Prof. Pratap Mohapatra, Academics Advisor, KIIT – Deemed to be University and Visiting Professor, IIT Bhubaneswar, visited the Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences (CNCS), School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad (UoH) and delivered a talk titled “Future of scientific writing” on April 4, 2025. The talk saw students attending from various disciplines like public health, psychology, economics, chemistry, and cognitive sciences. Previously, he was a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He has published widely in the areas of system dynamics, software engineering and e-business.
Prof. Mohapatra’s talk was divided into two parts – an anecdotal one and a technical one. The first part drew heavily from his personal experiences as scientific advisor and supervisor to many PhD scholars. As a committee member for PhD theses, he highlighted the consequences of unclear thinking and discussed how to resolve potential conflicts and delays during research and writing. He stressed that strong writing skills are developed through consistent practice and effort.
During the second part, Prof. Mohapatra presented his latest book, “Principles of Scientific and Technical Writing”, to Prof. Ramesh Mishra, Dean, School of Medical Sciences and Head, Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences. The book co-authored by Sanjib Moulick and published by McGraw Hill is an obligatory guide to students who participate in scientific writing in any capacity. He went through the contents of his book, showcasing what the future holds for students who build a strong foundation in writing. He made sure to let students know what it means to write well. Prof. Mishra brought up the role of AI and the ethical dilemmas associated with using such tools in academia. Prof. Mohapatra took a few extra minutes to also discuss what the future of academic writing might look like and made projections about how the use of AI writing tools, availability of academic articles and the role of authors might change in the coming years.
Prof. Mohapatra concluded by imploring institutions to offer courses in scientific writing and research ethics to ensure that students have a solid foundation before they go out into the world with their own research. The session was then thrown open for students to discuss their own thoughts and questions with him.