Visualize your Science
Course structure
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Study at your own pace
A researcher's time is valuable and often limited. For this reason, we have made the course material available in video format for self-study, allowing you to learn at your own pace and schedule.
After the course has finished, you will have unlimited access to all the course videos and will have access to all future updates of the course material! -
Feedback sessions
Throughout the course, you meet with your instructors and get personal feedback after each assignment. These video feedback sessions are held over Zoom. Session times are adapted for our European audience, but flexible. Let us know your location for suitable time slots!
There are also online Q&A sessions between each assignment where you can ask questions directly to the instructors. In addition to that, you have access to an online community where you can ask questions or ask for feedback on your work. -
Assignments
Three assignments, each increasing in complexity, are given during the course. These will familiarize you with your chosen illustration software and train you in creating graphical abstracts and scientific posters.- Assignment 1: Draw a kitchen appliance or lab equipment
- Assignment 2: Make a graphical abstract about your own research
- Assignment 3: Design a poster for your research
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Congratulations!
The course culminates in a mini-conference style online session, where you will get a chance to experience the work of your fellow students, and present the poster that you created in this course.
In the Autumn and Spring course, the mini-conference is organized as an optional in-person event (typically held somewhere in Sweden or in one of the other Nordic countries).
Course summary
Learning outcome
In this course you will learn digital illustration and gain skills that will help you clearly communicate your message:
Professional illustration software
The course will take you through the technicalities of creating vector-based illustrations using Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer or Inkscape, your choice.
Unique poster design
The course will teach you to break the template and create captivating posters with character that are uniquely yours.
Effective design principles
We will teach you how to present and arrange the elements on your page to maximize the impact of your message.
Find the core of your research
Working within the constraints of the assignments teaches you to summarize your message and think outside the box.
Visual thinking
You will get into the mindset of translating your research to visuals by completing assignments and giving as well as receiving feedback.
Engaging storytelling
You will learn to break convention and think critically about the information you put on the page, helping you tell better stories with your visuals.
3000+ students have taken our course
Join them today!
Overall the course has been very helpful and allowed me to think more in terms of illustration/graphical communication.
Andreas Novotny
I think it was the most useful course I have followed so far. It makes me more confident as a researcher that I can make graphs that are as pretty as what I have in my head and I think that would be helpful for more colleagues. I love how the course gives insight in things that you more or less feel is wrong with a visual (poster, slide, etc.) and it is nice to approach this with knowledge and a more scientific approach. I expect colleagues would agree.
LISETTE VAN KOLFSCHOTEN
You have fundamentally changed my understanding of the world and how I should communicate.
Alexis Dziedziech
At first I thought I would have trouble with illustration but I really enjoyed it and liked how the development process were. I never ended up where I thought I would in the beginning. The results were so much better than I could have imagined in the beginning
Jonna Lind
I think this is one of very few courses that have actually exceeded my expectations. I knew nothing about Illustrator and this course not only taught me so many skills, it also built up my confidence with this tool. I have never been "geeky/techie" so I expected to have difficulties during this course and a very steep learning curve. However I found the complete opposite, after only a few hours I was able to sketch anything I wanted in very high quality, I was surprised at how easy it actually is and how good it looks. Thanks to Andreas who has perfectly broken it down step-by-step for everybody to follow.
EVA GRACIA VILLACAMPA
It is a SUPER useful course for all scientists! It has incredibly good structure, a lot of necessary information, which will improve any poster, presentation or etc
EVGENIYA MICKOLS
You don't need to know anything about the visualisation tool and you will end the course by feeling comfortable to making award-winning figures. Not only does one get a lot of teachings on how to use the tool, it also gives a lot of relevant guides, rules and tips on making very good science visualisations. It will be helpful for the rest of one's career. And there is a lot of practice, including making your own poster and graphical abstract
JOHANNES YAYO
Register now!
Frequently asked questions
Why does it cost money, I thought all Ph.D. courses were supposed to be free of charge!
We wish that all courses could be free as well, but since we are doing this for a living we need to charge for the course. We do everything we can to keep the cost as low as possible.
How do I pay for the course?
Most of our students get funding for the registration fee from either their supervisor (if you are a Ph.D. student), your own research money, stipends or from the institution/department.
PhD students of KTH and SLU can sign up via their university where a certain amount of slots are already provided for by the university.
PhD students of KTH and SLU can sign up via their university where a certain amount of slots are already provided for by the university.
You can pay by invoice or online when the course opens.
Hmm, you represent a company, could you really examine and give me the credits?
Of course not, but if you complete the course you will receive a certificate that clearly states the amount of work you have done, measured in time. This certificate could then be used to get ECTS credits but your supervisor/responsible must be the examinator. So far, more than 3000 students have completed the course and received credits. Should you run into problems, please let us know, and we will do what we can to help resolve the issue.
Is this some easily earned credits? I mean, I pay a registration fee, then you must be happy and just let me pass?
Absolutely not, in order to pass and complete the course you must do all the assignments, attend all face-to-face sessions and complete all video modules. It is equivalent to 3 weeks of full time work.
We at Visualize your Science pride ourself on delivering quality courses, and we can only do that if we expect as much of the students as they do of us.
We at Visualize your Science pride ourself on delivering quality courses, and we can only do that if we expect as much of the students as they do of us.
What will happen if I cannot complete the course this semester?
No problem, you will have the opportunity to finalize the course within two years of the initial sign-up, free of charge of course. All you have to do is remember to register for an upcoming course by contacting Visualize your Science directly.
How long can I access the online material?
You will have access to the material for life, as long as you remember to login to your account at least once every two years (due to GDPR).
What is Visualize your Science?
Visualize your Science AB is a company based in Espoo Finland (FO: 2754269-4). It was founded by Andreas Dahlin in April 2016 and currently has 7 employees. Visualize your Science AB helps scientists communicate their research more effectively with better images, illustrations, visualizations and animations.
What is your cancellation policy?
If you change your mind and do not want to take the course, you have until 7 days before the course opens to cancel your registration without cost. After this time you will be billed in full. If you have already passed the latest cancellation date, but are hindered from attending the course, it is good to know you have the opportunity to follow the classes anytime within the next two years.
