Academic English - DS ST - 2024

Throughout the academic year, the UHasselt doctoral schools are organizing several editions of the course 'Academic English' (taught by Prof. Eric Caers and Ms. Eva Cordery). This course seeks to familiarize PhD students with academic writing conventions and effective presentation skills.

The first session focuses on the features of academic and reader-friendly writing, and introduces the online e-learning module for assisted self-study covering functional grammar (tenses, linking words, quantifiers), academic writing conventions (displaying numbers and units of measurement) and the difference between British and American English.

The second session covers the different sections of an academic paper, information distribution (writing effective paragraphs, topic and stress positions), punctuation rules and paraphrasing techniques.

The third session is a scientific presentation workshop that also includes the use of graphs and charts, common mistakes and non-native structures. Example sentences relate to students' specific fields of study.

The fourth session provides personal counselling. Students are invited to submit first drafts or papers in progress for correction and error analysis beforehand. This closing session is also an opportunity for students to ask for extra e-learning feedback.

Basic knowledge of the English language is required upon the start of the course (preferably level B2).

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, you are able to...

• communicate scientific content in a structured way, both orally and in writing, thereby gaining a deeper awareness of text complexity and meeting the linguistic and stylistic demands of scientific communication,
• apply functional grammar with respect to tenses, modal verbs, conditionals, passives, quantifiers, linking words (discourse markers), adjectives/adverbs, singular/plural, topic and stress, and spelling to the writing process.

Competences

An important part of preparing for any further professional step is becoming (more) aware of the competences you have developed and/or want to develop. In the current workshop, the following competences from the UHasselt competency overview are actively dealt with:

• academic research competences:
  • publication skills
• interpersonal competences:
  • presentation skills
  • oral communication
  • written communication
• intellectual competences:
  • knowledge of languages
    
    

For whom?

• PhD students and postdocs of the Doctoral School of Sciences & Technology (priority will be given to PhD students!)
• 15 places available per edition

When and where?

• 1st edition - for DS ST
  • January 19 & 26 and February 02 & 09, 2024 - 13:00-16:00
  • campus Diepenbeek, building D, room A9 (19 & 26/01 & 09/02/24) & room A4 (02/02/24)
• 2nd edition - for DS BSH
  • February 15, 22 & 29 and March 07, 2024 - 09:00-12:00
  • campus Diepenbeek, building D, room A9
• 3rd edition - for DS HLS
  • February 15, 22 & 29 and March 07, 2024 - 13:00-16:00
  • campus Diepenbeek, building D, room A9
• 4th edition - mixed group (all DS)
  • September 06, 13, 20 & 27, 2024 - 09:00-12:00
  • organized digitally, except for 20/09/2023: campus Diepenbeek, building D, room H5

Registration?

• 1st edition - for DS ST: registration is closed since December 17, 2023.
• 2nd edition - for DS BSH: registration will be possible from November 16, 2023 on.
• 3rd edition - for DS HLS: registration will be possible from November 16, 2023 on.
• 4th edition - mixed group (all DS): registration will be possible from June 06, 2024 on.
• Please register only if you can attend all four sessions.
• As places are limited, registering does not automatically imply that you will be able to participate. You will be notified by email after the registration deadline has passed.
• Please cancel your registration at least one week in advance in case you cannot make it (cf. cancellation & no-show policy).

Please be aware of the following:
As part of this course, you will get access to an online module which can be used to make exercises at home. The access to this module costs 20 euros per person, paid for by the doctoral schools. However, if you cancel your participation after official confirmation from us, personal reimbursement of this amount will need to occur (except when participating in a later edition in the same academic year). This is true regardless of the exact timing of the cancellation in the light of the cancellation & no-show policy (i.e. ≥ or < 7 days).

Acknowledged as?

• DS BSH: category 'research management & communication skills' - workshop on communication skills
• DS HLS: category 'transferable skills' - compulsory elective course
• DS ST: category 'scientific & generic communication' - course on scientific and generic communication