Write About Research

Your guide, Dr Geoff Hyde

I have been running workshops and courses on research communication skills since 1998. I started this while I was on faculty at UNSW, where I ran the professional skills program for Honours students within the School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES). In 2005 I moved to India's top biomedical research institute, the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore where the visionary Director, Prof. K. VijayRaghavan , gave me total freedom to develop my ideas and courses on research communication. In my eight years in India I also ran workshops all over the country to Masters and PhD students in a wide variety of disciplines (e.g. physics, mathematics, economics, sociology, electronic engineering). In 2010 I also established and wrote many news stories for the centre's news site and then helped initiate and run what is now India's leading short course in science journalism .

Since 2013 I have been based in Sydney, and I have continued to run courses on research writing skills for PhD and MSc research students at NCBS. My extensive experience in helping researchers to communicate better has given me many novel and practical insights into the best strategies for both teaching and learning this important skill. I'm now sharing those insights again with researchers in Australia.

Between 1988 and 2004 I was a full-time researcher in the area of fungal cell biology (23 publications, see my Google Scholar Page ) and won many prizes, fellowships and grants, including an Australian ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Canadian NSERC International Postdoctoral Fellowship and several Large ARC grants. For more details see my website, Write about Research , or see my academic resume online.

What people say about Geoff

Prof. Adrienne Hardham
Professor at the Research School of Biology, Australian National University
"During my nearly 40-year career in academic research, I have not encountered anyone better equipped than Geoff Hyde to offer high quality training in academic communications skills."

Prof. Ross McMurtrie
Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of New South Wales, Sydney
"Geoff played a big part in the School’s scientific writing/seminars skills course (for Honours research students), joining it in 1997 and leading it from 2000-04. .... I would recommend his courses and workshops to anyone who wants to improve their research writing skills."

Dr Shomita Mukherjee
Faculty at Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore
“I was astounded at the way my articles, talks and proposals turned out after discussing them with Geoff. He brought out the best without changing the essence and it seemed as though he knew my research better than me!”

Dr Ajith Kumar
Director, MSc Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation. National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore
"This course was a major reason for the enviable track record in scientific publications that our Masters students have had. ... (It) became one of the most well known and sought after courses among young researchers in India in particular, and Asia in general."

Prof. Anindya 'Rana' Sinha
Professor at National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore
"I feel that Geoff was able to inspire his students not only because of his science communication skills but, in equal measure, due to his diligence, hard work and immense patience."

Basudha Basu
Research Associate at University of Sheffield
“I took a course he offered about scientific writing and it has made such an incredible difference to my career as a researcher. Not only has my writing improved, I also think about scientific problems and their presentation in different and more creative ways.”

Mohit Kumar Jolly
PhD Candidate in Bioengineering at Rice University
“Geoff is the best teacher of scientific communication I have ever come across. ... He has inspired a generation of graduate students all across India in various disciplines of science and engineering through his workshops.”

Chakravarthy Marella
Bioinformatician at Leibniz Center for Medicine and Biosciences
“Geoff pays careful attention to each and every student in his class. ... (He) is the best instructor any student would ask for and I wish he continues to reach out to more students."