Nature Masterclasses
Ghent University has an institutional subscription to Nature Masterclasses (starting 30 September 2022). This subscription grants everyone with a UGent account access to all currently available online courses on the Nature Masterclasses platform.
Make the most of our university’s subscription! See below for details on what the courses are about and how you can get access to the content.
If you want to include one or more of these courses in your doctoral training program, you will need to submit an application for recognition. Note that the usual deadline for submitting an application for recognition (30 days prior to the start of the course) does not apply to Nature Masterclass courses.
How to login for the first time
- Visit masterclasses.nature.com.
- Select the "Register" icon
- In the "Institution" dropdown menu, look for "Universiteit Gent."
- Enter your institutional email (@ugent.be, @uzgent.be, @ghent.ac.kr), set a password, and click "register." Do not create an account using a personal email, as that account will not be covered by Ghent University's subscription.
- Check your inbox for the confirmation email from 'onlineservice@springernature.com,' and click the confirmation link.
- You can now navigate to the courses by selecting the "Menu" button in the top left corner of the page.
Please note:
- The first time you access the online course, you’ll be asked to enter a few details, such as your name and our institution name. Afterwards, you can access the content of the courses.
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If you need further assistance with your course access, please refer to the Help page on the Nature Masterclasses website, where you will find further useful information, FAQs and contact details for the Masterclasses support teams.
Course 1 | Scientific Writing and Publishing
Cluster: Communication skills
- 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
Course structure
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.
Course 2 | Effective Collaboration in Research
Transferable skills cluster: Career management
- 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
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
Course 3 | Managing Research Data to Unlock its Full Potential
Transferable skills cluster: Research & Valorization
- 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
Course structure
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
Course 4 | Narrative Tools for Researchers
Transferable skills cluster: Communication Skills
- 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
Course structure
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
Course 5 | Persuasive Grant Writing
Transferable skills cluster: Career Management
- 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
Course structure
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
Course 6 | Networking for Researchers
Transferable skills cluster: Leadership and Personal Efficiency
- 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
Course structure
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
Course 7 | Advancing Your Scientific Presentations
Transferable skills cluster: Communication Skills
- 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
Course structure
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
Course 8 | Data Analysis: Planning and Preparing
Transferable skills cluster: Research & Valorization
- 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
Course structure
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
Course 9 | Data Analysis: Conducting and Troubleshooting
Transferable skills cluster: Research & Valorization
- The key terms and concepts in data analysis
- The common challenges of data analysis and the benefits of overcoming these to conduct effective analysis
- The analytic methods available and how to identify which is best suited to your data
- How to compile, compare and confirm your analysis
- Strategies for obtaining feedback, troubleshooting and expressing the limitations of your analysis
Course structure
Module 1: Introduction to data analysis
Learn why effective data analysis is important, and what the key challenges are in conducting it.
Module 2: Exploring your data and reviewing your analysis plan
Learn how to explore your data numerically and visually, and how to review your data analysis options and your plan.
Module 3: Analyzing your data
Learn how to analyze your data, confirm and troubleshoot your analyses, and how to present your findings and express limitations.
Extra | Focus on Peer Review | Free Course
Transferable skills cluster: Research & Valorization