English for STEM

Each lesson begins with a specific type of academic English text within the STEM research field: the abstract, the scientific article, the book review and the oral presentation.  

The examples provided and the workshop activities proposed all focus on STEM texts to facilitate work on field-specific terminology. 

Each session comprises an initial theoretical part, covering specific terminology, linguistic structures, rhetorical devices and phraseological patterns useful for producing each individual research output under consideration, and a practical workshop part, during which participants can actively work on their specific areas of research.  

The first three lessons will take place online, whilst the final one will be face-to-face (therefore, a hybrid format will not be used).

As for the final assessment, which usually concludes IUSS courses, given that all sessions include a practical component, this will serve as the assessment of skills.

A final exam will therefore not be required; instead, during the final in-person session, there will be a constructive discussion amongst the PhD students in front of an audience of their peers. 

With regard to credits, PhD students will therefore be required to attend 3 out of the 4 sessions (75 per cent attendance), one of which must necessarily be the final in-person session, during which they will present their work. 

    Programme