The courses listed on this page are free and priority will be given to PhD students of the 41st Cohort and to those of the 40th cohort who started their PhD in January/February 2025.
Purpose of the Courses: to review and develop English language competence in academic speaking and writing contexts with a view to identifying and resolving areas of individual concern. To explore a variety of formal academic speaking situations and more informal academic occasions. Tasks will also focus on raising individual awareness of abilities and on strategies for further developing skills.
Course attendance: over ZOOM.
ENTRY test dates: 21-27-28-November and 3 December (see the specific section below). DEADLINE for registering: extended until 25th November
Course type and content
Each type of course requires a minimum entry level of English. It is not possible to attend a course without having first taken the entry test.
INTRO TO ACADEMIC ENGLISH (30 academic hours course)
– Level: Not lower than B1. Basic structures of Academic English: nominalization, recognizing sentence structure e.g. the use of noun phrases, recognising tense usage and appropriacy of lexis and register. Argumentation. Focus on pronunciation and conversation in certain contexts (confidence building). Promotion of passive skills to develop understanding and lexis. Addressing typical issues in language and pronunciation which may impede comprehension. Students with a level lower than B1 may be addressed to general english courses (
basic courses – A2)
ACADEMIC ENGLISH (30 academic hours course) – Level: from B1+ to B2 or higher – The courses are divided into upper and lower groups. The same topics are covered in different ways and at different speeds according to the level. WRITING: writing emails to academic peers; introduction to writing abstracts, structuring research papers,
