Program Overview

Program Overview

The Doctoral Course: Information Retrieval and Methods for Scientific Communication is designed to provide valuable skills and insights to make the daily life of researchers easier and more efficient. The course is aimed at doctoral students admitted to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and corresponds to 3 Higher Education Credits (HECs).

Course Details

• The course has a broad approach to information retrieval and scientific communication, covering all steps in the research process, from search strategies to communication of scientific results.
• The teaching staff on the course are specialists in:
  • Literature searching in databases and search engines for the web
  • Reference management
  • Publication strategies and open access
  • Publication-based evaluation indicators
  • Copyright
  • Archiving of research data

Course Structure

• The course is entirely web-based, with no scheduled lectures, allowing for great flexibility in planning worktime and participating in the course regardless of workplace.
• The course is based primarily on self-study, and all learning activities, submission of assignments, and communication take place via SLU's learning platform.
• Note that there are ongoing deadlines during the course, and some assignments involve collaboration with other course participants over a given period.
• The course is given in English.

Course Schedule

• Course dates: 6 October - 28 November 2025
• Last day to apply: 19 September

Course Plan

The course plan is available, outlining the structure and content of the course in detail.

Language

The course is conducted in English, ensuring accessibility for international students and promoting an international learning environment.