Smoothening your writing process (for PhD students)
- In short
- Make your writing smoother by tackling each phase step by step
- Practise strategies like outlining, speed writing and revision
- Apply these strategies to your paper, proposal or thesis chapter
- Reflect with peers, get feedback and ask individual questions
Why this course?
Academic writing is cognitively demanding: you are not only putting words on paper, but are also developing ideas, building an argument, making choices about structure, and refining language - all while keeping your research goals and audience in mind.
The secret ingredient of an effective writing process is ‘segmentation’: perform activities such as outlining, writing, revising and editing, one by one. This will make each of them a lot easier and more doable.
In this course you will work on your own proposal, article or thesis chapter. We will organise information, instructions and (peer) feedback. You will get ample opportunity to practise strategies for tackling the process, such as effective outlining, speed writing a first draft and goal-directed revision in steps. By critical reflection on which of these tools you find helpful and why, you will find out how to best smoothen your personal writing process. Along this, we will always pay attention to the structure and the strength of what you are writing and how to best ask for useful feedback from your peers and supervisors.
Is this course right for me?
This course is suitable for PhD candidates from all disciplines who:
- have a paper, proposal, or chapter to work on during the course,
- and are more than 9 months into their PhD trajectory
What will I gain?
After this course, you will be able to organize your writing process more effectively, so you can focus on one writing activity at a time. You will learn how to clarify your text’s focus by formulating an even clearer research question or problem statement, build a clear outline, draft more efficiently using speed writing, and revise in a goal-directed way. You will also be better equipped to ask for useful feedback from peers and supervisors, and to use that feedback more strategically.
What are the costs?
The fee is € 1,065. PhD candidates of Utrecht University can often participate at a reduced rate; graduate schools frequently reimburse these costs. Please contact your graduate school for details.
Professional education at Utrecht University
By joining this course, you’ll benefit from high-quality education at Utrecht University, a broad and internationally oriented research university. What makes us unique is that we are the only university in the Netherlands that conducts academic research into how professionals learn. This means our teaching methods are specifically designed to support the way professionals develop and apply new knowledge in practice.
Within our professional education programmes, leading researchers share the latest insights from their fields. At the same time, participants bring their own professional experience into the learning environment. This exchange of knowledge and perspectives often leads to new insights that you can apply directly in your own work.
What is the programme?
Throughout the course, you will apply writing strategies to your own proposal, article or thesis chapter. Each session focuses on a different phase of the writing process and combines practical exercises, reflection and feedback.
What is the time investment?
The course consists of four meetings of 2.5 hours each. In addition, there is 30 minutes reserved for your individual questions. Between sessions you will spend around 24 hours on self-study, applying the strategies to your own text and providing feedback to others.
What other important information should I know about?
Language:
Classes are in English. This is not an English language course.
We will use the following literature:
Jong, J. de (2017). Effective Strategies for Academic Writing. Bussum: Coutinho
Dates
We recently ran this course. Interested in joining the next one? Sign up for the interest list and we’ll let you know as soon as new dates are announced.
Who will be teaching?
Our Utrecht University trainers combine strong academic expertise with a clear understanding of professional practice. They are actively involved in relevant, up-to-date research in their field and translate that knowledge into teaching that is practical, interactive and directly applicable to your work.
Their approach is tailored to how professionals learn: focused on real-life cases, peer exchange and hands-on learning. Collaboration is central throughout the course, and the learning environment is designed to encourage dialogue, shared learning and co-creation.
Do you have an (educational) question, or are you curious about in-company and customisation options? We would be happy to explore the possibilities with you.
Please contact us via:
onderwijsadviesentraining@uu.nl
030 253 2261
About Educational Development & Training
Educational Development & Training translates academic insights into the daily practice of teaching. As a teaching professional you can come to us throughout the course of your career for training, advice and solutions tailored to your specific teaching-related needs. Visit our website.
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