| Beschreibung |
This seminar prepares students and early-career researchers for the practical and intellectual demands of scientific communication in engineering. Participants will acquire technical skills for producing professional-quality documents and figures using open-source tools, develop a working understanding of the principles of good scientific writing and typography, and engage critically with the ethical frameworks that govern research and publication. The course emphasises active learning: each participant writes a short scientific report, receives and gives structured peer feedback, and delivers a brief presentation — both of which are critically discussed in the group and form part of the assessed coursework. By the end of the seminar, students will be able to produce well-structured, clearly written scientific texts, critically assess the quality of publications and publication outlets, navigate the publishing process, and use AI tools responsibly in academic writing. The seminar covers the full spectrum of skills required for scientific writing and publishing in engineering. It is organised around five thematic areas: Technical skills for document preparation are introduced using platform-independent open-source tools: the LaTeX document preparation system for typesetting professional scientific documents; TikZ for producing publication-quality figures and diagrams; and Git for version control and collaborative project management. The art of scientific writing covers the principles of good typography and document layout; the structure and conventions of scientific publications (journal articles, conference papers, theses); strategies for managing references and citing sources correctly; criteria for evaluating the quality of sources; the purpose and structure of a literature review; and best practices for the treatment of mathematical formulas, figures, and tables. Artificial intelligence in academic writing addresses both productive and problematic uses of AI-assisted writing tools, and how to use them responsibly within institutional and ethical guidelines. Research ethics covers questions of authorship and contributorship; copyright; plagiarism and self-plagiarism; and the ethical frameworks and codes of conduct relevant to research in engineering. Publishing and dissemination introduces students to the landscape of scientific publishing: how to distinguish reputable from predatory journals and conferences; the peer review process from both sides; open access models and the role of commercial publishers; and the use of bibliographic databases and research information systems. Presentation skills covers the essentials of preparing and delivering a scientific presentation, including slide design and spoken delivery. Assessment is integrated into the course activities. Each participant writes a short scientific report, which is reviewed by peers using structured feedback guidelines; feedback quality is itself assessed. Each participant also delivers a short presentation, which is likewise subject to structured group critique. Report, presentation, and the quality of peer feedback each contribute to the final grade. Key topics: - LaTeX, TikZ, Git (open-source tools for document preparation and project management)
- Principles of typography and document structure
- Structure of scientific publications; literature reviews
- References, citations, and source quality
- Formulas, figures, and tables: conventions and common mistakes
- Responsible use of AI in scientific writing
- Authorship, copyright, plagiarism, ethics frameworks
- Publication outlets, peer review, open access, research databases
- Presentation essentials
- Peer review workshop: written report and oral presentation with structured feedback
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| Literatur |
W. Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed., Pearson Education, New York, 1999. K. Smarsly and K. Dragos, Scientific Writing in Engineering, 2nd ed., 2024. |
