Academic Writing (spring course): Effective Strategies for Publishing in English (GGG/GFA) online

Target group:
PhD students of the GGG and GFA, other PhD students if free places are available


Schedule:
(The workshop consists of six sessions which belong together.)
07. - 08.03.2024 plus
14. – 15.03.2024 plus
21. - 22.03.2024
each day 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM


Venue: online
(GFA and GGG are offering this workshop again in presence on 26./27.09. and 10./11.10.2024. Please choose the workshop that suits your preferences and availability best!)
Available seats: 16
Course language: English
Teacher: Frank Lauterbach
Frank Lauterbach is head of Foreign Languages for Academic Purposes as well as coordinator of ENGLISH+, an Academic English program for doctoral and post-doctoral researchers at the Language Center of the University of Osnabrück, Germany. He studied English language and culture at the University of Göttingen and the University of California and worked as a researcher in various projects on transatlantic cultural relations. He also served as the founding manager of the English-language division at the Graduate Academy of the University of Oldenburg as well as the Scientific English program and the International Writing Center at the University of Göttingen. He has many years of experience in teaching English for Research Purposes – with a focus on academic writing and publishing, academic presenting, conference posters, international networking, and academic communication. GGG is successfully cooperating with him for more than ten years now.


Seminar objectives:
Successful researchers need not only compelling data and ideas but also skills to communicate their research most effectively through writing in English. Yet, many academics are unsure about how they can best express themselves, what criteria a well-written English paper needs to fulfill, and how the writing and publication process can be managed most productively.
In this workshop, we will address such fundamental questions. We will, on the one hand, discuss important requirements for developing powerful English sentences, paragraphs, and texts that meet the expectations of readers, reviewers, and editors alike. On the other hand, we are going to work closely with your own work in progress in order to practice how to effectively organize the writing process and how to successfully prepare your papers for publication.
In the practical phases of the workshop, you will get the opportunity to discuss and receive both peer and expert feedback on one of your own pieces of academic writing. This can be a draft of a paper or a part of it (such as an introduction, abstract, etc.). You do not need to have a finished version yet; drafts at any stage of the writing process are perfectly fine.

In particular, we will cover the following topics:

• understanding the nature of professional academic writing in English
• organizing the writing process effectively
• getting started with writing your text
• defining the focus and objective of a research paper (or other academic text)
• developing adequate outlines for paper (and other) introductions
• recognizing the overall organization of research papers
• presenting and discussing your findings
• creating powerful abstracts
• outlining the individual sections of a paper (or other texts)
• achieving coherence in your writing
• drafting well-focused paragraphs
• applying the stylistic conventions of academic writing
• writing clear and concise sentences in English
• connecting sentences and linking ideas to make a text flow well
• avoiding some typical grammatical mistakes and pitfalls
• overcoming potential obstacles or anxieties during various phases of writing
• mastering the submission, review, and publication process

Please note that the workshop will be taught entirely in English. Thus, to participate and get the most out of it, you should be able to communicate quite fluently in English.
In the practical phases of the workshop, you will get the opportunity to discuss and receive both peer and expert feedback on one of your own pieces of academic writing. This can be a draft of a paper or a part of it (such as an introduction, abstract, etc.). You do not need to have a finished version yet; drafts at any stage of the writing process are perfectly fine.



Credits: 2 credits
Requirements:
To participate in the workshop, you need to register for the course through the GGG, and you need to please e-mail one (and only one!) of those drafts or texts of yours – preferably as a Word-file – to the course instructor, Frank Lauterbach, at frank.lauterbach@posteo.de at least 10 days before the first workshop meeting (i.e., by Feb 26, 2024). He will then choose appropriate sections for discussion and distribute them to the other course participants.
To be eligible, you need to e-mail

• before the workshop, a piece of your academic writing as explained above (latest date of submission: Feb 26, 2024) to the instructor
• after the workshop, a written reflection of how the course in general and the discussion of your work in particular have helped you rethink and improve your writing – preferably as a Word-file – to the course instructor, Frank Lauterbach, at frank.lauterbach@posteo.de.

Registration:
Please, write an e-mail to ggg.kursanmeldung@uni-goettingen.de
contact for more information: Dr. Nelly C. Schubert, Phone: +551 39-28217

This course is organized by the Göttingen Graduate School of Social Sciences (GGG) and the Graduate School Forest and Agricultural Sciences (GFA).