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Experimental design workshop
Nowadays, one of the main concerns in the biomedical field is related with reproducibility issues. Wrong use of statistics during the process of experimental design and data analysis has been one of the main reasons for this undesirable situation. As scientific results are provided using a wide range of statistical test, young researchers must have the ability to discern their correct use for each specific situation. With this workshop we aim to raise awareness among young researchers about the importance of the right use of statistics during all the research process, from sample size calculation to data analysis and presentation. In this way, we are going to provide general guidelines that young researcher need to take into account for successful validation and replicability of their experiments.
**Make sure to bring your laptop for the Experimental desing workshop!**
Soft Skills in Academia
By Anna Elena Pepe
For many years now, the corporate world has recognised the importance of training in soft skills. What are soft skills? They are the personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with others. The academic world of research, which is focused on data and results, has only recently started to realise the importance of this kind of training, at any level. During this workshop, aimed at PhD students, we will explore techniques to enhance communication skills both in a one-to-one conversation, and with addressing a wider audience. Students at this workshop will learn what is meant by ‘winning communication’ and how to face ‘challenging conversations’, both with peers and with the supervisor. They will also learn some presentation skills. Specifically, how to command the space and engage an audience in a presentation. We will also explore how ‘winning communication’ can be effective even in a digital form.
Anna Elena Pepe’s Biography
Anna Elena Pepe is an Italian actress and Transformational Coach working both in the United Kingdom and in Italy. Anna studied acting at Guildhall ad Mountview in London. As an actress she has performed on stage and on screen. Alongside her acting career Anna also trained as a scientist and holds a degree in Biotechnology and a PhD in Cardiovascular Science from King’s College London.
The combination of her acting and scientific skills were soon noticed as transferable and precious to the corporate world where she started working as a Trainer/Actor and Roleplayer. During the years, she worked for multinationals as Coca Cola, Kraft Foods, Pfizer Medicals, Ernst & Young, Deutsche Bank, Triumph and many others. She is a qualified Coach from the ICF accredited Animas Centre for Coaching. She specialised in Positive Psychology and Group Coaching (Post Graduate Diplomas).
She is the co-founder of the company Phoebus Coaching
Bianca Kramer and Jeroen Bosman
For many years, research groups around the world have been keeping their methodological and analytical tools out of sight. Nevertheless, this approach is not optimal; the same tools must be developed more than once by different groups, reproducibility issues arise, and in consequence the global understanding is delayed. The objective of this workshop is to embed young scientists in the emerging open science culture. Stressing the importance of data sharing, and introducing available tools that allow to do so effectively. Our aim is to spread the open science initiative, by sharing it with the attendants of ENCODS, with the hope that they will share it in their respective workplaces.
**Make sure to bring your laptop for the Open science workshop!**
Publication Process workshop
The publication of scientific articles is one of the main channels by which scientists share their research with the scientific community. Scientific articles are also used as a measure for the quality of the work of researchers. Which is why it is very important for young researchers to understand how the publishing process works, and very handy to receive advice from experienced people involved in it. The purpose of this workshop, is to open a space where young scientists could receive advice from an expert in the publishing industry. Attendees will learn the details of this process, and will gather hints to make informed decisions at the moment of disclosing their research findings.
What happens to your paper when submitted to a journal?
J. Paul Bolam,
co-Editor in Chief of The European Journal of Neuroscience
MRC Unit, Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, UK
The most important skill a scientist needs, after the research and technical skills needed to execute a study, is the ability to report their scientific endeavours in the written form. Indeed, there is no point in conducting research if one cannot articulate new scientific knowledge. The aim of this workshop is to discuss what happens to a paper once the ‘submit’ button is pressed. Issues that will be discussed include what editors consider when deciding whether to review a paper, what we expect from reviewers, what we expect in a good paper, and ethical issues around publishing scientific papers.
An additional objective of the workshop is to demystify the role of editors. We are scientists who want and need to publish our work. Every editor has gone through the submission process, peer-review process and revisions many, many times and we understand how an author feels. The role of editors and managers of the peer review process, is to help to improve the scientific record.
Topics to be covered:
1. How a paper is handled once submitted to a journal
2. What happens to your paper?
3. The ‘peer-review’ system
4. What the Editors do
5. What the Reviewers do
6. Exercise: Looking at ‘good’ and ‘bad’ reviews
7. How to respond to Reviewers’ comments
8. Ethics of publishing (human subjects, animals, plagiarism)
9. What we expect in a good paper
10. Exercise: Looking at ‘good’ and ‘bad’ abstracts
Paul Bolam’s Biography
Paul Bolam graduated in Pharmacology at Chelsea College, University of London. He did his PhD at King's College Hospital Medical School. He then joined the Department of Pharmacology until he was awarded an MRC Senior Research Fellowship Emeritus Professor of Anatomical Neuropharmacology and emeritus Senior Scientist at the MRC Brain Networks Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford. He has previously served as Secretary of the British Neuroscience Association, as President of the International Basal Ganglia Society, as a member of the Medical Research Council Neuroscience and Mental Health Board, and as Chair of the Research Advisory Panel of Parkinson’s UK. Paul is currently co-Editor in Chief of the European Journal of Neuroscience. He is an Advisory Editor of Trends in Neuroscience, and a member of the editorial boards of several other journals. He is active in public engagement in science, talking to school groups, and career groups
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