Scientific English for PhD Students


Responsible person
Adolph van der Walt
Language
English
Credits
(1)
Schedule
Sessions are held every Tuesday 17:00 - 18:30 from 22nd October 2024 to 4th February 2025.
Location
Max Planck Institute
for Multidisciplinary Sciences


Hermann-Rein-Straße 3
37075 Göttingen
Number of students
6 to 7 GFA students
Registration
Please send an email until 09.10.2024 to gfa@uni-goettingen.de. Please name your StudIP name with the registration.
The course is organised together with GGNB. 6 to 7 seats are available for GFA members.

Seminars objectives: The objective of this course is to address common errors in English language usage among non-native speakers working in the natural sciences and agricultural economics. If you would like to improve your ability to understand and be understood by your colleagues, this English course is appropriate for you.

In this course, you will give a presentation from your area of expertise. Your task will be to communicate your topic effectively to your classmates, who may be from a different field than you. Following your presentation, there will be a feedback and discussion session to gauge how well you communicated and provide you with helpful tips on improving your language skills, including speaking, pronunciation, writing and vocabulary.

Additionally, a variety of resources including textbooks and print media will be used to improve your pronunciation of commonly mispronounced science vocabulary, to familiarize you with grammar topics linked to improper usage, and to teach you a clear English style.

English for PhD Students gives you the opportunity to improve your productive and receptive English language skills through discussion of academic topics in English and through tailored exercises, guided by a qualified native speaker.

Please note that this course is open to students at the following English levels:

Intermediate Level
CEFR: Threshold - Vantage User (B1-B2)
IELTS: Modest - Competent User (5.5-6.5)

Advanced Level
CEFR: Effective Operational Proficiency or Advanced (C1)
IELTS Good User - Very Good User (7.0-8.0)

If you are at the level of Mastery (CEFR, C2) or an Expert User (IELTS, 9.0), this course is not geared toward you.


Cancellation policy:

Your registration for courses and workshops offered by the GFA is binding. If you want to cancel your registration later than three weeks prior to the workshop start date, you have to provide a physician's note. A late deregistration without a reason for illness is only possible with the consent of the first supervisor. If non of these two conditions is met, you will be barred from registering for GFA courses for the period of one year.
Please be aware that with a late deregistration you block seats for other PhD students, which otherwise could have taken part in the workshop.

Absence policy

To earn credits for a workshop/course, you must not miss more than 10% of total contact hours. In most cases, this will be less than a day. If it is inevitable that you miss more than a whole day, please notify us well in advance (at least one week).