Writing with Intelligence: Mastering Academic Writing in the AI Era

 -Cluster

Communication Skills

Competences as defined in ResearchComp

ResearchComp is a European competency framework developed by the European Commission. It provides a common reference framework that makes researchers’ competencies more visible and comparable—not only for researchers themselves, but also for universities, employers, and policymakers across Europe.

To get started with ResearchComp, you can consult this guide.

Target group

PhD candidates

Level and Test

Participants should have an advanced knowledge of English, which will be tested before the start of the course. "English for Written Academic Purposes" can be taken at the UCT to prepare for "Advanced Academic English".
Furthermore, participants should already have some experience with writing academic articles as this can be useful for class discussions and they will be asked to bring own material to class.

A computer test has to be taken before the start of the course to ensure that your level of English in an academic context is advanced enough to actively participate in this course (see registration procedure).

Objective

 Academic writing does not have to feel like a struggle. Whether you are battling a blank page, lost in a literature review, or unsure how to frame your findings, this course gives you the skills, strategies, and confidence to write with clarity and authority.

 Designed for PhD researchers, the course takes a hands-on approach. We work with authentic texts from your own field and move through the key sections of a research paper (Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion), discussing what makes each one effective and giving you practical techniques you can apply immediately to make the writing process run more smoothly and feel less demanding. Over the course of our sessions together, you will develop a stronger academic voice, a sharper eye for structure and style, and a richer vocabulary to express complex ideas precisely.

 The course includes a dedicated module on writing with generative AI. We explore how to use AI tools effectively and how to work with AI-generated text in ways that preserve the quality, integrity, and authenticity of your writing. AI is part of the research landscape, and developing a considered approach to working with it is an increasingly valuable skill.

 Throughout the course, your own writing takes centre stage. Drafts are discussed and refined in a warm, collaborative environment, with feedback from both the instructor and your peers. There are no rigid rules here, only genuine support for becoming a more confident and capable academic writer.

Content

The course opens with a focus on academic style, structure, and register, before working through each section of the research article: Literature Review, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Abstract, and Title.

Throughout, we draw on authentic examples from your own discipline to explore what effective academic writing looks like in practice. Grammar is addressed where it matters most: key structures such as tenses, passive voice, and conditionals are revisited in context, with attention to the mistakes that most frequently affect clarity and credibility. Vocabulary work runs alongside this, gradually expanding the range of language available to you as a writer.

Your own writing is central to the course. You will be asked to submit samples of academic writing at various points, which we discuss and refine together through peer and instructor feedback. The goal is not to prescribe a single correct way of writing, but to help you develop the confidence and flexibility to write well across the contexts your research demands.

Time schedule & Venue

Registration procedure and teaching material

The writing skills course necessitates a proper command of advanced English in an academic context in order to safeguard comfortable active participation. Should you doubt whether your English proficiency suffices, you can take our self-diagnosing placement test.

• Follow this link and log in to ANS with Microsoft using your UGent account info. The platform is set to English or Dutch depending on your personal settings. You can alter the language via the top right user icon.
• In your recent activity on the right side, you will find “PT DS > Placement Test Writing Skills”. Follow this link and click “start / starten”.
• You have 60 mins to complete the test, which includes listening excerpts among other input. After tackling all questions, you click “submit / inleveren” to finish the test. 
• After submitting the test, you can see your score and our advice towards course participation.

Should anything be unclear, feel free to get in touch with Tara Luttik, coordinator of Academic and Professional Language Education of the University Language Centre (UCT): tara.luttik@ugent.be

*² The course book is not included and can be bought at Standaard boekhandel, Kouter 31, 9000 Gent. Please ask for 10% discount as a UCT-student.

Registration fee

Free of charge for the members of the Doctoral School. The no show policy applies.

Language

English

Number of participants

Maximum 23

Evaluation criteria (doctoral training programme)

During the course, participants will already receive feedback to a short excerpt of academic writing. After the end of the course, they will be asked to hand in a longer excerpt for their final evaluation which takes the received remarks into account.
This course is situated within the framework of continuous training and may count for 1 transferable skills training in the cluster Communication skills. After completion of the entire cycle and a final evaluation on the basis of a research paper, participants receive the continuous training certificate "Advanced Academic English: Writing Skills".