Writing in Science – A course organized by Virgilio Program
As we all understand, high quality scientific writing is essential to communicate research findings in a clear and concise manner. Scientists need to develop the ability to write well-structured manuscripts to communicate their research results and findings with other scientists or experts. In this way, information is shared in a systematic manner, so that researchers can build upon the work of others.
As part of Virgilio Program, we organized a course on Scientific Writing for our 1st Cohort students – 23rd, 24th, 26th Oct 2020. The course was designed to help students understand the steps in scientific writing, using practical examples and exercises. Our course faculty was Prof. Myriam Alcalay, MD, PhD, Full professor of Medical genetics at the University of Milan, Unit Director of Functional Genomics at the European Institute of Oncology, and Deputy Scientific Coordinator of Alliance Against Cancer. She’s a leading expert on the subject of “Writing in Science” and has been teaching this course across many national and international PhD programs.
The course received an excellent feedback from our students, sharing the same as below:
Vera Pacoova Dal Maschio, 6th year student - Laurea magistrale in Medicine & Surgery, UNIMI
"The Scientific Writing course was one of the most useful courses I've attended as part of the Virgilio Program. As 6th year students, we are now working on our thesis and dreaming of future publications; thus, this course was extremely relevant for us, not only due to its quality, but also for its timing. During the course, I got the opportunity to revise the basic rules of English grammar and language, which, although simple, can lead to subtle mistakes. I learnt how to present a topic clearly and concisely, by selecting information and avoiding unnecessary phrases. Most importantly, I understood that I must believe in my own work and present it with confidence rather than belittle it."
Stefano Rigo, 6th year student - Laurea Magistrale in Medicine & Surgery, HUMANITAS
“I found this course extremely useful and engaging. Prof. Alcalay clearly explained the pillars of scientific writing. Quite often, it is difficult to understand science, therefore we need to find a way to communicate our results with precision and clarity in order to catch the attention and convey our message to the readers.”
Mattia Basile, 6th year student - Laurea Magistrale in Medicine & Surgery, UNIMIB
"I think this course is one of the best opportunities the Virgilio Program has offered us. The topics covered in the course are essential for a future doctor interested in being actively involved in communicating science. The teaching quality was excellent. I was personally not so confident with these topics, but after three days of participating hands-on in this course, I think I have learnt the essentials and definitely improved my writing skills!!"
Gaia Ninatti, 6th year student - Laurea Magistrale in Medicine & Surgery, HUMANITAS
“At this point of my academic path, I couldn’t think of a more useful course than the Scientific Writing course organized by the Virgilio Program. The course covered a wide range of topics related to effective writing, grammar in scientific English, writing an original manuscript, and plagiarism and copyrights. Lectures were interactive, with built-in practical exercises, which were very useful. In the final exercise we challenged ourselves to write a brief commentary on the 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Chemistry.
The Professor, an esteemed Physician-Scientist, gave us an exhaustive feedback on our work and many valuable tips for our imminent thesis writing and future practice.”
Federico Stella, 6th year student - Laurea Magistrale in Medicine & Surgery, UNIMI
" A well-structured course with solid theoretical foundation and challenging practical activities. It was three days of full immersion in scientific writing that gave me a lot of inputs for my future work. Finally, having got the opportunity to study from an internationally recognized researcher like Professor Alcalay, I couldn’t have asked for more”.
Francesco Luciano, 6th year student - Laura Magistrale in Medicine & Surgery, UNIMI
“I found this course really valuable, especially the part on becoming aware of common mistakes and the basics of effective sentence structuring. Finally, the hands-on approach made it very enjoyable.”
Luigi Giovanni Cecchi, 6th year student - Laurea Magistrale in Medicine & Surgery, HUMANITAS
“The course in scientific writing was extremely useful. It made me understand that scientific writing demands precision (the precise use of words and phrases) and clarity. Subtle differences in word choice or punctuation can have significantly different meanings.
Even though it will take me time and practice to acquire good scientific writing skills, but I think I got an excellent start.”
Virgilio Program team extends our sincere thanks to Prof. Alcalay for teaching this course.
As shared by our students, the course was extremely useful and we are sure with the essentials learnt, the students would be more aware and conscious in applying the learning in writing their thesis or later a manuscript.
As rightly said by Prof. Alcalay, “Scientific Writing is an art and skill that must be learnt by repetitive practice of reading, writing and revising.”
We wish our future medical scientists all the very best!
