What is an academic week?
The academic week is an event that takes place in educational institutions, but with a big difference: the organization is all done by the student body.
That’s right! Students form an organizing committee and prepare all stages of the event.
In general, it is an event that includes other types of smaller events, such as a seminar , a round table , a panel , some lectures, in short, the activities are usually quite varied.
The academic week counts, therefore, with the participation of professors and professionals specialized in the labor market to deal with specific topics .
As the name implies, the event is one week. So typically, an academic week‘s schedule lasts four or five days.
A special part of the academic week: the presentation of papers
An important part of the academic week is to give students the opportunity to present their work, based on the submission of academic papers .
This part is special because students can share their research projects , scientific articles or works that they develop in scientific initiation , for example.
It is an interesting way to start an academic career and debut in scientific events.
It is also important because there are not always events that give undergraduate students the opportunity to exhibit their work.
For everything to happen in the best way, good organization is enough.
First, it is important that not all works are interesting for the event. A basic structure and central themes must be established.
For this reason, it is important to have a judging committee to evaluate what colleagues have produced and choose which ones are the most appropriate to present.
How to organize an academic week?
A good plan is essential for the realization of a good event. So let’s go through the steps to organize an academic week.
1. Set a date in advance.
Ideally, planning should begin a few months before the official date of the event. In general, the longer the organization, the better the preparation for the event.
2. Choose the event theme.
Well, the theme will depend on the end goal. The academic week can comprise subjects from a course or just from one area of knowledge. It is interesting to bring up topics that are on the rise in society.
3. Select the people who will participate in the organization.
After defining the theme, see who will be the people who will participate in the organization of the event. The participation team directly impacts the quality of the event.
If you can, already define who will be responsible for each necessary activity.
4. Define the schedule and who will be the people who will present at the event.
Once you have the theme and organization, it will be possible to assemble the schedule.
From there, it is possible to define who will be responsible for presenting themes at the event.
5. Define participation rules.
For people to know how to participate, both the student body and the community, it is essential to have a regulation, an announcement or a set of guidelines.
In this step, it will be necessary to define the registration rules, dates and times of the schedule.
6. Organize a good publicity for the whole society.
After everything is ready, it’s time to publicize the event to all your audience. Plan your outreach carefully.
At this stage, social networks are important allies for the event to reach as many people as possible.
How important is it to participate in an academic week?
We will list the main benefits of participating in an academic week, whether as part of the organizing committee, as a presenter of a paper or as an audience.
Increase in faculty engagement
Although the organization is done by students, the faculty also ends up getting involved. The extracurricular dialogue that develops in these situations is interesting. Which, of course, also improves the relationship between students and teachers.
Increased student body participation
In this type of event, the student body can participate in several ways: for the presentation of works, to organize the event or to attend and honor colleagues.
Greater possibility of engagement among participants
As I said, academic weeks have expert professionals who interact with the audience. The idea is that there is even a specific moment in the program for participants to open spaces for dialogue with the audience.
So the chances of engagement in discussions are much higher.
After all, not only are all people interested in the subject, but they also have a lot of baggage to share.
Clear all doubts and talk about your difficulties on the subject
It is also a great option to clear up some doubts and talk about some difficulties in the themes of the event, as there will be an opportune moment to ask questions.
Enrich the Lattes Curriculum of Participants
Participation in an academic journey, both as a member of the organizing committee, as a presenter of work and as a participant in the audience, generates a certificate that can help to increase the Lattes Curriculum .
Get news and important points about the topic
An academic event is always a great place to find out about what’s happening around that topic, who are the people who are researching and writing about it, and what the latest findings are.
That is: it is quite interesting to stay on top of theme updates .
This is very important, especially in the face of so much content and information that we receive. If we were to search the topic on Google Scholar , for example, it is possible that the result will offer trillions of different works.
So, academic weeks are important events to filter information and direct the look to what is most important and most current in the subject, from relevant professionals in the area.
Favor communication between researchers
Furthermore, the journeys promote dialogues and discussions from an expert audience. This greatly favors communication.
In other words, they help to develop networking and give the opportunity to talk about a topic that everyone is interested in.
Even because, it is possible that the event brings together all the people who are interested in the topic, but who develop research and work in different places, to talk about that specific subject.
Develop new scientific knowledge
And as if that were not enough, undoubtedly, the discussions of academic weeks add important conclusions on the themes and generate new ideas to continue the research.
So, it’s an important way to develop updates on scientific knowledge and advance science .
Potential for the presentation of academic works
As I have already said, the event can also count on the presentation of works, from calls for submission of articles in several areas of knowledge. Which can increase the level and engagement at the event.
