Project “Epilogue,” initiated by the Professional Development Avenue, was a two-day project held on the 18th and 22nd of September to empower budding undergraduate researchers to craft their own scholarly articles. Rotaract Club of SLIIT joined hands with the Sustain Uz Club of SLIIT to make this endeavour successful.
The first day of Epilogue was dedicated to understanding the clockwork of crafting research articles. The session was held with the kind contribution of Mrs. Pavithra Madamaranawela, a distinguished Academic pursuing her PhD in cell and molecular biology at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA, and recipient of the American Society for Microbiology FLM fellowship, who generously filtered out the cream of her years of experience in writing research articles to nourish the young minds of our attendees.
During her session, Mrs. Madamaranawela delved into the essential components of a research article. She also explained the purpose of each component, such as the introduction, literature review, and methodology, while providing tips and tricks to nail each component like a seasoned researcher. Additionally, the discourse enlightened our Participants on the importance of academic writing skills, the presentation of data in graphical format, academic integrity, peer reviewing, and addressing reviewer comments. Thus, session one of Epilogue successfully provided participants with insights into the cross-section of writing an article.
The second day of “Epilogue” looked up to Prof. Ruwan Jayathilake, the Head of the Department of Information Management at SLIIT Business School, as its valuable resource person. Prof. Jayathilake brought to the table a heated topic of all researchers dipping their toes into the field: writing critical literature reviews and review articles.
In his meticulous explanation, Prof. Jayathilake guided the participants through the methodology of conducting comprehensive literature searches, synthesising existing research outcomes, and critically evaluating the significance and quality of previous research. We strongly believe that his valuable session equipped the participants with the necessary tools to contribute to their academic fields of study efficiently and effectively.
These priceless sessions attracted around 150 enthusiastic participants within the span of the two days of the project. Their interactions with the speakers and their peers added colour to our sessions. On behalf of Rotaract Club of SLIIT, we thank them for their positive feedback while being humbly proud of the high level of participant satisfaction. We wish them luck with their academic research writing.
Moreover, the collaboration with the Sustain Uz Club provided a wonderful experience of fellowship for all the organisers of the event. The team effort provided the opportunity to share knowledge, make long-lasting bonds, and spread the essence of Rotaract within the community of SLIIT.
Ultimately, Epilogue managed to leave its mark as another impactful project by our club. The sessions effectively equipped the participants to achieve success in their writing of academic articles and widened the horizons of fellowship for our club.
Penned By:
Rtr. Rishini Bandaranayake
Editorial Committee Member 23.24
