- What the F? Reference Letter vs Letter of Support
Communicating to the reviewers your ability to succeed in science and the support you have around you to make that happen is a crucial component of a fellowship application. Often, your mentors, collaborators, or course instructors convey this via reference letters or letters of ...
- A Smorgasbord of Grant Writing Pointers with a Side of Wit
Edge blogger, Dr. Lucile Wrenshall, MD, PhD, Professor at Wright State University, has produced a prodigious series of blogs with practical and entertaining writing advice. Whether focused on your own writing, mentoring, or teaching scientific writing, it’s a treasure trove. Co...
- Acting on the Essential
Prioritizing across roles and responsibilities is a daily task for most of us. This is especially amplified at the intersection of research careers, faculty life, and family.
The dogma for scientific careers – especially those driven by extramural funding – is that givin...
- Using Content-Lexical Ties To Connect Ideas in Writing
The following post was excerpted from How to Write an Essay Like an Equation: A Brief Guide to Writing like You’re Doing Math. Check out Rebecca Helton’s full review.
You may have been told that your writing doesn’t flow well, but were you taught what that meant? More importan...
- Your Grant as Story – the Rogue Character
Humans are wired for story. Your grant, whether you realize it or not, has a cast of characters including a hero, villain, supporting characters, plots and subplots. If you think about your grant in these terms when you write, the ideas will flow better and your proposal will be ...
- Three Tips for Writing to Non-Specialists
One evening, my professor for Dissertation Seminar randomly grouped us in pairs to discuss our dissertations. A student specializing in Literature became partnered with me, a specialist in Composition and Rhetoric.
“What’s your dissertation about?” I asked.
“Narrative historiog...
- Beginner’s Eye for the Science Guy (or Gal)
The beginner’s eye, not to be confused with Bette Davis eyes, is looking at things as if you’ve never seen them before. What if you reviewed your last several months’ worth of experiments as if you’ve never seen them before – no hypothesis, no preconceived notions, just a clean ...
- Big Words
My PhD mentor was a great guy, but like most of us he wasn’t perfect. What was his flaw? He liked to use big words. Depending on the audience, airing out the “big words” might be appropriate, but for the most part big words make for cumbersome and confusing writing. William Zinss...
- Practical Writing Advice from a Writing Teacher
How to Write an Essay Like an Equation, by Eric Sentell, PhD, a writing instructor at Southeast Missouri State University, offers step-by-step advice for communicating ideas clearly. While some sections are more applicable to undergraduate essays, most chapters feature strategies...
- Making Writing More Memorable and Persuasive
In the last week, you’ve reviewed a couple hundred grant proposals. Or skimmed a couple hundred CVs and cover letters. Or graded a hundred papers. Which proposal will you advocate for? Which candidate will you pound the table to interview? Which student will you write an enthusia...
