GAC SERVICES

Workshops for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and professors (scroll down for details)

• Successful Conference Presentations - suitable for all disciplines and university employees
• Writing and Publishing Research Articles - tailored for different disciplines
• Getting to the Finish Line: Time Management and Self-Management 
• Successful Postdoctoral and Academic Applications - suitable for all disciplines
• Academic Reading, Writing and Study Skills in English - for Master’s and PhD students​

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One-on-one coaching – my undivided attention on your needs

• setting priorities and time management
• designing your research project
• writing well and efficiently
• ​​polishing your presentation delivery
• defending your dissertation
• planning your career strategy
• creating a job portfolio​

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Translation of texts from German to English - from websites to original research articles of any discipline

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​Copy-editing - academic texts and original research articles of any discipline

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​WORKSHOPS IN DETAIL

Professional Presentations at Conferences and in the Academic World 
​(for Ph.D. students, researchers, faculty members in all disciplines, and university staff members)

This seminar focuses on how you can best convey the value and significance of your work through oral communication, emphasizing not only typical structures of thought and expressions in English, but also your audience’s expectations. The focus of the seminar is on the formal conference panel presentation and the question-and-answer session. It also includes sections on the presentation structure, attention-getting openers, visual aids and linguistic cues for the audience (signposting language). Finally, we move beyond the conference presentation to discuss and practice networking, small talk, the elevator speech, and introduction speeches.
You will receive ample feedback from the entire group on all aspects of your presentation. We focus especially on whether

• the opening grabbed our attention and correctly oriented us to the topic at hand
• your conclusion summed up the main points adequately, providing us with the desired “take-home messages”
• the body of the presentation contained a narrative thread and transitional elements to help us stay on-track
• the data or evidence presented was clear, balanced, sufficient and essential
• the visual aids supplemented the talk without overwhelming or distracting from it
• your verbal and non-verbal communication conveyed professionalism, confidence, and expertise
• your answers to questions were concise, coherent, and composed

You will also engage in the following exercises:

• holding a two-minute presentation, to get feedback on your verbal and non-verbal communication and to practice writing an abstract
• crafting an attention-getting opening
• developing a powerful conclusion
• practicing answering questions about your research
• delivering a one-minute introduction to your work for networking purposes (the “elevator pitch”)
• small talk

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Writing and Publishing Research Articles
This seminar is tailored to either the life and natural sciences or to the social sciences and humanities. It covers the specific requirements of writing in English, from structuring the paper according to scholarly standards in different disciplines; revising the introduction and conclusion; writing coherent paragraphs; and incorporating key words and concepts into the text. We also analyze abstracts and titles, and discuss publishing strategies such as journal analysis, writing submission letters to editors and responding to requests for revisions. Finally, we implement the theory of sentence revision by correcting writing samples of the participants.
After successful participation in this course, you will have learned how to

• begin your writing with your data or evidence and results, then moving on to the methods, introduction and discussion
• analyze journals in your field to find the best fit for your paper
• craft an attention-getting yet appropriate abstract and title
• use tenses appropriately for the different sections of your paper
• judiciously apply active and passive voice, as well as the first-person pronoun
• build in transitional elements to aid your reader's comprehension
• revise your sentences using practical and easy-to-understand revision strategies
• implement important English grammatical principles, such as avoiding dangling modifiers and creating parallel structure
• write successful submission and revision letters to editors

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Studying effective sentence revision techniques together at the University of Tübingen.

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Getting to “Done”: Time- and Self-Management
“Where did the day go?” With multiple tasks to juggle, constant interruptions, much more independence and too little guidance than you had during undergraduate studies, it can be difficult to get the right things done for your graduate degree or postdoc position and in an appropriate amount of time. This workshop offers a mix of long-term planning strategies, quick fixes, and time-tested techniques that are easy to implement into your already busy schedule. It also provides tips on dealing with others, from kids to bosses and everyone in between.
After successful participation in this course, you will have

• tried out several classic techniques for setting priorities, working more efficiently, and finding positive ways to motivate yourself
• practiced long-term planning strategies as well as breaking down your work plan into weekly and daily goals
• discussed a wealth of tips for managing your supervisor, working successfully with colleagues, and juggling personal/family and work demands
• learned techniques for boundary-setting and saying “no”
• analyzed your own time wasters and developed strategies to overcome them
• learned effective and efficient study, reading and writing skills
• created a vision for balancing work and life

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In small groups, participants discuss how to implement proposed techniques into their own lives.

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Successful Academic and Postdoctoral Applications for the International Academic World​
This workshop shows participants how to best convey the content and value of their research and teaching in a host of formats particular to the academic job application process. These include the dissertation abstract, the CV/resume and cover letter, grant and postdoctoral applications, teaching and research statements, interviews, and job talks. Our practice will focus on the CV/resume, cover letter and interview; participants will also draft a five-year plan for publications, teaching, and research. The myriad exercises are designed to challenge participants to move beyond their heretofore identities as graduate students and to present themselves as faculty members and full-fledged scholars. Participants are requested to bring a job announcement of interest and corresponding CV and cover letter, so that they may apply to tips directly to their own documents during the workshop. 
 
After successful participation in this course, participants will learned how to

• write a dissertation abstract, develop a five-year plan and build a CV over time
• cultivate mentors and advisors
• network at conferences
• evaluate postdoctoral offers for the best fit
• analyze CVs and cover letters to understand best practices and deal with cultural-linguistic particularities
• write a clear and concise research statement
• prepare for interviews, in-person and on-line
• best answer typical interview questions and use the STAR method
• identify and deal with illegal and inappropriate questions
• craft thank-you letters
• prepare a job talk
• write a grant proposal​

Discussing job portfolios in Tübingen.

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Academic Reading, Writing and Study Skills​
This course focuses on how you can maximize your understanding of scholarly texts by utilizing certain reading strategies: scanning, skimming, reading to identify the main points, reading to identify a writer’s point of view of opinion, distinguishing between fact and opinion, reading and critical thinking , etc. We discuss titles, abstracts, the structure of research articles, introductions and conclusions, and paragraphing, as well as discourse markers, linkers, transitions and vocabulary. You also learn strategies to improve your note-taking, deal with new vocabulary, and  improve your research skills through incorporating writing into your reading. Finally, we discuss strategies for improving listening comprehension skills.
After successful participation in this course, you will have

• practiced different kinds of reading strategies and when to use them
• identified linking words, connectors, and transitions and their importance
• learned the typical order of reading a research article or an empirical study
• identified the elements of an abstract, introduction and conclusion
• discussed listening and note-taking strategies to improve lecture and discussion comprehension
• practiced strategies for dealing with new vocabulary
• tried out techniques to incorporate writing into your reading to make your research more efficient