Writing: Optimizing the Signal to Noise Ratio

I am going to work through a piece of writing that is relevant to your present research or your research interests. That piece of writing should be no more than one to two pages (single-spaced, 11 point font) and should lay out the research problem, what it is in particular that you plan to do or show, what the current state of the art is, and any results you have or might expect to have.

For those of you who are already active in research this piece of writing could reflect what you are already working on. For those of you who have yet to commit to a specific problem, the piece of writing could be a research proposal, of the type you might submit in a fellowship or a grant application (to NSERC, FQRNT or CIHR) for example. It could also be your attempt to articulate a new exciting problem that inspires you and that you plan to work on.

Many believe that technical writing is largely a matter of documentation once results have been obtained. I hope to argue that this is not true and to react to your pieces of writing and attempt to work with you to improve them.

Lunch will be provided!

IMPORTANT: Bring your piece of writing and a laptop!