Introduction to the SWAC Club and Blog

On behalf of our founding members, I would like to welcome you to the blog site for the UNC-Chapel Hill Science Writing and Communication (SWAC) Club. The SWAC Club has been formed to facilitate the training of research scientists at UNC in the art of effective scientific communication. We seek to develop in our members professional skills related to science writing and communication for all audience levels, from fellow researchers to the non-science public. We will also provide exposure to the bountiful career opportunities available to talented and enthusiastic science writers and communicators, from science communication for general audiences to medical/regulatory writing, and more. The career training opportunities offered by SWAC will be geared towards graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, although we also welcome highly-motivated undergraduate science writers.

The SWAC blog site is the heart of our organization- a forum for the creative expression of our diverse membership, an opportunity to share our scientific adventures, further develop our professional writing skills, and so much more. All articles published on our blog have undergone rigorous peer-review, both to ensure content quality and provide editorial experience to our members. Please join us as we discuss cutting-edge research going on at Chapel Hill (and beyond), commiserate in our scientific failures, learn about the bizarre, the historical, and any other scientific topic worthy of discussion. We have a lot of fun writing these stories, and we hope you enjoy reading them just as much!

If you enjoy science writing and communication in any form, consider joining SWAC. To join, simply contact any member of our Executive Board, either by e-mail through our website or in-person at one of our monthly seminar meetings (scheduled on our website calendar). We will also be accepting blog submissions from non-members, if you would like to have your original material published without formally joining our group. Please do not hesitate to contact me or any member of our Executive Board with your questions and comments.