Educational Objectives

Science Communication is a 12-credit, four-course online graduate certificate program.

Participants will acquire expertise in science communication. Students will most likely be practicing professionals with a health background who are employed or seeking employment in positions requiring this knowledge. 

Certificate Objectives

At the completion of the program, students will be able to do the following:

• Master the basic skills of technical writing, including proper sentence and paragraph structure, transitions, punctuation, coherence, and grammar.
• Rigorously analyze scientific writing on the sentence and paragraph level.
• Describe the form and content of research articles, case studies, meta-analyses, theoretical articles, and book reviews.
• State the requirements and expectations of writing and submitting scholarly research articles.
• Apply the principles of planning and writing a research paper.
• Summarize research findings in a clear, engaging, and concise manner.
• Describe the purpose of grant-writing in academic and non-academic careers.
• Critique the essential elements of grants and proposals.
• Draft a grant or proposal on a health-related topic of interest.
• Demonstrate basic proficiency in various writing forms and techniques for communicating effectively with general, non-academic audiences.
• Identify and avoid common mistakes academic writers make when writing for the public.
• Produce a writing product for the general public that is ready to submit for publication

Program Completion Timeline

• All four courses will be offered at least once each year to enable individuals to complete the program within one year.
• Participants begin the program in the fall term and complete the program in the Spring term.
• Two back-to-back 8-week courses are taken each term, one course at a time.
• Participants can take more than a year (up to three years) to complete the program if they wish.