ETH4D Skills Courses
Spring Semester 2024
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in International Research
This workshop focuses on the prejudices and privileges we hold as individuals, and in particular their relevance for researchers working internationally. We will reflect on how our thinking and behaviour are shaped by the colonial past of research in the global South. The goal of the workshop is ultimately to make visible and disrupt racist and discriminatory practices in research and teaching.
Learning goals:
- Learn to recognise our prejudices and privileges, and how to take responsibility for them
- Learn strategies to identify discrimination and break down attitudes shaped by prejudice
- Become empowered to speak on prejudice, privilege and discrimination
In this workshop, participants will learn key concepts, as well as concrete tools for action. They will be encouraged to reflect on their own experiences, and will be guided in participatory learning in the following areas:
Contextualising diversity, equity, and inclusion issues within an international research and teaching setting
Understanding and reflecting on own privilege and prejudice
Intervention strategies when encountering prejudice and discrimination
Toolbox for working in diverse teams
The course will be taught in english by Dr. Adina Rom, Kyllian Douhou, Francis Baranyk and external pageRon Halbright.
When: 30 April 09:00-13:00 & 7 May 13:00-17:00
Registrations: The number of places is limited. More information in the course catalogue.
Past Courses:
Open Science Tools - Authoring and Publishing Workflows for Collaborative Scientific Writing
As the expectations of researchers increase, publishing reproducible scientific articles becomes essential. However, choosing tools for these tasks can be difficult. This course aims to guide researchers through these challenges by introducing a workflow that utilizes Git, GitHub, and the Quarto scientific and technical publishing system for collaborative scientific writing.
This course offers researchers a hands-on opportunity to learn open source tools and platforms that are accessible beyond institutional employment. The participatory live coding teaching technique involves an instructor writing and narrating code as they teach, and inviting learners to write and execute the same code.
Topics covered include:
- Scientific communication
- Reproducible research (open research, version control, licensing)
- Collaboration through Git and GitHub
During the course, participants will learn how to use the Quarto file format to prepare various scholarly documents, including slides, scientific articles, books, and websites. Additionally, we will demonstrate how GitHub can serve as both a project management tool and a publishing platform using GitHub Pages.
While the course will introduce commonly used tools in software development, they will not be explained in great detail. Instead, the goal is to expose learners to the tools and concepts, requiring openness to new ideas.
Prerequisites / Notice Prior experience in a programming language is not required for this course, but learners who have worked with data science tools such as R, RStudio IDE, Jupyter Notebooks, Python, or VS Code may have an advantage and gain the most from the material.
The course will be taught by Lars Schöbitz.
When: 17 & 24 October, 08:30-12:30
Where: ETH HG F 33.5
Registration: The number of places is limited. Doctoral students can register via myStudies. More information in the course catalogue.
Autumn 2022: Make Your Own Short Film about Global Development Research
In this workshop, students will learn how to create a short film about their research related to global sustainable development using their smartphones. They will also reflect on the power of films to reproduce or break prejudices and stereotypes in global development. Short theoretical inputs will be combined with practical work on students' own video projects.
In this hands-on workshop, students will create a short film about their research in three steps: First, they learn how to choose a topic and tell an interesting story about their research. There will be an opportunity for critical reflection about the danger of reproducing stereotypes and the opportunity of using images to empower people. Second, they will learn how to shoot a short film using a smartphone and what apps and tools can increase the quality of the film. Third, students learn how to cut videos. They receive an introduction to Premiere Pro. Finally, there will be a “Mini Film Festival” where students show their work and receive feedback.
The course will be taught by the videographer external pageKatharina Deuber.
When: 21 October 2022 & 11 November 2022, 9.00 am - 12.30 pm
Where: ETH Campus Zentrum, IFW C 42
Registration: The number of places is limited. Doctoral students can register via myStudies. Preference is given to doctoral students working on issues related to global sustainable development. If there are still places available, we will open the course to postdocs and master's students. Interested postdocs and master's students can send an email to .
Please note: To participate in the course, students have to bring their own smartphone and need access to a video editing software on their computers/phones (more detailed information will follow before the course).
Spring 2022: Diversity and Inclusion
This workshop focuses on the prejudices and privileges we hold as individuals. Interrogating and understanding the colonial and racist past of research in the global South and, in turn, how it shapes our behaviour and actions today, are key to thinking differently and to avoid reproducing racist and discriminatory practices.
The goal of the workshop is to create inclusive and non-discriminatory environments. To that end participants learn to recognise their own and others' prejudice and privileges; although it is not our fault that we have them, it is in everyone’s responsibility to learn how to overcome them to avoid discrimination. During the workshop, participants reflect on their own and others' prejudices and privileges and their impact on others. Ultimately, they learn strategies to identify discrimination, break down attitudes shaped by prejudice and constructively interrupt discriminatory behaviour.
The workshop is organized in collaboration with the African Students Association of Zurich (ASAZ).
When: 27 April & 29 April, 9:00 - 13:00 CET.
Where: CLD Building, Room A1, Clausiusstrasse 37
Registration: Spaces are limited. Preference is given to doctoral students working on issues related to global sustainable development. If there are still places available, the course will be opened to Master students and Postdocs.
Autumn 2021: Communicating Science for Global Development
The course will be taught by science communicator and freelance journalist external pageDr. Jacopo Pasotti.
Objectives:
• Students will get familiar with how to communicate science to the public, issues on credibility and trust-building.
• Students will learn how to craft a short but simple text on scientific topics, ideally suitable for a blog or newsletter.
• Students get a broad understanding of visual language, especially applied to the use of images to complement their texts.
When: 26 November & 3 December, 9:00 – 13.00 CET. Students are required to prepare a short text (300-400 words) before the first session.
Where: CLD Building, Room A1, Clausiusstrasse 37
Registration: The number of places is limited. Doctoral students can register via myStudies until 4 November 2021. We will then select and inform the participants. Preference is given to doctoral students working on issues related to global sustainable development. If there are still places available, we will open the course to postdocs. Interested postdocs can send an email to .
Spring 2021: How to write a policy brief
Policy briefs are an effective tool to present research and recommendations to a non-academic audience. This spring semester, ETH4D offers this skills course to encourage ETH doctoral students and postdocs to develop policy briefs to share their research results.
The course will take place online and consist of two webinars to be held at 9.30-11.00 CET on 13 April and 6 May. The course has been developed in cooperation with Dr. Sarah Cummings, a researcher and consultant with much experience of communicating and writing.
Goals
• Learn the basics of policy brief writing
• Enhance your writing skills for communicating effectively with non-academic audiences
• Develop a policy brief based on your research
Who?
• ETH doctoral students and postdocs conducting development-related research
• Participants must have research results that can serve as a basis for the policy brief
Contact