In 2024, I decided to gradually discontinue my research activities. For more information, you can read my blog on How to Gently Retire. For the few years left before real retirement, I decided to focus on teaching, and in particular, where possible, to share with the next generation of researchers the lessons I learned in nearly 40 years of honoured career. For many years, I offered seminars to PhD students on specific transferable skills (how to write a paper, how to give a scientific presentation). From that came the idea to expand that content and develop a 30-hour course on the job of academic research. I discussed the idea with my university, and in January 2024, I taught for the first time a doctoral course entitled "The Craft of Scientific Research". It went very well, being the first time. More than 100 PhD students from the University of Bologna attended, representing 20 different doctoral programs in the fields of engineering, physical...