Let’s Create Your Blog Together (412)

30 January 2023

Dr Pauline Fritsch

Nowadays academic and scientific blogs are becoming more and more popular. For example, The Thesis Whisperer by Dr. Inger Mewburn reaches over 80k subscribers, and even journals like Nature now offer scientists to share their career stories in Career Columns.

But, as PhD students, why undertaking this path?

Blogging is a unique communication experience through which you can acquire various and valuable transferable skills to carry with you, no matter where your career brings you!

Blogging is a way to:

• Figure out your own communication style, beyond academic writing
• Develop your critical thinking by writing on subject you care about
• Make yourself visible and develop your online image
• Find and develop your community, your network
• Develop valuable technical skills linked to website management and social media use.

How to get started? Let's do it together!

This workshop will give you an overview of how to create a blog for yourself and to learn about the overall blogger experience.

With a very practical and interactive format, you learn to use the basics of WordPress.com and practice your writing skills.

The day will be divided in 4 parts:

• Part 1: Introduction and addressing the questions "Why, How, Who, When, What?" behind blogging, to clarify your project, and identify your purpose and audience
• Part 2: Blog Writing & Best Practices, with time to work on your "About" page in groups
• Part 3: Let's Create your Blog on WordPress.com! Practical part on creating your website (about 2h)
• Part 4: Media, Social Media, toolbox and tips. Final Conclusion: illustrating what was learned throughout the day by applying it to 2 example blog projects.

Blogging about your PhD research is a great way to take a step back and take a different, less formal, approach to it. You might get new ideas and could use it to get in contact with other researchers in your field.

However, you are welcome to join this workshop no matter on which subject you would like to blog about, including non-scientific topics!

Learning outcomes:

At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Clarify your blog project scope
• Identify your purpose and audience
• Identify some good practices for blog writing
• Practice writing on your "About" page
• Learn about technical tools available
• Set up your free WordPress.com blog.

All students should come with their personal laptop.

Preparatory work:

Please note that a two-hours preparatory work is required. You should have:

• A name for your blog,
• An idea of the subject(s) you want to address,
• A first draft of your "about me" page.

CUSO will provide you with further details four weeks before the workshop.

University of Lausanne

Date: Monday, 30th January 2023

Schedule: from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Place: University of Lausanne

Trainer:

Dr Pauline Fritsch graduated with a PhD in biology from the University of Fribourg during which she got actively involved in CUSO's transferable skills program, in particular to develop her communication skills. After graduation and while traveling for 18 months in Asia, she launched her professional blog academiac.net in 2018. Before this, Pauline had already been using WordPress since 2012 for private blogs. On academiac.net, she is writing for the PhD students community on subjects like soft skills and career development. She has been exploring different writing styles, from reflective pieces to resources and scientific article summary. Using her blog for networking, she set foot in the community of professional in doctoral education in Switzerland. After coordinating doctoral programs in biology at the University of Neuchâtel for two years, she has now joined the team of the Graduate Campus at the University of Lausanne.

Participants are eligible for reimbursement of incurred travel expenses by train between the city of their university and the location of the workshop (half-fare card, 2nd class).

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