SubjectsSubjects(version: 992)
Course, academic year 2025/2026
   
Practical basics of scientific work - MB130P16
Title: Practical basics of scientific work
Czech title: Praktické základy vědecké práce
Form of teaching: course
Guaranteed by: Department of Experimental Plant Biology (31-130)
Faculty: Faculty of Science
Actual: from 2025
Duration in semesters: 1
Semester: winter
E-Credits: 2
Examination process: winter s.:
Hours per week, examination: winter s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
Capacity: unlimited
Maximum number of enrolled students: unlimited
Min. number of students: 5
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
State of the course: taught
Language: English
Additional information: https://dl2.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=186
Note: enabled for web enrollment
Guarantor: RNDr. Jan Petrášek, Ph.D.
Teacher(s): RNDr. Jan Petrášek, Ph.D.
Incompatibility : MB130P16E
Is incompatible with: MB130P16E
Annotation -
The course gives information on the basics of scientific practise in modern experimental biology. It is devoted to students that intend to study experimental biology specializations. The basics of research practise, planning of experiments, methods of their evaluation, principles of laboratory work, guidelines for writing protocols and ethical rules will be described in detail. Participants will be informed about useful techniques of mining in scientific databases and handling with these data as well as about scientific contribution preparation (poster and oral presentations, scientific papers). Practical demonstrations of techniques useful for bachelor and master thesis writing will be strongly emphasized.
Last update: Petrášek Jan, RNDr., Ph.D. (02.10.2022)
Literature -

Texts for all individual lectures of this course are downloadable from https://dl2.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=186

Last update: Petrášek Jan, RNDr., Ph.D. (06.02.2026)
Course assessment methods and requirements for successful completion, grading scheme -

Credits will be obtained after submission of written exams on the searching, processing and presentation of bibliographic and scientometric data and preparation of the scientific manuscript.

Last update: Petrášek Jan, RNDr., Ph.D. (02.10.2022)
Syllabus -

Syllabus:

1 Basics of research work
1.1 The character of scientific work in experimental biology
1.2 Observation and experiment as the two main activities of scientists
1.3 Scientific institutions, organizations, conferences, and social networks
      Scientific contributions at the seminars and conferences, rules for effective abstract writing
1.4 Ethical rules for scientific work, including bad habits in scientific writing
1.5 Funding scientific research
1.6 Writing scientific projects and grant proposals 

2 Experimental data handling
2.1 Organization of work, type of data
2.2 Data explorers, correct data handling and saving
2.3 Spreadsheets, statistical software, plot editors
2.4 Processing of structural and sequence data
2.5 Image analysis, graphical software, presentation software

3 Scientific literature

3.1 Types of scientific reports and their purpose
3.2 Internet sources of information 

3.3 How to search for bibliographic
 records and full-text articles - good and bad habits
      3.3.1 Bibliographic databases accessible at our faculty

      3.3.2 Full-text databases accessible at our faculty
      3.3.
3 Creating your own database of references
3.4 Scientometry - a tool for the evaluation of quality and scientific relevance of scientific work
3.5 Peer review of scientific texts - step-by-step guide through the process

4 Artificial intelligence in experimental biology
4.1 AI in the handling and processing of experimental data
4.2 AI in scientific writing and presentations

5 Online information databases in experimental biology
5.1 Databases of sequences
5.2 Specialized sequence databases

6 Scientific writing
6.1 Writing bachelor, master and dissertation theses
6.2 Writing scientific report/paper - good and bad habits, how to publish in a very good journal

Last update: Petrášek Jan, RNDr., Ph.D. (06.02.2026)
Learning outcomes -

Learning Outcomes

Students will gain the knowledge to:

Scientific thinking and research practice

  • Explain the nature and purpose of scientific work in experimental biology and distinguish between observation-based and experiment-based research.

  • Apply basic principles of experimental design, including planning, documentation, and evaluation of experiments.

  • Identify major scientific institutions, conferences, and professional networks relevant to experimental biology.

  • Demonstrate understanding of ethical rules in scientific research, including responsible data handling and avoidance of misconduct in scientific writing.

Research organization and data handling

  • Organize experimental work and manage different types of scientific data in a structured and reproducible way.

  • Apply correct practices for data storage, backup, and documentation.

  • Use spreadsheets, statistical software, and graphical tools for basic data analysis and visualization.

  • Process and interpret structural, sequence, and image data using appropriate software tools.

Scientific literature and information literacy

  • Distinguish between different types of scientific publications and explain their purposes.

  • Efficiently search bibliographic and full-text scientific databases available at the faculty.

  • Build and manage a personal reference database using appropriate citation tools.

  • Critically evaluate scientific literature using basic scientometric indicators.

  • Describe the peer-review process and assess scientific texts from the perspective of both author and reviewer.

Scientific communication

  • Write clear and well-structured scientific texts, including abstracts, protocols, and full scientific manuscripts.

  • Prepare scientific outputs suitable for oral presentations, posters, and written reports.

  • Apply good practices in scientific writing and recognize common mistakes.

  • Produce a scientific manuscript that meets formal and ethical standards of modern experimental biology.

Artificial intelligence and modern tools

  • Explain current applications and limitations of artificial intelligence in experimental data processing.

  • Use AI tools responsibly to support scientific writing and presentation preparation.

Professional development

  • Describe basic principles of research funding and grant proposal writing.

  • Demonstrate readiness for further specialization in experimental biology at bachelor’s or master’s level.

Last update: Petrášek Jan, RNDr., Ph.D. (06.02.2026)
The course does not include work placement
 
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