The Cluster of Research Excellence in Interdisciplinary Peace Research has successfully run a three-day workshop on Scientific Writing and Publishing from 1st until 3rd July 2024 in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. The workshop was intended to build the writing and publishing skills of students enrolled in a PhD programme in the social sciences or peace and security studies and early-career postdoctoral researchers based at African and European universities.
The third and final day of the workshop was dominated by interactive sessions where participants presented their research work, received critical feedback, and took time for peer-to-peer learning and self-paced writing. The highlight of the day was an online presentation by Dr. Mounira Chaieb, PhD from the UK. Dr. Chaieb through practical exercises, showed participants how to convert an academic paper into a radio script. In this session, examples were used to show the key features that make a radio broadcast or podcast informative and interesting.
The three days of the workshop, modelled as a writing bootcamp, enabled participants to receive lectures on methodology and writing skills, have tailor-made tutoring, and network with peers. The workshop also provided the opportunity for a self-paced write-shop to refine existing articles or thesis towards publishable standards or to draft new ones for review and tailor-made feedback from a mentor. A total of 24 doctoral students took part in the workshop, and a survey conducted on participants on the last day showed 86 per cent of the participants were “very satisfied” with the programme while 14 per cent were “satisfied.”.
The programme was concluded with closing remarks by Dr. Mercy Fekadu, PhD, Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, and Dr. Eka Ikpe, PhD, African Leadership Centre, King’s College London. The closing remarks underscored the importance of building the research, writing, and publishing skills of doctoral students and early-career postdoctoral researchers and how the CoRE in Interdisciplinary Peace Research is committed to this endeavour. Lastly, the speakers jointly thanked the workshop facilitators and participants for a successful workshop.
