Academic Writing Center
Our goal at the Academic Writing Center is to guide scientists at all stages in their careers toward a global improvement in writing skills rather than simply producing better papers. In working with PhD students in the earliest stages of their PhDs, we hope to demystify the ubiquitous ‘native English speaker’ in the teaching and publishing process and cultivate the ‘Writerly Ear’ within, a skill that will continue to serve students as they advance in their scientific careers. Not just students, but also faculty are taught how to prepare to deliver their courses in English, through specific training in pedagogy & communications skills adapted to international learning environments. Researchers are coached on public speaking skills in preparation for conferences. Whether through one of our training courses or our one-to-one sessions, each activity is a personalised exchange that focuses on skill-building towards full autonomy.
The Academic Writing Center offre à la communauté scientifique de l'Université Paris-Saclay un service interne de relecture et de coaching pour les publications académiques.
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To register, please use this link.
We hope to see you there!
When you sign up for our proofreading services, you can be sure that we will go over your entire document, starting from its title to the very last sentence. Our language coaches usually proofread a 20-page publication in 6-8 sessions with each participant. This steady pace implies that your article is already formatted and pre-corrected with Grammarly, an online grammar check tool. Any proofreading session for a text that has not been previously processed by Grammarly will be cancelled.
If you don't have a Grammarly account yet, please request one here: https://tinyurl.com/awc-grammarly
This Premium account is offered freely to all PhD students, researchers, and staff affiliated with Université Paris-Saclay, so please make sure to provide your institutional email account.
To prepare for your proofreading session, please bring any other information that maybe of use, ex. reviewer's comments. Please don't sent any documents in advance. Please note that we do not provide proofreading services for thesis manuscripts.
Note that writers are allowed 1 session per day, with a maximum of 16 sessions over the course of a term.
Cancellation policy: Sessions are automatically cancelled after 10 minutes of no-show. All no-shows will still be subtracted from the total number of hours per semester.
We look forward to working with you soon!
All our courses are available online and in person, catering to both doctoral students and faculty.
Please have a look at the new catalogue for AWC 2024 by clicking on this link: https://tinyurl.com/awccatalogue
- If you are a PhD student, you will need to access the ADUM registration page to register for our courses.
- If you are a faculty member, please send an email to awc@centralesupelec.fr to register for our courses.
Writing training courses
Reading in the Sciences – introduction to the reading strategies, both individually and collectively, that help readers actively engage with challenging texts that may contain unfamiliar jargon.
Writing Skills in Science – workshop on improving participants' scientific writing proficiency, awareness of reader engagement, and confidence in manuscript preparation through the use of various sentence-level language structures and techniques.
Understanding Scientific English – techniques for analyzing and editing complex aspects of published texts, with a focus on adapting writing styles to convey specific messages.
Writing for Publication – language skills for adapting to evolving publishing trends and scientific journal requirements, as well as making informed writing choices that take into consideration the influence of AI.
Scientific Writing Bootcamp – intensive writing workshop focusing on real-time production of short and targeted texts across fields and across academic writing genres.
Grant Writing – guide to preparing international grant applications in English
Postdoc Packet Preparation – guide to preparing an application packet for postdoctoral positions
Speaking workshops
Science Talks – practice, improve and become more at ease speaking about science in general
Public Speaking – prepare to give a formal presentation on stage at a conference
3MT® Competition – competition preparation for explaining a doctoral thesis to a non-specialist audience in three minutes.
Debating – weekly debates on various societal challenges in parliamentary debate format
Instructional design courses
Captivate – teach your course in English
Skill Up with SciComm – understand and be able to handle the codes, norms, and language of communications to share your research with non-experts
We hope you are able to find a course to suit your needs, and if not, please don't hesitate to contact us with any suggestions.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Description
More engaged reading leads to a more effective scientific writing style, increasing the likelihood of being published and cited. So to become an impactful writer of scientific research, researchers must be able to both write and read critically and accurately. And while some may have had a course on academic writing, few students have learned how to be efficient, thoughtful readers. Reading in the Sciences is a course that teaches participants how to read challenging texts actively and how to engage deeply with the content and language of such texts.
Pre-requisites
Reading in the Sciences requires a B1 English level, as well as the willingness to participate both written and orally in a group context.
Instructional design
Reading in the Sciences is a 7.5 hour training course that uses task-based learning. Each week participants work in groups of 4-5, where they are given a text and assigned a role that determines how they should read it. They complete their role individually outside of lesson time, then in the following lesson present and discuss their findings to their group. Roles are rotated each week, with a new text, until everyone has experienced each role.
Course Content
• Levels of reading
• Reader-Writer Dynamics
• Principles of Academic Reading Circles (ARC)
Course Objectives
After an initial lesson on understanding the principles of reader-writer dynamics, we dive into the different methodologies of collaborative and individual reading, and how they can then be applied to reading text containing jargon that is new to the reader.
Skills and Learning Outcomes
• Build positive and effective reading habits
• Develop autonomy and confidence in reading
• Analyse academic texts for their intertextual references
• Identify common ideas across different texts
• Use texts as a source of language study
• Use texts as a source of content for writing/speaking
• Improve group work and English communication skills
Workload
• 7.5 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• No asynchronous training required.
Course Instructors
Melissa Ann Thomas, lead instructor
Andrew Crawford
Calvin Peck
Description
Writing Skills in Science will give participants deeper insights into how English is used in scientific writing and publication, as well as the norms associated with English as a lingua franca. Through this course, they will be introduced to the formal writing norms of academic English that will enable them to prepare their manuscript confidently and autonomously for publication as well as use language that will engage readers, increasing the likelihood of being cited. This knowledge will help participants with high-level exchanges in international contexts and implement publication mechanisms at an international level.
Pre-requisites
Writing Skills in Science requires a B1 English level, as well as the willingness to participate both written and orally in a group context.
Instructional design
Writing Skills in Science is a 6-hour training course that uses task-based learning. Through examining practical examples and hands-on exercises, participants work on becoming more effective writers in academic English. Each session is a mixture of lecture and participative activities, with questions, discussions, and short writing exercises completed collaboratively.
Course Content
• Using Topic-Stress to Organize Your Message
• Understanding When and How to Use Nominalizations
• Identifying Circumlocutions and Their Impact on Writing
• Applying Cohesive Techniques Effectively
Course Objectives
Using editorial conventions and methodology, participants will be able to write more effectively in academic English. Through this understanding, perspective, and critical view of available recent research essential to the writing process, participants will develop reading skills across the boundaries of available data and knowledge with different fields of expertise or other professional sectors. The grasp of linguistic mechanisms that enable clarity and legibility in a text will allow participants to report and communicate in several languages on scientific and technological work. They will also feel confident communicating to different audiences or publications, both in writing and orally, and evaluating the work of individuals and the team concerning projects and objectives.
Skills and Learning Outcomes
• Use editorial conventions and methodology from the course to submit publications at the highest level of international research
• Employ techniques that allow authors to write in a language that is accessible to different audiences and different types of publications
• Apply formal academic norms to scientific writing
• Better understand what constitutes a clear writing style
• Apply grammar techniques that improve readability
• Increase confidence and level of autonomy when writing in English
• Use writing techniques that emphasize clarity and confidence, and that establish academic authority
Workload
• 6 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• No asynchronous training required.
Course Instructors
Melissa Ann Thomas, lead instructor
Andrew Crawford
Calvin Peck
Understanding Scientific English
Description
In the Understanding Scientific English course, we dive further into the techniques needed to take your academic writing to the next level. You will be pushed towards more autonomy in your analysis of different pieces of published texts, specifically focusing on the more linguistically complex aspects of writing for publication. In this course, we will challenge your ability to analyze writing style, to spontaneously edit, and to understand which strategies are best suited for modifying texts depending on the message the writer needs to convey. This course will alternate between one-hour lectures and 1.5 hours of workshop-based activities.
Pre-requisites
Understanding Scientific English requires that all participants have a B1 English level and a willingness to participate both written and orally in a group context.
Instructional design
Understanding Scientific English is a 6-hour training course that uses task-based learning. Through examining practical examples and hands-on exercises, participants work on advancing their skills as effective writers in academic English. Each session is a mixture of lecture and participative activities, with questions, discussions, and short writing exercises completed collaboratively.
Course Content
• Understanding When to Use Active Versus Passive Voice
• Recognizing the Importance of Formal Writing Conventions
• Use of Hedges, Strong Verbs, and Other Formal Structures
Course Objectives
Understanding Scientific English will give participants the ability to identify the possibilities for conceptual breakthroughs through a deeper understanding of the formal norms of academic English. This ability will be used to effectively evaluate the appropriate hierarchy for expressing concepts and ideas. Participants will also acquire the tools to contribute to high-level exchanges in international contexts, specifically through training in feedback structures and communicating complex ideas more clearly. By the end of the course, participants will be able to use academic English effectively to have an understanding, perspective, and critical view of all available recent research and development, as well as cross the boundaries of available data and knowledge with different fields of expertise or other professional sectors. The grasp of formal written academic English conventions gained in Understanding Scientific English will allow participants to report and communicate in English on scientific and technological work to different audiences or publications.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Apply formal academic norms in scientific writing to real-world examples
• Use editorial conventions and methodology to identify and describe problematic writing
• Apply advanced grammar techniques that increase impact and establish academic authority
• Engage in the written reviewer feedback process more confidently
• Critically evaluate publication quality
Workload
• 6 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• No asynchronous training required.
Course Instructors
Melissa Ann Thomas, lead instructor
Andrew Crawford
Calvin Peck
Description
In the Writing for Publication course, participants will closely examine the structures expected when preparing a manuscript for publication. The course walks participants through a standard empirical article, highlighting the most important sections from the perspective of the reader – abstract, introduction, and conclusion – and provides participants with the language needed to compose clear and impactful paragraphs. The course also covers the linguistic knowledge needed to construct a title that is both captivating and informative, increasing the likelihood that their article will be read and cited.
Pre-requisites
Writing for Publication requires that all participants have a B1 English level and a willingness to participate both written and orally in a group context.
Instructional design
Writing for Publication is a 6-hour training course that uses task-based learning. Through examining practical examples and hands-on exercises, participants work on advancing their skills as effective writers in academic English. Each session is a mixture of lecture and participative activities, with questions, discussions, and short writing exercises completed collaboratively.
Course Content
• Introduction to Publication Structures
• Constructing an Impactful Title
• Writing an Effective Abstract
• Creating a Clear Introduction
• Composing an Insightful Conclusion
Course Objectives
In the Writing for Publication course, we move from general theories and practices to a real focus on the form and demands of the publishing world, especially in the age of AI and the new stylistic trends and competitions that are emerging because of it. The objective of this course is to give doctoral students the necessary confidence in terms of form and ability to decipher and respond clearly to the requirements of scientific journals. Students will be able to understand the possible formal writing conventions to choose from and then make informed, confident decisions depending on the purpose of the text for publication.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Employ techniques for a title that is accessible to different audiences and different types of publications
• Use knowledge of effective formal structures to construct various sections of a journal article
• Use writing techniques that emphasize clarity and confidence and that establish academic authority
• Apply more advanced formal academic norms in scientific writing to real-world examples
• Use editorial conventions and methodology to identify and describe problematic writing
• Apply advanced grammar techniques that improve readability and impact
• Critically evaluate publication quality
Workload
• 6 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• No asynchronous training required.
Course Instructors
Melissa Ann Thomas, lead instructor
Andrew Crawford
Calvin Peck
Description
As with any bootcamp, the goal of the Scientific Writing Bootcamp is to participate in an intensive workshop where there will be several opportunities to write, write, write! In this workshop, the emphasis is on real-time production and publication. The format of this course will move away from traditional scientific journals and will focus more on short and targeted texts across fields and across academic writing genres.
Pre-requisites
Scientific Writing Bootcamp requires that all participants have a B1 English level and a willingness to participate both written and orally in a group context.
Instructional design
Scientific Writing Bootcamp is a 5-hour training course that uses task-based learning. Through examining practical examples and hands-on exercises, participants work on advancing their skills as effective writers in academic English. Each session is based around participative activities, questions, discussions, and short writing exercises that are completed both collaboratively and individually.
Course Content
Possible writing projects include:
• Case studies of problematic writing (abstracts, introductions, conclusions, etc)
• Cover letters for journal article submissions
• Writing rebuttal letters
• Emails for inquiring about postdoc positions
• Composing a research plan
• And many more!
Course Objectives
The objective of this course is to give doctoral students the necessary confidence in terms of form and ability to be able to produce written content spontaneously. Students will be able to practice pieces of writing, of their own choosing, that are often request by supervisors or required in real-world situations.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Apply more advanced formal academic norms in scientific writing to real-world writing tasks
• Produce writing samples in real-time that effectively use editorial conventions and methodology
• Apply advanced grammar techniques that improve readability and impact when analyzing various texts
• Critically evaluate publication quality
Workload
• 5 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• No asynchronous training required.
Course Instructors
Melissa Ann Thomas, lead instructor
Andrew Crawford
Calvin Peck
Description
The Grant Writing course functions as a guided introduction to both searching for and writing scientific grants. This course is designed to reduce the mystery of finding and applying for international funding, specifically for European funding, that requires applications to be written in English. The course will focus on reading and interpreting the demands and conventions of specific applications, as well as how to adjust an academic writing style to fit specific formats of scientific grants.
Pre-requisites
Grant Writing requires a B1 English level, an interest in the topic and the willingness to participate both written and orally in a group and individual context.
Instructional Design
Grant Writing is a 10-hour project-based learning program. Participants will research grant offers and the language employed collectively and be guided individually to produce a professional quality grant proposal. Participants will write throughout the course and have a draft that is almost ready for submission at the end of it.
Course Content
• Introduction to the Open4Research Paris Saclay grant proposal platform
• Benchmarking existing grant offers
• Considering transfer issues related to enhancing the value of research
• Linking research practices to the specific demands of various sectors.
• Identifying and choosing grants that match specialization, professional expertise, and career goals
• Benchmarking language and written structures employed when writing a grant proposal
• Prepare a draft of grant application content for individual consultation
• Revision of the grant application document at a professional level of quality
Course Objectives
Grant Writing will give participants the ability to research and respond professionally in English to grant proposals for their field of expertise. By learning to establish and solidify a strategy, participants will be able to search for and write grant proposals effectively and autonomously. The two individual consultations in the middle and the end of the course create a structured workflow to allow for participants to complete a grant proposal by the end of the course, while engaging in the benchmarking process that helps them understand the language norms in grant writing.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Knowledge of the availability and expectations of international academic grants
• A clear writing strategy on how to they approach the grant writing process
• Exposure to different writing styles in the world of grants.
• Produced one page of a professional quality grant proposal in English.
Course Instructor
Calvin Peck
Description
Postdoc Packet Preparation is a five-hour workshop for doctoral students who have started to put together their application packet for a post-doctoral position. We provide information that demystifies a process that often varies from job posting to job posting, allowing you to put together a clear application that will help increase its impact. In addition to general advice on how to write a CV, cover letter, research plan, and request for a letter of recommendation, you will also benefit from hands-on experience in creating a LinkedIn profile.
Pre-requisites
Postdoc Packet Preparation requires a B1 English level. Participants should also have completed at least a year of their doctoral program.
Instructional Design
Postdoc Packet Preparation is a 5-hour workshop that uses task-based learning. The first two hours are lecture sessions. The remaining three hours are centered on participants producing a well-crafted CV, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile.
Course Content
• Methods of applying for positions
• How to write a research plan
• What to include in your CV
• Whether you need to provide a cover letter
• How to handle requesting a recommendation letter
Course Objectives
In the Postdoc Packet Preparation workshop, you will learn how to adapt your application for each job posting, developing the skills needed to communicate and promote advanced concepts and approaches a diverse audience. You will also acquire the language to write an effective cover letter that highlights your skills and how they connect to potential collaborators, allowing you to identify and build solutions to complex and new problems involving several fields by mobilizing the most advanced knowledge and know-how. You will also develop your ability to adapt, draft, and formulate your ideas and contributions in English, and for all elements of your packet, you will be able to synthesize your past work, promote your current research, and propose your innovative ideas for future collaborations through having an understanding, perspective, and critical view of all available recent research and development.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Understand the importance of networking throughout their career and how this impacts the quality of their entire application packet
• Apply various techniques based on formal written academic English norms that best present their application and that tailor each document to the requirements of a given job posting
• Know how to prioritize content over design in an academic CV
• Write a well-organized cover letter that is clear and complements the CV by using language that highlights strengths and achievements while being honest about shortcomings
• Have a good understanding of the purpose of a letter of recommendation that will then inform who to ask and how to request one from them
• Structure a research plan using language appropriate for a non-specialist audience while effectively promoting their ideas for the future
Workload
• 5 hours of guidance in a synchronous format.
• Variable amount of asynchronous work required.
Course Instructors
Melissa Ann Thomas
Description
Science Talks is a 10-hour workshop dedicated to scientific and societal topics. In a convivial and safe environment, practice speaking and debating in English about a variety of topics in the scientific domain.
Pre-requisites
Science Talks has no requirements apart from an interest in the topic and the willingness to participate orally in a group context.
Instructional Design
Science Talks is a 10-hour series of interactive workshops using real-world material as a springboard for discussion or working on a theme. Students will improve and achieve their objectives with active participation in the planned activities. Correction of specific language issues will be dealt with as appropriate.
Course Content
• Round tables about big questions of our time
• Meetings about specific scientific subjects
• Interviewing some invited guests about their job
• Presenting your scientific field
• General conversation
• Global goals for sustainable development
• The Energy Crisis
• Nutrition
• Machine Learning and AI
• Climate Change
• Latest scientific theories and discoveries
Course Objectives
Science Talks gives participants the opportunity to practice and improve their English when talking about science in a relaxed environment. They will acquire the skills necessary to feel totally at ease when addressing someone in English either to discuss either their own or another science field in general.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Debate more confidently
• Have general conversation
• Interview someone about a scientific subject
• Make a presentation
• Defend their point of view
• Agree/disagree diplomatically
• Have an increased lexical vocabulary
• Revise their grammar
• Listen and read more efficiently
Workload
• 10 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• No asynchronous training required.
Course Instructor
Andrew Crawford
Description
Public Speaking is a course that prepares you to go from script to stage in presenting your ideas to a wider community. Whether speaking to 5, 50, 500, or 5000 people, the basics of how you use your voice and design your content to be meaningful to your audience remain the same. Through this course, you will learn some of these basic techniques, while reviewing examples of their use by other public speakers and finding ways of adapting those techniques in meaningful ways to your own preparation.
Pre-requisites
Public Speaking has no requirements, apart from an interest in the topic and the willingness to participate orally in a group context.
Instructional Design
Public Speaking is a 10-hour course that uses task-based learning, where four of the ten sessions involve participants working in groups to produce content in real-time. Each session is participative - with questions, presentations, and feedback given collaboratively. The course has one lecture session at the beginning and end, and the rest is in either workshop or practice session format.
Course Content
• Understanding your audience & their attention spans
• Establishing and using a common thread in your talk
• Storytelling for live audiences using facts and figures
• Debating and persuasive speaking techniques; memorization techniques
• Videoconferencing and interviewing online
Course Objectives
Public Speaking will initiate participants into the art of persuasion and prepare them to use the tools and techniques required to perform on stage and thus train their capacity to contribute to high-level exchanges in international contexts. Through lectures, workshops, and practical sessions, participants will test and prepare with these tools and adapt them meaningfully, while reporting and communicating in several languages on scientific and technological work to different audiences or publications, both in writing and orally.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Adapt discursive skills to research and innovation needs
• Develop their capacities for dialogue using publications that contribute to new knowledge and know-how
• Consider the impact of how research and innovation ideas are formulated while adapting them to diverse audiences
• Report and communicate in English on scientific and technological work that impacts society
• Assess and vary oral communication to impact diverse audiences
• Use rhetorical, persuasive, and ceremonial language structures in a formal setting
Course Instructor
Divya Madhavan
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition
Description
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition is an internationally renowned competition that cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills, as well as their ability to perform on a stage. Through this course, students will be able to effectively explain the research of a doctoral thesis, in English, to a non-specialist audience in three minutes. Our training content not only develops the communication and presentation skills of each participant, but also provides a valuable opportunity for candidates to come together and talk about their research in English. This training course is open to all PhD students in their program's second or third year who intend to participate in the 3MT® competition.
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. For more information on the competition itself, visit https://threeminutethesis.uq.edu.au/
Pre-requisites
The 3MT® Competition training course requires that all participants have completed at least one year of their doctoral program. Participants must commit to participating in both the training course and the final. Participants must also have a B1 English level and a willingness to participate both written and orally in a group context.
Instructional Design
The 3MT® Competition is a 10-hour course training course uses task-based learning, where each of the 5 sessions involves a short lecture followed by several speaking activities. Each session is participative - with questions, presentations, and feedback given collaboratively. The last session is a mini competition where finalists are chosen to advance to the final.
Training Formats
This course only exists in the in-person format, with 5 weekly 2-hour sessions, 3 1-hour individual coaching sessions, and 2 hours of competition.
Course Content
• Background and Rules of Competition
• Judging a 3MT talk
• Effective and Efficient Practicing
• The importance of Script Writing
• Pronunciation Techniques for Sounding More Natural
• Using Rhetorical Devices in Presentations
• How to Structure a Talk
• Effective Presentation Language
• How to Produce a Captivating PowerPoint Slide
• Techniques for Recording and Submitting an Impactful Video
Course Objectives
• Improvement of speaking skills in English, fostering effective exchanges and contributions in high-stakes international contexts.
• Ability to report and communicate in English on scientific and technological work with language that is adaptable to diverse audiences
• Training in specific rhetorical, persuasive, and argumentative tools that help communication and promote advanced concepts and approaches
• Familiarization with the judging rubric for the competition to inform how to best present a 3MT talk
• Techniques for providing constructive feedback that develop skills in evaluating the work of others.
• Engagement with other competitors in several exchanges, informing each other about current research advancements
• Use of feedback to enhance the quality of a presentation
• Development of the curiosity, adaptability, and openness necessary to build and maintain a high level of general and international culture.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Write an effective script for their 3MT talk
• Develop academic, presentation, and research communication skills
• Use concise and precise language to communicate their science to a non-expert audience
• Be autonomous in practicing pronunciation techniques that increase fluid speaking
• Apply techniques for reducing scientific jargon
• Recognize and judge what makes a captivating talk
• Record and submit a video conforming to competition rules
• Effectively explain the research of a doctoral thesis, in English, to a non-specialist audience in three minutes
Workload
• 13 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• 2 hours of competition in a synchronous format.
• Several hours of asynchronous training required.
Course Instructor
Melissa Ann Thomas
Description
Debating is a dynamic and interactive course that trains your ability to formulate arguments, respond to verbal challenges and manipulate language to put forward your point of view as effectively as possible. Taught by CentraleSupélec’s debating coach, you will become familiar with the both the Paris style of debating and British Parliamentary debating. Through this course, you will practice writing under pressure, formulating sharp and concise arguments that can be delivered in a short timeframe, and engaging in rebuttals when your arguments are challenged. This course will challenge your speaking skills and your ability to interact spontaneously using complex ideas and language structures.
Pre-requisites
As Debating involves weekly debates in English, we recommend that participants have at least a B2 level to join the course.
Instructional Design
Debating is a 10-hour course and is performance-based, with role play (using parliamentary roles as in traditional government debates) as a means of structuring and appropriating content rapidly. Participants will quickly learn the efficiency of assuming a specific role in a public speaking setting, which will allow them to overcome inhibitions about speaking to an audience and focus on content and ideas. The inherent structures and mechanisms of persuasive speaking, which is the cornerstone of debating, will also become familiar to participants through weekly training.
Course Content
• Introduction to international debating formats
• Understanding the art of debate: arguments, points of information, rebuttals
• Understanding roles and idea representation through argument sequencing
• Weekly live debates on a variety of societal issues related to research development
• Building an argument, breaking down an argument, fallacies
• Scripting and memorization techniques
• Rapid reading and synthesis techniques
Course Objectives
Debating will initiate participants into the art of debating, rhetoric and persuasion and thus train their capacity to contribute to high-level exchanges in international contexts in English. Through weekly debates that are prepared, scripted, and structured within standard debating formats, participants will be trained intensively in written and oral communication. This course will help participants gain confidence in speaking about a variety of societal, scientific, and technological issues to different audiences or publications.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Adapt their persuasive and discursive skills to international audiences
• Develop their capacities for argument and synthesis using research themes that contribute to new knowledge
• Consider the impact of how research, innovation and societal challenges are formulated while adapting them to diverse audiences
• Report and communicate in English on scientific and technological work that impacts society
• Assess and vary oral communication to impact diverse audiences
• Use rhetorical, persuasive, and ceremonial language structures in a formal setting.
Workload
• 10 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• Several hours of asynchronous training required.
Course Instructor
Divya Madhavan
Captivate
Description
Captivate is a workshop series introducing you to the theory, practice, and instructional design of teaching disciplinary content in English. This workshop will help you redevelop your existing courses and create new ones using English as a medium of instruction. After following the workshop, you can benefit from ten individual coaching sessions to ensure the successful development of your teaching module. You can use the sessions according to your needs, be it for language or instructional design purposes.
Language purposes may include improving course scripts, addressing any language aspects you do not feel comfortable with, rehearsing your course and improving your pronunciation.
Instructional design purposes may include understanding the modified classroom space when teaching in English in a non-English speaking country, focusing on materials and curriculum design to increase your impact as a teacher, and creating student-focused learning environments using appropriate Edtech tools most meaningful in the post-covid teaching landscape.
Pre-requisites
Captivate has no requirements apart from an interest in the topic and the willingness to participate orally in a group context.
Instructional Design
This 8-hour workshop is hands-on. Participants produce content in real-time. Each session is participative, with questions, presentations, and feedback given collaboratively. Some activities involve group work, others individual work. Participants get to share ideas, teaching practices and resources.
Course Content
• Teaching in an EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) context
• Language use in the classroom
• Dividing a course into digestible chunks
• Storytelling and other techniques to engage students
• Visuals to enhance teaching and learning
• Present a chunk of a course
• Assessing a course and giving feedback
Course Objectives
In this workshop, you will practice teaching concepts, tools, and methods to diverse audiences using English as a medium of instruction and effective instructional design. Whether you speak English as a first, second, or other language, the reality of teaching in higher education in English today poses specific communicative constraints that this course will address. Together, we will reflect on adapting content to a diverse and intercultural audience, understanding the switching of codes that these environments demand, communicating and teaching advanced concepts and approaches, and for those who do not speak English as a first language, overcoming fears linked to using English when teaching.
Captivate will allow you to try and practice teaching strategies and tools you may not have used regularly and effectively as well as experiment, within a safe space, with out-of-the-box styles that you might have encountered. The goal is to create a student-centered interactive course that anticipates the difficulties that may arise from a group of students from different educational backgrounds and cultures, using teaching technologies as effectively as possible.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Design and deliver a small section of a course
• Practice teaching strategies such as building and narrative arc and storytelling
• Prepare interactive activities that will allow students to process the information taught
• Reacting and responding to the challenges of the classroom space in real time
• Use tools to interact with the students
• Design visual aids that will enhance learning and overcome language barriers
• Assess and give feedback
Workload
• 8 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• No asynchronous training required.
• 10 half-hour individual sessions after the training (optional).
Course Instructor
Daniella Luca
Description
Skill Up with SciComm is a course that prepares you for the complex world of contemporary science communication for audiences beyond your immediate domain. In this course, you will learn the communication norms and styles of a variety of media forms: from posters and flyers to podcasts and videos via social media. Through specific exercises, demonstrations, and case studies, you will train your ability to adapt your written and oral communication to be more effective across these different types of media.
Pre-requisites
Skill Up with SciComm has no requirements, apart from an interest in the topic and the willingness to participate orally in a group context.
Instructional Design
Skill Up with SciComm is a 15-hour training module, which uses task-based learning, where participants work in groups to produce content in real-time. Each session is participative- with questions, presentations, and feedback given collaboratively. The course has one lecture session at the beginning and end, and the rest is in either workshop or practice session format.
Course Content
• Communicative media culture in the sciences
• Storytelling and narrative in a variety of media structures
• Design principles in posters and flyers
• Voice and lighting principles in recorded media
• Social media adaptations for scientific content
• Designing a talk show
Course Objectives
Skill Up with SciComm provides training in various media and tools to disseminate research development and scientific culture, and thus trains participants’ capacity to contribute to high-level exchanges in international contexts. Through case studies, brainstorming sessions, and a design bootcamp, participants will be trained to think on their feet and produce communications materials under time constraints. The course also contributes to having an understanding, perspective, and critical view of all available recent research and development.
Skills & Learning Outcomes
• Examine their discipline to assess how scientific information is produced and how it is communicated to a general audience
• Identify a theme of interest to communicate and build scientific content based on this theme in their research field
• Qualify different target audiences (expectations, level of competence) to adapt their scientific content and develop appropriate communication strategies
• Use communication tools & techniques to share your scientific content and create engagement opportunities tailored to the general public
• Participate in the dissemination of scientific culture to the general audience
• Produce a narrative and visual aid (book cover, poster, flyer) of scientific outreach based on their research theme
Workload
• 15 hours of training in a synchronous format.
• Up to 3 hours of asynchronous revisions between sessions.
Course Instructors
Divya Madhavan and Aurelie Thomann
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Divya MADHAVAN, Founder & Director I am the Director of the Department of Languages and Cultures at CentraleSupélec, where I also founded the Academic Writing Center, which caters to the doctoral and research communities. I’m a graduate of the universities of Warwick, London, and Exeter and am also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. My teaching portfolio is specialized around storytelling, Sci-Comm and public speaking; public speaking is especially close to my heart as I am CentraleSupélec’s debating coach for intervarsity debating tournaments. I’ve trained teachers and worked with scientific writers across the world for over 20 years and what I love about being at the AWC is having the freedom to create professional development that is truly meaningful and useful in academia today. I have so much fun bringing good science and good communication closer together in my job every day. |
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Daniella LUCA, Language Coach I am an educator and language coach with over 20 years of experience. As a language coach at CentraleSupélec, I help staff improve their working application of English. I am also a Language Teacher at the Academic Writing Centre, where I design and deliver workshops for faculty members and PhD students. I have a Master’s degree in Educational Sciences and Modern Languages from the University of Messina, Italy. After graduating in 2001, I worked in various professional and academic settings, teaching English to corporate clients and senior professionals in France, high school and university students in Spain and Chinese government officials in the UK. Passionate about the science of education and the growing potential of digital technologies to enhance learning, in 2018 I obtained a Master’s in Digital Learning from the University of Nanterre, France. I love creating customized educational resources, designing courses for a wide range of learners, and delivering them in a variety of formats, from blended to entirely online. |
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Melissa Ann THOMAS, Language Coach I have been an English teacher in France since 2008, joining the Academic Writing Center in 2021. I’ve taught at Lycée Chevolier (Angers), Université Blaise-Pascal (Clermont-Ferrand), and various associations around Paris, as well as schools outside of France, in Guatemala and Taiwan. Before my life in France, I attended the University of Washington, where I studied both Astronomy (peculiar RR Lyrae, supernovae type 1a, and extrasolar planet search) and Speech and Hearing Sciences. As a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, I continued my studies in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department. Throughout my academic experience, my research projects have focused on language learning, using techniques such as point-light displays, event-related brain potential, eye tracking, virtual worlds, and fMRI. My ultimate goal as an AWC language coach is to give authors not only the tools to become better writers, but to also have them take joy in shaping their words for more efficient scientific communication. |
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Andrew Crawford, Language Coach I am an English language coach with over ten years experience in education. Having arrived in France in 2012 I have provided language training to people in various industries, including marketing, finance, legal and manufacturing. Prior to moving into the education sector, I spent 8 years working in the financial services industry in the UK following my graduation from Coventry University with a B.A Hons degree in Business Enterprise in 2002. Given the global challenges now faced, from fighting climate change to dealing with possible future pandemics, we need collective global expertise. I am passionate about helping the scientifc community here at Université Paris Saclay improve their written English so that they have the tools neccessary to contribute more easily with the global scientific community ; enabling deeper global collaboration for finding the solutions to the problems. |
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Come and meet us!
Academic Writing Center
CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay
9 rue Joliot-Curie
Bâtiment Bouygues
91190 Gif-sur-Yvette
Located on the second floor of Bouygues, section e2,
Direction de la recherche, in offices sa207 and sa204
For more information, contact us at awc@centralesupelec.fr
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