I registered and submitted the required documents for this program to see how much I have learned in the past two years of my Ph.D. This program made me look at my writing and presentation of my work in a different light. It was interesting to re-read the documents several times by myself as taking views of others wasn’t allowed. That way, it made me read my writing as if I was looking at someone else’s piece of writing and gave me space to criticize my own mistake instead of being defensive of why I have written that way. This gave me a chance to open up and learn from the mistakes that I made. There is still a lot of scope to progress. The offline exam was well structured to test the knowledge and thought processes of the candidates. Those kinds of questions can’t be attempted just by mugging up the content. Overall, it was a good experience.

Lalita Saini (Physics)

Before obtaining the scientific writing certificate, the process of writing a scientific paper seemed very intimidating to me. I would stare at a blank page for many hours, constantly doubting and double-checking whatever I had managed to write. While giving me an opportunity to prepare a manuscript, the certification process provided the much-needed initial confidence in my ability to write a structured and coherent scientific manuscript. It helped me familiarize myself with the various aspects of a scientific paper. The process also helped me identify the weaker areas of my writing process, working on which will surely improve and refine future writing endeavors.

Shekhar Kumar Yadav (Electrical Engineering)

The major part of the ‘Certification in Scientific Writing’ course was based on self-learning and self-assessment through critical revisions of one’s own written document. This process helped me in coming up with a good first draft of my research proposal. The resources provided on the scientific writing website proved to be very useful and the single-blind reviewers’ comments provided feedback that enhanced the writing and presentation quality of the actual submitted work.

Sapna Bisht (Biological Engineering)

The certification process has given me a insight to writing a research proposal in a concise manner which is in general required rather than a detailed approach which I was more familiar in the past. Also, the poster submission has given more clarity on how to draw attention to the major point which we want the audience/reviewer to have. In the similar manner the Phase II examination has helped me to go through the nuance of various points which one should follow but usually overseen in bigger picture.

Aniket Panchal (Civil Engineering)

Scientific writing is a well-designed course, and it helped me enhance my writing skill. The most challenging thing about this course was that we had to write the manuscript independently without taking anybody’s help during phase-1. Therefore, I felt confident after completing this course. Moreover, the reviewer’s feedback helped me identify my weaknesses and the areas where I need to work to write more effectively. The material provided by the scientific writing website was beneficial for me in both phases. I am very thankful to the scientific writing team for conducting such an excellent course.

Vivek Kumar Bind (Earth Sciences)

The certification process in scientific writing is not just a test of writing skill set but also a medium to enable one’s thinking to write, read, revise and rewrite critically. In the exercise of this program, I learnt to synthesize and structure our work, make a criticism on our drafts, and revise them. This program gears up researchers for scientific writing and gives a line of thought to draft better.

Chaman Modi (Civil Engineering)