short 10-20 minute lessons
- Taught by 5 experts in interpreting results, including a Nature Portfolio journal Editor and experienced researchers, statisticians and data scientists
- Receive a certificate when you complete this 1 module course
What’s in the course?
Module 1: Interpreting Scientific Results
- Select appropriate approaches to visualize and prioritize your findings in order to identify the key message
- Identify the ways in which your data interpretation helps you to address and answer your scientific question
- Add context to your findings by considering the wider research field
- Summarize and communicate your findings with a focus on your key message, and how to best express caveats and future directions
Data Analysis: Planning and Preparing
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to develop their data analysis skills or mentor others through the process
- Short 20-minute lessons
- Taught by 10 experts in data analysis including experienced statisticians and data scientists, journal editors and early career researchers
- Receive a certificate when you complete the 2-module course
What’s in the course?
- Module 1: Introduction to data analysis and the importance of planning: How to create a data analysis plan and get feedback
- Module 2: Preparing your data for analysis: How to apply best practice to collate and merge the data you’ve collected
Data Analysis: Conducting and Troubleshooting
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to develop their data analysis skills or mentor others through the process
- Short 10-20 minute lessons
- Taught by 10 experts in data analysis including experienced statisticians and data scientists, journal editors and early career researchers
- Receive a certificate when you complete the 3-module course
What’s in the course?
- Module 1: Introduction to Data Analysis: Understand the importance of conducting effective data analysis
- Module 2: Exploring Your Data and Reviewing Your Analysis Plan: Identify the range of analytic methods available and understand which is most suited to your data
- Module 3: Analyzing Your Data: Learn strategies for obtaining feedback, troubleshooting and expressing the limitations of your analysis
Advancing Your Scientific Presentations
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to improve the quality of their peer-to-peer scientific presentations with both virtual and face-to-face audiences
- Short 15-minute lessons
- Taught by 10 experts in scientific presentations including researchers and professionals such as the Editor in Chief of Nature who excel at presenting their work, renowned presentation designers & trainers and experts in narrative tools
- Receive a certificate when you complete the 4-module course
What’s in the course?
- Module 1: Overcoming your research presentation challenges: Identify techniques that can help to overcome the challenges that researchers commonly face when creating and delivering oral presentations
- Module 2: Developing the story behind your talk: Build compelling research stories to use as the foundation for your presentations
- Module 3: Building an engaging slide deck: Create professional slide decks that effectively communicate your research findings to your audience
- Module 4: Preparing and navigating your talk: Apply strategies to help you deliver your presentation effectively on the day, in both virtual and face-to-face environments
Networking for Researchers
- For researchers in the natural sciences to identify and use career and research goals to develop their networking strategy, and acquire key skills to build and maintain a professional network in person and online to advance their research and their career
- Short 15-minute lessons
- Taught by 10 experts in networking including researchers, experienced academic networkers, fellows, networking consultants and communications specialists
- Receive a certificate when you complete the 4-module course
What’s in the course?
- Module 1: Why network?: How to examine the different purposes, challenges and opportunities related to building your network
- Module 2: Getting ready to work: How to prepare key resources to help you build an effective network
- Module 3: Connect with new networking contacts: Strategies to approach and connect with potential network contacts, both in-person and online
- Module 4: Nurturing and harnessing the power of your network: How to follow up on initial approaches and how to apply strategies to leverage your network that will advance your research or career
Effective Collaboration in Research
- Offers guidance on how to join in, set up or lead collaborative projects
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to make the most out of collaborative research projects
- Easy-to-use with short 15 minute lessons
- Taught by experts in collaboration including researchers, funders, editors and professionals
- Receive a certificate when you complete each part of the course
What’s in the course?
- Part 1: Introducing collaboration: Why collaborative research is becoming more prevalent
- Part 2: Participating in a collaboration: The pros and cons of collaborating
- Part 3: Leading a collaboration: How collaborative projects can help advance your research and career
Managing Research Data to Unlock its Full Potential
- Offers guidance on how to develop one’s data management skills or mentor others through the process
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to learn about acquiring practical lifelong skills to manage their data efficiently and comply with evolving requirements, including from funders
- Short 15-minute lessons
- Taught by experts in data management, including researchers, funders, data publishing and institutional data management specialists
- Receive a certificate when you complete the 4-module course
What’s in the course?
- Module 1: Welcome and introduction: Why effective data management is beneficial to your research and your career
- Module 2: Creating and maintaining your data management plans: How to create and maintain a data management plan
- Module 3: Managing data in the short and long term: How to apply best practices for organizing, storing, archiving and quality checking your data
- Module 4: Sharing your data: How to ensure that your data is understandable to yourself and others
Narrative Tools for Researchers
- Offers guidance on how to enhance your communication to your peers by using narrative tools to tell your research story
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to learn about how to communicate their research to the scientific community in an effective, compelling and memorable way
- Easy-to-use with short 15-minute lessons
- Taught by 10 experts in using narrative techniques in scientific communication, including researchers, Nature editors and science journalists
- Receive a certificate when you complete the 3-module course
What’s in the course?
- Module 1: Why use a story?: The benefits of using a compelling story to communicate your research to your peers and stakeholders, such as funders or industry partners
- Module 2: Building your story: How to build and combine different narrative elements that can help you create a more compelling scientific story
- Module 3: Refining your story: How to refine your story by soliciting feedback and implementing edits
Experiments: From Idea to Design
- Equips you with the right tools to help develop, plan, and refine robust, impactful experiments
- For researchers in the natural sciences who want to develop their experimental design skills
- Easy-to-use with short 15-minute lessons
- Taught by 9 experts in experts in experimental design including experienced researchers and Nature Portfolio Journal Editors
- Receive a certificate when you complete the 4-module course
What’s in the course?
- Module 1: Foundations of Experimental Design: The benefits of honing your experimental design skills before embarking on full-scale experiments
- Module 2: Developing your Motivation, Assumptions, and Hypotheses: How to prioritize research motivations according to their potential impact, your skill set, and your enthusiasm; identify your assumptions; formulate hypotheses and testable predictions
- Module 3: Assembling your Experimental Plan: Identify the information that you need to collect to test your assumptions, hypotheses, or predictions, and fulfill your research motivation
- Module 4: Utilizing your Experimental Design: Refining your experimental design before conducting your full experiment