Testimonials
A selection of the praise that Cofactor has received from clients
Workshop organisers
Anna has been running full-day workshops on ‘Writing a research paper’ for us for over two years now, with more planned for the coming months. These are aimed at PhD students, postdocs and permanent lab staff, and the feedback we received from them has always been very positive. Anna is knowledgeable, well organised and needs minimal help to set up and run a successful training day.
Dr Maria Jose Martin, Training and Career Development Project Manager, The Francis Crick Institute, UK
Anna runs one of the three training courses that we provide to our Daphne Jackson Fellows, www.daphnejackson.org. These are retraining Fellowships for researchers who had a career break of over two years for a family, health or caring reason. We booked two Cofactor workshops on publishing a research paper per year for our Fellows for the past two years and as they were so well received we will book more for the next two years. The workshops are clearly needed by our Fellows as they need to be updated after their career break about scientific publishing as it has changed considerably in recent years. Our Fellows have given excellent feedback on Cofactor workshops and Anna is easy to deal with and helpful. Anna has in depth knowledge of the publishing process as well as very relevant first hand experience. She is more than able to bespoke the courses to the individuals’ needs and creates a relaxed atmosphere so questions are encouraged. I would thoroughly recommend her courses.
Dr Helen Marsh, Trust Manager, Daphne Jackson Trust, UK
(see this recommendation on LinkedIn)
As training course organiser for the Daphne Jackson Trust, I work with many facilitators and Anna is one of the best, she is helpful and easy to deal with. We have had four Cofactor workshops on publishing a research paper over the last 2 years and our fellows have given great feedback. I plan to book more for the next two years.
Deirdre McMahon, Trust Administrator, Daphne Jackson Trust, UK
Based on the excellent feedback provided by the researchers who attended the two recent workshops run by Cofactor Ltd., I am delighted to invite Anna and her team back to Medical Sciences Division at Oxford University, to run further meetings in 2018-19 for our DPhil and researchers, who I am sure will benefit from Anna’s interactive workshops on Writing & Publishing Research Papers.
Dr Afsie Sabokbar, Director of Divisional Skills Training, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, UK
Anna worked with us before the session to understand our needs and tailor the workshop to the right field and set of journals. The students have given great feedback and we would recommend Cofactor to university departments or PhD programmes.
Dr Jenny Love, workshop organiser, UCL Energy Institute, UK
We approached Anna/Cofactor to deliver a writing workshop for our doctoral students following a personal recommendation. Due to her background and expertise it was agreed that she was the ideal person to deliver what our students were looking for and it has proved to be the right decision. The workshop was well received by our students, who are based at universities from across the UK, and we have decided to make it a formal part of our annual training programme This gives our students access to a resource they may not have had the opportunity to take up otherwise. I am looking forward to continuing to work with Anna and her team, who are extremely efficient and responsive which makes the logistical aspects of organising a workshop at a distance straight forward and uncomplicated.
Jennie Eldridge, DTA Manager, University Alliance
(see this recommendation on LinkedIn)
Anna has been delivering workshops to our Doctoral students on publishing their work for a few years now and we are very happy with the student feedback. Anna is reliable and organised and clearly understands the needs of our researchers. Our students benefit from the valuable insight from someone who has been a journal editor. We continue to work with Anna for the foreseeable future.
Dr Laura Christie, Educational Development Officer (Researcher Development), Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
(see this recommendation on LinkedIn)
Anna has run our Writing for Publication in the Sciences workshop for five years. Feedback from PhD students after the session is consistently excellent. Students really appreciate the practical exercises and personalised comments on their writing that they receive. As a former journal editor, Anna brings a wealth of experience which she can draw on in responding to the specific needs of each group.
Dr Nigel Eady, Director of Research Talent, King’s College London, UK
Anna is a great person to work with, which makes organizing workshops for our doctoral school a lot easier for me. Her “writing and publishing a research paper in the life sciences and medicine” workshop that she gave last year here at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel was greatly appreciated by all the participants. They loved her clear presentations, the exercises and the personalized feedback, In fact, we booked the same course again for next year!
Prof Leo van Grunsven, Director, Doctoral School in Life Sciences & Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
(see this recommendation on LinkedIn)
We started working with Anna/Cofactor this year in February 2016 and we always have positive feedback from her workshops, which is great. This aside, working with Anna from an organisers point of view has been very pleasant, professional and friendly. Any questions and queries are dealt with promptly and Anna, is true professional in the field – I would definitely recommend Cofactor for any publication/writing workshops.
Workshop organiser, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
Workshop participants
Incredibly informative & useful, in particular the introduction of new tools
Jessica Renzella, participant, Oxford University, UK
Useful to do the practical exercises and think critically about how to make my papers clearer for others
Hannah Ralph, participant, Oxford University, UK
Very clear and straightforward approach from an experienced speaker
Darlan Candido, participant, Oxford University, UK
It was really useful to go through all the writing style parts. I had picked up various habits and it is good to know which are good practice and which are not! Also a lot of information regarding choosing where to publish and what then happens which is great. A lot seemed like things supervisors assume you know.
Anna Jackson, participant, University of Kent, UK
It provided useful insights on how journals are ranked and interesting information on how to publicise my paper
Sophia Oikonomidou, participant, University of Kent, UK
To anyone trying to get a paper published, it talks through the entire process very well
Matthew Boakes, participant, University of Kent, UK
It provided invaluable information in both writing papers and choosing journals
Jamie Pont, participant, University of Kent, UK
Very thorough overview and explanation behind scientific writing and publishing
Garan O’Grady, participant, University of Kent, UK
I have gained a lot of new knowledge about the journal submission process/review etc, about how to choose journals and what to write in abstracts/papers.
Participant, Open University, UK
It covered a lot of aspects regarding research papers and issues that I hadn’t previously considered such as copyright.
Participant, University of Cambridge, UK
A very thorough workshop which has made the process of paper writing less daunting
Andrea Snelling, participant, Nottingham University, UK
Very informative, challenged assumptions about how and what to write
William Hayden Jones, participant, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
Very well structured with a wealth of knowledge. Easy to follow with good examples on how to plan and write a paper
Tim Church, participant, University College London, UK
Very comprehensive introduction about publication in science journals
Yongjian Wang, participant, King’s College London, UK
The course improved my skills on how to write a persuasive abstract and instructions on how to choose a journal
Fabiana Corsi-Zuelli, participant, King’s College London, UK
This has dramatically improved my understanding of the publishing process
Stuart Smith, participant, King’s College London, UK
Filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge … should be compulsory
Iain Watson, participant, King’s College London, UK
It contains a lot of information that researchers are typically expected to learn by ‘osmosis’
Victoria Boyes, participant, King’s College London, UK
The course was excellent and very well-delivered. There was a real sense of professionalism – it would be difficult to improve on this course.
Nice to have a professional with an in-depth industry knowledge offer training and advice.
I think this course will make you a better researcher and not just help you get published.
Participants, King’s College London, UK
Content is very relevant and clear, good ideas on how to structure thoughts and ideas. There were many things I was not aware of before I took this course
Sowiabh Bhide, participant, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
It helped clarify and build upon things I already partly knew but now have more confidence in my knowledge
David Armstrong, participant, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK
A good blend of presentation and on-hand experience. Quality was excellent
Nirov Thacker, participant, Institute of Cancer Research, UK
I didn’t understand open access before or certain concepts, I do now
Marcia Costa, participant, Institute of Cancer Research, UK
Provided information on publishing that could not be found online
Arinaitwe Emmanuel, participant, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
Course had the right amount of information and combination of theory and practice
Liana Gynn, participant, University of the West of England, UK
Relevant and specific to my research area and appreciated the personal feedback on my abstract
Loryn Halliday, participant, Kingston University, UK
Very informative, full of practices and take home study materials for future references, and in clear English
Interactive and strongly linked to papers that are going to be written by the participants themselves
This workshop was practical oriented. And I got so important constructive comments for my own abstract that improved it a lot.
Participants, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium