Nature Masterclasses

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• Offers guidance on how to write and publish a great research paper
• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to get published
• Easy-to-use with short 10 minute lessons
• Taught by Nature Research journal editors – so you hear tips from the experts
• Receive a certificate when you complete each part of the course – there are 3 parts in total

What’s in the course?

Part 1: Writing a research paper
How to write clearly, write a great title and abstract, and structure your paper — as well as how to manage and present your data.

Part 2: Publishing a research paper
How to select a journal for publication, submit your article, and navigate the editorial process — including how to write cover letters, the peer review process, and editorial decisions.

Part 3: Writing and publishing a review paper
What makes a great review paper, how to plan and write a review, and how to referee a review paper.

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• Offers guidance on how to join in, set up or lead collaborative projects
• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to make the most out of collaborative   research projects
• Easy-to-use with short 15 minute lessons
• Taught by experts in collaboration including researchers, funders, editors and professionals
• Receive a certificate when you complete each part of the course

What’s in the course?

Part 1: Introducing collaboration
Why collaborative research is becoming more prevalent

Part 2: Participating in a collaboration
The pros and cons of collaborating   

Part 3: Leading a collaboration
How collaborative projects can help advance your research and career

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• Offers guidance on how to develop one’s data management skills or mentor others through the process
• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to learn about acquiring practical lifelong skills to manage their data efficiently and comply with evolving requirements, including from funders
• Easy-to-use with short 15-minute lessons
• Taught by experts in data management, including researchers, funders, data publishing and institutional data management specialists
• Receive a certificate when you complete the 4-module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Welcome and introduction

Why effective data management is beneficial to your research and your career

Module 2: Creating and maintaining your data management plans

How to create and maintain a data management plan

Module 3: Managing data in the short and long term

How to apply best practices for organising, storing, archiving and quality checking your data

Module 4: Sharing your data

How to ensure that your data is understandable to yourself and others

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• Offers guidance on how to enhance your communication to your peers by using narrative tools to tell your research story
• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to learn about how to communicate their research to the scientific community in an effective, compelling and memorable way
• Easy-to-use with short 15-minute lessons
• Taught by 10 experts in using narrative techniques in scientific communication, including researchers, Nature editors and science journalists
• Receive a certificate when you complete the 3-module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Why use a story?
The benefits of using a compelling story to communicate your research to your peers and stakeholders, such as funders or industry partners

Module 2: Building your story
How to build and combine different narrative elements that can help you create a more compelling scientific story

Module 3: Refining your story
How to refine your story by soliciting feedback and implementing edits

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to use narrative tools to improve the quality of their grant applications to make them more informative and persuasive
• Easy-to-use with short 15-minute lessons
• Taught by 9 experts in grant writing including researchers, program officers from funding bodies and the Chief Editor of the Nature Research Editing Service
• Receive a certificate when you complete the 3-module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Before starting your grant application
How narrative tools can improve the overall quality of your grant application

Module 2: Targeting your audience
How to align your grant application with the requirements and objectives of its audience - your chosen funder

Module 3: Creating a narrative
Learn to apply narrative tools when writing your grant application to make it more informative and persuasive

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences to identify and use career and research goals to develop their networking strategy, and acquire key skills to build and maintain a professional network in person and online to advance their research and their career
• Easy-to-use with short 15-minute lessons
• Taught by 10 experts in networking including researchers, experienced academic networkers, fellows, networking consultants and communications specialists
• Receive a certificate when you complete the 4-module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Why Network?
How to examine the different purposes, challenges and opportunities related to building your network

Module 2: Getting ready to network
How to prepare key resources to help you build an effective network

Module 3: Connect with new networking contacts - in person and online
Strategies to approach and connect with potential network contacts, both in-person and online

Module 4: Nurturing and harnessing the power of your network
How to follow up on initial approaches and how to apply strategies to leverage your network that will advance your research or career

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to improve the quality of their peer-to-peer scientific presentations with both virtual and face-to-face audiences
• Easy-to-use with short 15-minute lessons
• Taught by 10 experts in scientific presentations including researchers and professionals such as the Editor in Chief of Nature who excel at presenting their work, renowned presentation designers & trainers and experts in narrative tools
• Receive a certificate when you complete the 4-module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Overcoming your research presentation challenges
Identify techniques that can help to overcome the challenges that researchers commonly face when creating and delivering oral presentations

Module 2: Developing the story behind your talk
Build compelling research stories to use as the foundation for your presentations

Module 3: Building an engaging slide deck
Create professional slide decks that effectively communicate your research findings to your audience

Module 4: Preparing and navigating your talk
Apply strategies to help you deliver your presentation effectively on the day, in both virtual and face-to-face environments

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to develop their data analysis skills or mentor others through the process
• Easy-to-use with short 20-minute lessons
• Taught by 10 experts in data analysis including experienced statisticians and data scientists, journal editors and early career researchers
• Receive a certificate when you complete the 2-module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Introduction to data analysis and the importance of planning
How to create a data analysis plan and get feedback

Module 2: Preparing your data for analysis
How to apply best practice to collate and merge the data you’ve collected

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to develop their data analysis skills or mentor others through the process
• Easy-to-use with short 10-20 minute lessons
• Taught by 10 experts in data analysis including experienced statisticians and data scientists, journal editors and early career researchers
• Receive a certificate when you complete the 3-module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Introduction to Data Analysis
Understand the importance of conducting effective data analysis

Module 2: Exploring Your Data and Reviewing Your Analysis Plan
Identify the range of analytic methods available and understand which is
most suited to your data

Module 3: Analysing Your Data
Learn strategies for obtaining feedback, troubleshooting and expressing
the limitations of your analysis

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to interpret their scientific findings with more confidence, or mentor others through the process
• Easy-to-use with short 10-20 minute lessons
• Taught by 5 experts in interpreting results including a Nature Portfolio journal Editor, and experienced researchers, statisticians and data scientists
• Receive a certificate when you complete this 1 module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Interpreting Scientific Results

• Select appropriate approaches to visualise and prioritise your findings in order to identify the key message
• Identify the ways in which your data interpretation helps you to address and answer your scientific question
• Add context to your findings by considering the wider research field
• Summarise and communicate your findings with a focus on your key message, and how to best express caveats and future directions

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to find funding opportunities, or mentor others through the process
• Easy-to-use with short 10-30 minute lessons
• Taught by 5 experts in obtaining research funding including a former program director at a major funder, experienced researchers, and a research management consultant
• Receive a certificate when you complete this 1 module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Finding Funding Opportunities

• Understand the funding landscape and the importance of finding the best-fitting opportunities
• Identify your funding requirements taking into consideration your personal and professional circumstances
• Search for and keep track of suitable funding opportunities
• Select the most appropriate funding opportunities based on your needs

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences who want to develop their experimental design skills
• Easy-to-use with short 10-30 minute lessons
• Taught by 9 experts in experimental design including experienced researchers and Nature Portfolio Journal Editors
• Receive a certificate when you complete this 4 module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Foundations of experimental design
How to define the core concepts of experimental design.

Module 2: Developing your motivation, assumptions and hypotheses
How to prioritise research motivations, formulate hypotheses and make testable predictions

Module 3: Assembling your experimental plan
Strategies to identify the information that you need to collect to test your assumptions, hypotheses, or predictions, and fulfil your research motivation

Module 4: Utilising your experimental design
How to refine your experimental design after receiving feedback from other researchers and conducting preliminary experiments

What is the course about, and who is it for?

• For researchers in the natural sciences seeking to take their next career step, either as a new postdoc or in a new faculty role
• Easy-to-use with short 10-30 minute lessons
• Taught by 11 experts in research career development, including experienced academic researchers, Nature Portfolio journal editors, and coaching and career specialists
• Receive a certificate when you complete this 4 module course

What’s in the course?

Module 1: Exploring your values, interests, skills and career goals
How to make rational, informed decisions about the next stage of your career and pursue your ambitions in a well-prepared, effective manner that will give you the best possible chance of success

Module 2: Finding a research position
How to find suitable roles, to understand what those positions will entail, and to determine which ones you would like to apply to

Module 3: Applying for a research position
How to put together an application that presents you as a strong, well-suited candidate

Module 4: Excelling at the interview
Strategies for successful interviews

Insight from editors and experienced reviewers

The course is delivered by 11 journal editors from Nature Research, as well as active researchers from King’s College London and Imperial College London.

In four short modules, the editors and reviewers provide a comprehensive and insightful overview of peer review.

Module 1: Your role as peer reviewer

Module 2: The peer review report

Module 3: Ethics in peer review

Module 4: Variations and innovations in peer review