Academic skills in Forest Sciences
Course structure
Introduction and welcome to the course! Lectures are structured in five main topics, related to different skills necessary along the academic career. Each of these topics is often developed throughout several sequential teaching hours, depending on the time table of each year and the course needs. The topics are not presented in chronological order, as this is adapted to each course timetable and number of students. Each topic has associated tasks and assignments. The tasks and proposed reflections are intended to help thinking the different aspects explained in the lectures. The assignments are intended to help developing and exercising the skills (writing, reading, presenting, synthesizing, etc…).
The lectures are organised in five modules (topics), plus a seminar in the form of final presentations for a total of 1.5 ECTS. In Finland, 1 ECTS equals 27h of course workload, so this course is designed to fulfill 40.5h, distributed in ca. 18h of direct interaction and lectures, and the rest in preparing the lectures, assignments and tasks. See the calendar and assignments for further information.
Topic 1. Science and Academia
How science works? – Conferences – Communication channels – Posters
Topic 2. Writing Skills
Structure of the thesis – Organising ideas – Style – Rhythm
Topic 3. Reading Skills
How to read a paper? – Retrieving info – Reading fast & slow – Structure
Topic 4. Manuscripts and Reviews
Journals – Role of reviewers – Reputation
Topic 5. Presentations
Audience – Deliver your message – Structure – Tools
Requirements and evaluation
Grading is from 0 to 5, with 1 being the minimum to pass the course, as standard in the UEF courses. 40% of the grade originates from the individual oral presentation, 30% analysing a scientific article, 20% from the individual abstract. 10% from participation, title… Other assignments are obligatory to pass the course. Notice that not-justified delays in the submission of assignments result in the lowest grade in the overall assessment.
Teaching Methods
- Development of skills by assignments
- In-person teaching methods
- Pre-readings and open discussion of the topics
- Generation of new information and make it available
Teaching Materials
There are several teaching materials available from external repositories, like reserarch gate, or at the folder below. In addition, there are several links, forms and templates to be considered when planning the MSc Thesis at our university. The purpose I add them is to assist any MSc candidate along the process of preparing the dissertation. About the [links], be warned that, for some reason, there is a habit to keep changing the location of the pages on a regular basis, which means several times a year. The rationale why this takes place is a mistery to me: perhaps it is a secret rithualistic way to keep us searching for knowledge. Our UEF-Intra certainly appears to organise information according to something resembling a medieval ritual for gaining access to alchemical wisedom, where information is not so much communicated as concealed within a labyrinth of forms and procedural layers, written in a language apparently intended only for those initiated with a minimum of C1 in bureaucratese. The practical result is that some of the links may not work, some may be out of place or some others have simply vanished into thin digital air. Contact me, and I will help you with those. Patience is a virtue.