Sir Isaac Newton
  Physics 496
  Introduction to Physics Research
  Spring 2020

link to course home page link to course syllabus link to lecture notes link to homework assignments link to writing workshop assignments link to tools and online resources link to Ms. Particular's micro-lectures on style and usage

Lecture Notes

Notes are posted after each class.
Questions about lectures notes should be directed to the lecturer:

Professor Taylor L. Hughes (TLH)
Professor Vidya Madhavan (VM)
Instructor Celia Elliott (cme)


January 24

Course Overview (cme)
What Makes a Good Talk (VM)
Effective Titles (cme)

January 31

How to read a physics paper (VM)
Mass, count, and collective nouns (cme)

February 7

How to Write Abstracts that Capture Your Audience (cme)
The Dangerous "Only" (cme)
Use of Quotation Marks in Scientific Writing (cme)

February 14

Reference Rules and Styles in Scientific Writing (cme)

February 21

How to Get Started if You Hate to Write—Outlining (cme)
Grad School Q&A—Professor Lance Cooper

February 28

How to Get Started if You Hate to Write, Part II—Writing Paragraphs (cme)
Capitalization and Acronyms in Physics (cme)

March 6

Effective Figure Captions (cme)
Peer Reviewing (cme)
Creating Good Figures (VM)

March 13

Communicating in Science—Celia's Tips for Science Talks (cme)
Revising Technical Manuscripts to Improve Coherence, Clarity, and Conciseness (cme)
Rules for Writing Numbers in Technical Documents (cme)

March 27

Voice and Tense—Making Verbs Work (cme)
How to Present a Journal Club Talk (cme)

April 3

Collaborative Writing (VM)
Acknowledgments for Papers, Presentations, and Posters (cme)
Intellectural Property Rules for Physicists (cme)

April 10

A Framework for Ethical Decisions (cme)

April 17

Writing a Graduate School Statement of Purpose (cme)
Resumes and CVs (cme)

April 24

Eliminating Fluff in Scientific Writing (cme)
Creating Effective Scientific Posters (cme)


All lecture notes are copyrighted by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and others. All rights are reserved.

Permission to use, copy, and distribute these materials exclusively for not-for-profit educational uses is hereby granted, provided the materials are not modified and proper acknowledgment is made of the source.