The aim of the Max Weber Academic Practice (AP) activities is to foster the on-going professional development of Fellows.
It addresses three key areas:
1. Publishing and Presenting Research
2. Preparation for the Job Market and Career Development
3. Teaching
These activities draw on the expertise of the FIESOLE Group, a network of applied linguists and educationalists from the EUI and other leading European institutions involved in training for mobility and career advancement. We also have the in-house expertise of the communications skills staff and the Academic Careers Observatory (ACO).
Academic Practice Activities
The Academic Practice Workshops are designed to enhance Fellows’ knowledge and skills in key areas of academic practice, from publishing strategies and research dissemination, to research ethics and professional leadership, to effective teaching and curriculum development in the context of today’s multicultural global academia. They are offered by experts from the EUI and its sister institutions and can also be convened directly by the Academic Practice Groups on topics of particular interest. The workshops are usually held on Wednesday mornings and are open to all Fellows; they are complemented by the Academic Communications Skills offerings, the Teaching Practice Weeks (reserved for those Fellows who opt to obtain the Max Weber Teaching Certificate), and one-on-one tutorials and coaching.
The Academic Practice Groups (APGs) complement the Practice Workshops. They are organised by the four discipline and the Robert Schuman Centre groups (ECO, HEC, LAW, SPS and RSCAS) and allow for a more in-depth exchange of ideas and experiences. They may include follow up sessions on the workshops dealing with the ethics of research, publishing strategies, applying for grants or writing a book proposal. Each APG arranges its own schedule and may choose to address other topics in addition to those mentioned above.
The Academic Communications Skills (ACS) activities are designed to help Fellows refine the oral and written skills necessary for effective academic practice. They take three forms: workshops and short modules; facilitating of small groups of Fellows working towards similar goals; individual tutorials and coaching.
Workshops are open to all Fellows on a sign-up basis a few days before; individual tutorials run every Wednesday and by arrangement (sign-ups through Moodle). Modules and Writers’ Groups typically require a greater commitment; for this reason, Fellows who are potentially interested are asked to contact the Max Weber ACS coordinator (Laurie Anderson) as soon as feasible.
- Individual feedback on September presentations (all Fellows will be sent a video of their presentation to view before the feedback session)
- ‘Presenting and Public Speaking module’ (3 sessions, early October, open to all interested Fellows)
- Academic writing and publishing
Workshops
- ‘Style and Voice in Academic Writing’
- ‘The Journal Review Process: A Roundtable with Journal Editors’ (by discipline)
- ‘Grant Writing for Postdocs’
- ‘Handling Revise-and-Resubmit’
Modules
- ‘Writing a Successful Book Proposal’ (session with ACS staff) Structured follow-up: individual and peer-feedback session(s) facilitated by ACS staff; session with editor’s rep)
- ‘Draft-to-Submission in 8 Weeks’ (Oct.-Dec.; runs Wednesday mornings). Support for preparing an article for journal submission. You will profit most from this module if you arrive with a draft ready to be revised
- Writers’ Groups provide a supportive setting for obtaining focused, hands-on peer feedback on draft articles (or portions thereof) prior to journal submission. They are organised on a disciplinary basis and are facilitated by a member of the ASC staff.
- Schedule to be arranged with interested Fellows.
- Interested Fellows are encouraged to contact Laurie as soon as possible.
- ECO Writers’ Group (Oct. to Dec., Jan. onwards by request; every 2-3 weeks on Wednesdays). Aimed (though not exclusively) at providing support for revising and polishing your job market paper.
One-on-one sessions with a member of the Academic Communications Skills team to discuss and revise research writing in progress, look over cover letters and other application materials, or to support any other professional communication needs. Observation of and feedback on job talks and teaching on request.
All written work (articles, book reviews etc) for revision/editing needs to be sent directly to Alyson Price, unless otherwise agreed with Laurie Anderson.
When sending your work, or in advance of meeting her, please give Alyson the following information: title; genre (article, conference paper, book review, PowerPoint presentation etc); length; how soon you need the work back. Note that we try to return work within ten working days.
All Word documents submitted will be reviewed using Track Changes, showing the reviewer’s remarks and suggested changes. Anyone not working in Word will need to convert their completed text to pdf and send in the pdf version. Please note that in this case you will have to transfer all the reviewer’s changes manually back to your original text.
What we do not do: check entire books (though we can give you advice on turning your thesis into a book); copy-edit texts to the required specifications of individual journal or book publishers.
The Max Weber Teaching Certificate aims to both enhance Fellows’ teaching skills and increase their international mobility through a series of workshops and a week-long teaching practice experience at the Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), Masaryk (Brno) or Humboldt (Berlin).
For more details contact Karin Tilmans by the end of September.
Among the offerings of Communications staff, please note ‘Developing an Effective “Job-Market Package” (‘early-bird’ session for N. American deadlines; mid-Sept.).