Academic competences
Register to a session
If the training you wish to register for is full (🚫), or if no date is yet scheduled, you can make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on-site or online.
Our training programs
For any of the programs listed below, you can either register for the next available session, or make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform.
Should a training program useful to your studies or research be added to our training offer? Do not hesitate to contact us: [email protected].
Information retrieval
Duration: 1.5h
Frequency: 8x / year
The aim of this workshop is to develop your skills in the field of information retrieval:
- Build a search strategy for your topic
- Get to know specialised resources
- Automate your search to get fresh news as they are published
Search engines, databases, library catalogs, press…
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on-site or online.
Too few/too many search results, relevance of the sources digged…
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on-site or online.
Receive information automatically, alerts, RSS feeds, aggregators…
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on-site or online.
Citation and plagiarism
Duration: 1.5h
Frequency: 2-3 times / year
The aim of this workshop is to help participants identify and eliminate text, images and codes that may be interpreted as plagiarism to the PhD supervisor, an expert or a journal reviewer. At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:
- Explain the difference between incorrect referencing and plagiarism
- Use i-thenticate to correct your text in order to eliminate potential cases of plagiarism
- Appreciate the value of learning to referencing correctly when drafting a text
Duration: 2h
Frequency: 3-4 times / year
Citing correctly requires the acquisition of the right habits. This workshop will walk you through various citation cases that you may encounter during the writing process of reports or publications. At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:
- Understand the stakes of citation
- Reuse different types of content without committing plagiarism
- Cite correctly your sources, within the text and in the bibliography
Duration: 2h
Frequency: 8 times / year
This workshop is for people who want to start using Zotero, a free tool that enables to collect, organize and share bibliographic references. Zotero spares its users from spending troublesome hours on the creation of a bibliography. Very useful for anyone who writes reports or theses, Zotero will be useful all along the curriculum and beyond.
Why does the Library recommend Zotero as reference management software
Copyright rules, cite all kinds of documents, references formatting, with or without Zotero.
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on-site or online.
Research data management
Effective Research Data Management (RDM) is essential for ensuring the quality, durability, and reproducibility of your scientific work over time. EPFL adheres to the F.A.I.R. data principles, advocating for the proper management of data and code. In this introductory course, you will gain a foundational understanding of RDM, and explore the EPFL services that can better meet your needs. Interactive Q&A and peer exchanges will help you gain insights into the application of these principles in your research endeavors.
At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Identify F.A.I.R. data practices;
- Recognize the right EPFL services that meet your RDM needs.
This training requires no prior specific knowledge. For more in-depth workshops on specific data management aspects, register for Data Management Planning & Funding, Data Organization & Storage Solutions or Data/Code Publication.
Frequency: 2x year / online only
Duration: 1.5h
Audience: PhD Students, Researchers, Professors, PIs
Language: English
This training will help you kickstart or improve your Data Management Planning (DMP), assess the compliance with research funders’ requirements (ex. SNSF, ERC or EPFL), and address your queries on eligible costs, Open Data requirements, and more. Additionally, you’ll learn about Research Data Management (RDM) Strategy, essential for planning across multiple research projects, whether in a consortium or an NCCR setting. Through hands-on examples, customizable templates, interactive Q&A sessions, and peer exchanges, you will gain practical insights into transforming DMPs into efficient tools beyond bureaucratic necessities and understanding the added value that a well-crafted DMP brings to your research endeavors.
After this workshop, you will be able to:
- Implement your own DMP;
- Assess the compliance of your DMP.
While not mandatory, basic knowledge of Research Data Management is recommended: for an introductory training, please register for the workshop ABC of Research Data Management. For other in-depth, related workshops, register also for Data Organization & Storage Solutions or Data/Code Publication.
Frequency: 2x year / presence only
Duration: 1.5h
Audience: PhD Students, Researchers, Professors, PIs
Language: English
This training enhances your file and folder naming strategies, introduces the use of metadata, and guides you in documenting research data to bolster reproducibility within your research group and in preparation for publication. We will explore the critical differences between data storage, backup, and archiving, and showcase the EPFL’s solutions. Through examples and best practices, you will learn to prevent data loss and enable efficient data sharing and its long-term preservation.
At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Distinguish between storage, back-up and archiving solutions;
- Test your file naming convention against good practices.
While not mandatory, basic knowledge of Research Data Management is recommended: for an introductory training, please register for the workshop ABC of Research Data Management. For other in-depth, related workshops, register also for Data Management Planning & Funding or Data/Code Publication.
Frequency: 2x year / online only
Duration: 1.5h
Audience: PhD Students, Researchers, Professors, PIs
Language: English
While research funders and publishers mandate the dissemination of data and code underlying the published results, little guidance is provided on how to do it. This workshop addresses the selection of suitable data repositories, explores the role of data journals, and examines data publishing beyond the basic requirements of funders. The session includes a hands-on demonstration of Zenodo, the preferred data repository among EPFL researchers. We will also explore how Zenodo integrates with GitHub repositories, ensuring all necessary publishing metadata is available to disseminate your academic work. Additionally, we will cover the appropriate licensing for your datasets and address data anonymization concerns.
At the end of this workshop you will be able to:
- Choose the right repository for your code/data;
- Publish your code/data in the EPFL Zenodo community.
While not mandatory, basic knowledge of Research Data Management is recommended: for an introductory training, please register for the workshop ABC of Research Data Management. For other in-depth, related workshops, register also for Data Management Planning & Funding or Data Organization & Storage Solutions.
Frequency: 2x year / presence only
Duration: 1.5h
Audience: PhD Students, Researchers, Professors, PIs
Language: English
Scientific publishing
Duration: 1h
Frequency: 2 times / year
Signing a contract with a publisher is supposed to be a rewarding step: your work is getting published! However, the understanding of a contract is less enjoyable, between very specialized terms and ambiguous sentences.
At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:
- Identify the key elements of a contract
- Understand the rights you keep and the ones you waive when you sign a contract
- Communicate with a publisher if you are willing to negotiate
Duration: 3h
Frequency: 3-4 times / year
Publishing to make your research available to the scientific community is a rewarding step. Do you want to understand how it works and know some tips that will help at the submission stage? In this workshop, we will address the publication process in the current context:
- Become familiar with the context of scholarly communication and its latest developments
- Understand the important steps leading to publication, including peer-review
- Ensure your compliance towards EPFL and funders Open Access policy
- Know and protect your rights as an author according to EPFL’s policy
Duration: 1.5h
Frequency: 3-4 times / year
In this short workshop, we will address visibility in the academic context. How can you manage your visibility as a researcher ? How can you ensure that your research output makes an impact ? Let’s explore some of the tools you have at your disposal.
After the workshop, you will :
- know different ways to be visible as a researchers
- grasp the limits and the benefits of visibility
- learn about the steps to take and the people to contact as an EPFL researcher
As a BONUS content: we will help everyone interested to setup their ORCID account after the training.
Duration: 1h30
The aim of this workshop is for you to discover the advantages of the unique identifier ORCID and to know how to use it in the EPFL context. You will:
- Understand how this unique identifier works
- Discover the features in order to add information to your profile, in particular the option Search&Link
- Link your profile to the EPFL directory in order to highlight your publications
Infoscience offre beaucoup de fonctionnalités pour gérer ses publications – mais ce n’est pas toujours simple. La bibliothèque vous propose une formation sur la création de notices de publications.
Une présentation d’environ 20 minutes sera suivie d’un atelier pratique de 1h40 pendant lequel vous pourrez vous entraîner avec l’aide de notre équipe de support et poser des questions autour de notre dépôt. Profitez donc de cette offre et venez avec des publications que vous souhaitez créer et/ou vos questions – nous prendrons du temps pour tout regarder avec vous.
La formation va couvrir les sujets suivants :
- Comment enregistrer une publication ?
- Comment annexer des fichiers ?
- Que se passe-t-il après l’enregistrement ?
- Corriger des erreurs
Le cours sera donné en français et s’adresse principalement aux assistant·es administratif·ves de l’EPFL. Des cours pour chercheur·ses sont en préparation.
Pour les exercices pratiques de création de notices dans Infoscience, vous pouvez préparer quelques exemples réels que vous pourrez réutiliser ensuite.
Infoscience offre beaucoup de fonctionnalités pour gérer ses publications et permet de créer des listes de publications dynamiques. La construction d’une requête basique est assez simple, mais peut se compliquer si l’on souhaite ajouter des filtres plus pointus. Il y a quelques petites astuces que la bibliothèque vous propose de découvrir dans une formation sur la création de listes de publications.
Une présentation d’environ 20 minutes sera suivie d’un atelier pratique (optionnel) de 1h40 pendant lequel vous pourrez vous entraîner avec l’aide de notre équipe de support et poser des questions. Profitez donc de cette offre et venez avec les listes que vous souhaitez créer – nous prendrons du temps pour tout regarder avec vous.
La formation va couvrir les sujets suivants :
- Analyser une demande de liste
- La décomposer en différents éléments
- Construire la requête
- Utiliser des opérateurs booléens, des filtres, la troncature
Le cours sera donné en français et s’adresse principalement aux assistant·es administratif·ves de l’EPFL. Des cours pour chercheur·ses sont en préparation.
Pour les exercices pratiques de création de notices dans Infoscience, vous pouvez préparer quelques exemples réels que vous pourrez réutiliser ensuite.
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on site or online.
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on site or online.
Tools and digital competences
Duration: 2h
Frequency: 8 times / year
Do you want to create documents with the help of LaTeX?
Come to our workshop and test LaTeX live!
This workshop will cover:
- LaTeX principles
- Document structure
- Usage of text and floats
- Citation and bibliographies
- and how to write maths
Do you want to be guided for your first steps with Git? Do you have questions on the basic uses of Git? This 1to1 offer is for you!
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on site or online.
Discover the basic features of Zotero: collect references, create a bibliography, in-text citing…
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on site or online.
From EndNote, Mendeley or any other to Zotero…
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on site or online.
Bibliography in a LaTeX document, additional storage space needed…
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on site or online.
Adjustment of a citation style according to your needs.
Make an appointment with a librarian on the Book a Librarian platform. You can attend this training alone or with others, on site or online.
For high-school students
Students and teachers of high schools are welcome at the EPFL Library. Registration is free of charge and possible for anyone. Registered readers (free registration) benefit from access to swisscovery, a network that brings together the collections of more than 475 scientific libraries in Switzerland.
The EPFL Library also offers, on appointment, individual support for dissertation in the context of searching for information. Accompanied by a librarian, the various printed and electronic resources available at EPFL are reviewed: BEAST catalog discovery tool, eBooks, databases, encyclopaedias, etc. We address search methods on the web that help the students find relevant information, and options for refining and filtering the search. Training is tailored to the dissertation subject, for individual students or in small groups.
The EPFL Library inducts high-school students as well as their teachers who are responsible for the Travaux de Maturité (TM) in scientific and technical fields. Organised activities allow pupils to familiarise themselves with scientific and technical sources of information. This induction is in line with the promotion of EPFL Bachelor courses which lead to different engineering disciplines. This measure is offered in the same spirit as the Information Days for high-school students, or sponsorship of TM by some EPFL laboratories, and allows the pupil to put himself in the shoes of a researcher who needs to harness information in order to progress in his project.
After induction of his class at the EPFL Library, a pupil
• is able to optimise searching on Google;
• is aware of the limited validity of information found on the internet;
• can cite three scientific and technical web search engines other than Google.
Induction of classes is possible only during the periods between semesters. We would ask you to contact the Library at least two weeks in advance in order to set a date during these periods.
Also kindly let us know what subject area the teacher is responsible for and /or some TM subjects of the class so that we can offer targeted activities.
We will offer a workshop on searching for information relevant to the TM, followed by a brief tour of the Library (with registration at the Library for those pupils who wish).
Duration: 1h30 approximately
Infosphère
Pour votre travail de maturité, n’hésitez pas à consulter Infosphère, la boîte à outils pour les compétences informationnelles.
For teachers
As a teacher at EPFL, you can request a training session in research techniques, information management and citation for your students. The interventions are targeted and delivered within the framework of your courses.
The selected training modules will be inserted and delivered in your course at the time of the start of a semester project or Bachelor/Master’s dissertation, so that your students can put their new knowledge into practice. The teacher chooses the modules to be integrated into his or her course (at least two) and proposes a research topic, which will serve as an example during the training. The proposed modules are evolving and adaptable: we are open to any proposal that could make our training courses aligned to your needs. The dates are chosen in agreement with the teacher.
The Library team collaborates with the Centre d’Appui à l’Enseignement (CAPE) to offer interactive and dynamic training sessions.
Description: Discussion with the students around the channels of scientific and technical information, based on a research topic that is aligned to the students’ pieces of work: keywords, documentary equation, internet and selected sources, topical news and established knowledge, references or full texts, free or paid information, physical or electronic library, validity of information, peer review.
Objectives: At the end of the module the student is aware of the world of scientific information. He has the tools for starting an efficient search for information, varying his sources and verifying them.
Estimated duration: 45 minutes
Description: Presentation of scientific and technical information resources in connection with the students’ research topics.
Objectives: The student knows the main information resources in his field, as well as the main multidisciplinary resources.
Estimated duration: 45 minutes
Description: One or more librarians and the lecturer help the students start their semester project or Bachelor/Master’s dissertation.
Objective: The student starts his research on a good foundation. He works in a professional manner, varying his sources, using a bibliography/reference manager, and citing his sources in an appropriate manner.
Duration: to be agreed with the lecturer
Description: The trainer proposes a quiz on citation, to which students respond with ResponseCards (clickers). The different opinions are then discussed. Can texts, photos, diagrams, tables, graphs be copied and pasted for documents intended for teaching or for a disseminated publication? The basic rules of citation, copyright and Creative Commons licenses are addressed, and the consequences of plagiarising at EPFL are referred to.
Objectives: The student knows how to utilise scientific and technical information in all its forms in accordance with professional ethics.
Duration: to be agreed with the lecturer (at least, 45 minutes)
Description: Demonstration of how to use Zotero reference management software, installation of the software, and basic practical exercises.
Objectives: The student has a Zotero account. He knows how to import references, manage them and cite them while working on writing. He also knows how to share his references within a group.
Estimated duration: 45 minutes