Writing Research Proposals for Epidemiologists

During this online course, you will enhance your skills in writing a research proposal in English, both in terms of information elements and language. We will analyze the structure, vocabulary and grammatical structures of research proposals, including word order, articles, verb tenses, punctuation marks, modal verbs, hedging, referencing styles, and the use of transitional words and phrases. We will also address the concept of plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Your own (draft) research proposal will be central to this course. Beside practicing on model research proposals from your own academic domain and doing exercises in grammar and vocabulary topics, you will work on your proposal and receive feedback on this from both your peers and an English expert. At the end of the course, your research proposal will be reviewed both by a content and an English expert.

In addition to improving your English writing skills, you will enlarge your academic vocabulary and gain experience in critical reading. You will learn to better understand your own strengths and weaknesses in writing in English, and be able to familiarize yourself with vocabulary and self-study strategies that will enable you to improve your own writing.

Please note: This course is specifically aimed at researchers with a background in epidemiology. Therefore, all participants of the MSc Epidemiology Postgraduate Online Program are eligible to participate.

Participants in this course are required to hand in assignments every week, deadlines will be on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays.

If you are not participating in the MSc Epidemiology Postgraduate Online Program, we kindly ask you to send an email to info@elevatehealth.eu and include your research topic and your CV (optional), so we can assess your eligibility based on your proposal.

By the end of this Writing Research Proposals course, you will be able to:

• display sufficient academic writing skills to write a successful research proposal
• correctly structure a research proposal, and be able to assemble the correct information elements

In particular, you will be able to:

• make good use of a range of relevant vocabulary
• understand how to recognize and avoid plagiarism
• grasp the use of transitional words and phrases
• use correct grammar and syntax, e.g. word order, articles, verb tenses and punctuation
• work with different referencing styles, and select the correct one for your own proposal
• write using an enlarged academic vocabulary
• recognize and use modal verbs for hedging
• have gained experience in critical reading
• be familiar with your own strengths and weaknesses in writing academic English
• develop self-study strategies to further improve your own writing

Our courses are aimed at clinical researchers, nurses, general practitioners, and other health professionals who want to improve their skills in epidemiology, statistics and (clinical) research.

6 weeks - 7 hours per week (online)