Course outline: What is the point of doing amazing research if you can’t communicate it to other scientists, and the wider community? Two of the most in-demand skills in the 21st Century are critical thinking and communication skills. Furthermore, these skills need to be combined for effective science communication to broader audiences. This two-day course is designed to provide an introduction to public speaking skills, using critical thinking and reasoning. Throughout the workshop, participants will practice their communication skills, while receiving coaching in a supportive environment. The course will address several key areas including:

• What makes effective science communication
• Why critical thinking is important
• What are logical fallacies
• How to use logic in argument construction
• How to be a persuasive public speaker
• Team working for public discourse
• How to deal with public criticism
• How to be confident in the public eye

To assist on-going development, the course provides a framework which participants can use to continue their personal development.

Trainer: Dr. Scott Harrison is a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Siegen, working on research on labor market and skills requirements in the 21st century (www.eduworks-network.eu). Key findings from the project identified the need for better transversal skills training of PhD and early career researchers. He attained a PhD in Australia in Economics, focusing on educational outcomes. His background in technical areas like statistical analysis and logical reasoning, coupled with extensive public speaking throughout his career, has made him a wonderfully engaging public speaker and trainer.

Price includes:

• 2-day training
• coffee breaks
• lunch on both days
• Thursday night dinner in downtown Amsterdam

For this course, the minumum attandence requirement is 10 participants! Below 10 registered participants the course will be canceled, and all registered participants will receive a full refund.

UPDATE (22.10.2017): The course will take place, the minimum attendence requirement is met!

Travel and Accommodation:

Marie Curie Alumni Association members can apply for a 400 EUR micro-grant, which can cover travel and accomodation costs for this course. The application should be registered on the MCAA website.

IMPORTANT that applicants should not book any flight or accommodation in relation to this event before the organisers confirm their participation! This confirmation is different from the Eventbrite confirmation about the payment and comes when the number of course registrations reaches the minimum requirement (10 participants), but no later than 30 calendar days before the course!

Participants have to arrange travel and accomodation themselves, for accommodation we recommend checking popular sites like Booking.com or Airbnb.

Our cancellation policy