Movement Lab - Resources for Students

The following resources are easily found by a simple google search. Indeed, you should try to complement the resources below with your own google searches.

Research Area websites

Biomechanics research and courses at Ohio State

Robotics research and courses at Ohio State

Course websites

With lecture notes, HW, MATLAB code, etc.

ME7752. Mechanics and control of robots. Course webpage.

ME8230. Nonlinear Dynamics. Course webpage.

How to write a paper or a report

How to write a good report, by Andy Ruina

Good writing, by Marc Raibert.

On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. In which he says that rewriting is the essence of writing well. Pages 10-11 give good examples.

How to write a great research paper, by Simon Peyton Jones

About writing especially in mathematics, by Terry Tao

B. J. Fregly's tips on writing for the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering

I find passive voice indirect. I avoid passive voice when appropriate, but not always. In this context, I love the following comparison: "why did the chicken cross the road?" versus "why was the road crossed by the chicken?"

Here's a beautiful essay on how to write an article containing mathematics. The intended audience of this essay was MIT undergrads, but the lessons are broadly applicable. The part about language on pages 3-8 is especially compelling.

How to give a good talk or presentation

How to give a good research talk, by Simon Peyton Jones. PDF. HTML.
Here's a variant bt Stephanie Weirich
Another one by Newhall.

Other common tasks of a scientist

How to review a paper

How to read a research paper.  Efficient reading of papers in science and technology. How to read a technical paper, by James Eisner. Here's another one and yet another one. In general, try to read a LOT of papers, at least their abstracts and introductions.

Writing a good grant proposal, by Simon Peyton Jones

Good programming style. Here's one on MATLAB programming style guidelines, in which the author quotes regarding variable naming, "A rose by any other name confuses the issue."

The PLOS family of journals had series of essays called "Ten Simple Rules," covering various topics of general interest: ten simple rules for getting published, for getting grants, for reviewers, for selecting a postdoctoral position, for a successful collaboration, for making oral presentations, for a good poster presentation, for doing your best research, for graduate students, organizing a scientific meeting, etc. Here are all the ten simple rule essays in a single PDF file.

Why maintain a lab notebook and how. 1, 2, 3.

Other webpages with graduate student or researcher resources

Simon Peyton Jones
Research Tips, by Sylvia Miksch
Dave Evans' Advice collection
Great Research.Org

Just google whatever you wish to do well.

Upcoming topics

How to prepare a figure for publication.
What to do while attending a conference or a research seminar.
How to organize and store data and programs for the lab.

Conferences in the field. Conference on Dynamic Walking. American Society of Biomechanics. World Congress of Biomechanics. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. IEEE ICRA. IEEE IROS. IEEE Humanoids. AMAM. ISPGR. ISEK. IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR). Society for Neuroscience. NIPS. Neural Control of Movement. Society for Experimental Biology.


Miscellany

R. McNeill Alexander's complete list of publications