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Scientific EnglishInstructor: Antoine Riaud

antoine_riaud@fudan.edu.cn

Week 1: overview of scientific communication

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Outline

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Self-introduction

• Young researcher at the institute of microelectronics

• Master of Sc. at Tsinghua Univ. and Master of Eng. and Management (Centrale

Lille)

• PhD at Paris 6 and Lille 1 University (France)

• Postdoc at Descartes University

• Research interest: MEMS and acoustic microsystems

• Applications in biology and microfabrication

http://homepage.fudan.edu.cn/ariaud/

Outline

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Self-introduction

http://homepage.fudan.edu.cn/ariaud/

Outline

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Self-introduction

Outline

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Rule #1: do not hesitate to interrupt me (to ask questions)

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Course policies

• 1 MCQ (multiple choice questions) test at the beginning of everycourse (~5 questions) – 50% total grade

• 2 assignements (short paper ~ 2 pages). More details next class. 50% total grade

• Best performance on the assignement: possibility to write a real paper.

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Why do scientists need to communicate?

Outline

Grigori Pereleman (solved Poincaré conjecture, refused Fields medal and Millenium Prize)

Alexandre Grothendieck (Fields medal, mostly wrote manuscripts without publishing)

Paul Langevin(author of the Langevin

equation (stat. phys.) and inventor of sonar. Lover of

Marie Curie)8

So you may all go home now…

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Why do scientists need to communicate?

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Rule #2: this image means I need your opinion

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Why do scientists need to communicate?

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Why do scientists need to communicate?

• For us:• To organize our thoughts/formulate our research in a comprehensible way• To secure further funding• To make our publication lists look more impressive• To have fun?

• For our peers:• To share and refine ideas• To let others know what we are working on

• For the society:• To show that we are working• To inform the public and the politics (eg global

warming/migrations/extremism/pandemics)

• Because we believe someone is going to read it!

• Because the number of people who read and cite our research shows our influence and the value of our work.

Outline

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Why do scientists need to communicate?

Scientists are public figures. Being famous in the field or beyond is part of being a successful scientist.

Similarly to influencers, 3 key ways to become famous:

• You have it in your DNA (Pereleman/ Grothendieck/Langevin)

• You have an outstanding advisor

• You write well

Outline

Papi, 24 millions followers in 2019 on 抖音 14

Scientific communication

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With who do scientists communicate?

And how to communicate with these people?

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Different targets and different ways

• Non-scientists• Books/journals• Movies (an inconvenient truth/under the dome)• Invited talks (TED)• Wikipedia/百度百科• Official reports for businesses/political decisions (international panel on climate change)

• Other scientists from other fields• Generalist journals: Nature/Science/PNAS• Blogs (Scientific American)• Twitter/Weibo

• Our peers• Specialist journals• Conferences• Blogs (Physics Today/Physics World/Physics Buzz)• Twitter/Wechat

Scientific communication

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What are the challenges when communicating with the public?

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What are the challenges when communicating with the public?

• Different knowledge• Explain the concepts

• Explain the methods

• People are in a hurry• Communicate quickly

• Conflict of interests• Objectivity vs Interests

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Case study 1: IPCC (scientists->non scientists)

Scientific communication

Key statistics of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C

91 authors from 44 citizenships and 40 countries of residence

• 14 Coordinating Lead Authors (CLAs)

• 60 Lead authors (LAs)

• 17 Review Editors (REs)

133 Contributing authors (CAs)Over 6,000 cited referencesA total of 42,001 expert and government review comments(First Order Draft 12,895; Second Order Draft 25,476; Final Government Draft: 3,630)

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Case study 1: IPCC (scientists->non scientists)

Scientific communication

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Case study 1: IPCC (scientists->non scientists)

Scientific communication

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Case study 1: IPCC (scientists->non scientists)

Scientific communication

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Case study 1: IPCC (scientists->non scientists)

Not a total failure

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What are the challenges when communicating with other scientists?

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What are the challenges when communicating with the public?

• Different knowledge• Explain the concepts

• Explain the methods

• People are in a hurry• Communicate quickly

• Conflict of interests• Objectivity vs Interests

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Case study 2: Generalist Journal (scientists->scientists)Scientific communication

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Case study 2: Generalist Journal (scientists->scientists)Scientific communication

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Case study 3: Specialized Journal (peer->peer)

Scientific communication

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Case study 3: Specialized Journal (peer->peer)

Scientific communication

1997Optical cooling and trapping of atoms

2018Optical tweezers

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What makes a successful paper?

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What makes a successful paper?

• Novelty of the results (illuminating, unexpected or surprising)

and

• Immediate AND far-reaching implications

Nature

• Substantially advances a particular fieldor

• Opens a significant new area of researchor

• Solves a critical outstanding problemor

• Of great general interest (scientific aesthetics)

Physical Review letters32

What makes a successful paper?

• Novelty of the results (illuminating, unexpected or surprising)

and

• Immediate AND far-reaching implications

Nature

• Substantially advances a particular fieldor

• Opens a significant new area of researchor

• Solves a critical outstanding problemor

• Of great general interest (scientific aesthetics)

Physical Review letters

The introduction

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What makes a successful paper?

• Convince the editor & referee that your problem is very important

• Keep him focused long enough to read the whole paper

• Show that you solved this problem

Goal of the course

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Course outline

• Scientific publication process

• Writing science as story-telling• Introduction

• Methods/Results

• Conclusion/abstract/title

• Assignment #1

• Writing with style (polishing)• Linking and transitions

• Energizing

• Condensing

• Assignment #2

• Oral presentations

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Resources

• All lectures are available on my website (http://homepage.fudan.edu.cn/ariaud/)

• Writing Science, how to write papers that get cited and proposals that get funded – Joshua Schimel – Oxford press

• Whitesides’ Group: Writing a paper Adv. Mat. 2004, 16, No 15, pp 1375-1377

Website

Wechat group

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