Academic Writing Support
The Graduate Academy’s “Academic Writing Support,” offered in cooperation with the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” and the English Department, assists doctoral candidates in writing and editing their academic English texts
What we offer
Academic Writing Support is available for any doctoral candidate of any discipline at the University of Heidelberg. We aim to improve and refine doctoral candidates’ academic writing skills,
We carefully proofread and edit all academic texts, and provide each author with individualized advice on how he or she can improve on their English writing weaknesses and build from the areas of English writing in which they are strongest. We provide consultations with doctoral candidates before and after editing each text, allowing us to tailor the editing and feedback to the specific needs of each writer.
We accept texts that are related to the dissertation topic, with a length of up to 5,000 words. These can be drafts (in any stage) of a chapter in a dissertation or abstracts, presentation manuscripts, or journal articles.
Texts will be edited and proofread with grammatical correctness and style in mind. Special attention is paid to the necessary conventions of academic writing in English. Feedback will consist of suggestions regarding issues ranging from overall clarity and focus to paragraphing, sentence syntax, and punctuation. Content and source material as such will not be evaluated.
In a feedback sheet, writers will receive a summary of some of their most common errors, with explanations and suggestions for improvement.
Please note: Doctoral Candidates should keep in mind that we are proofreaders providing an educational service. We are not copy-editors. Time and staffing constraints do not allow for final edits or proofreading of entire dissertations. We are not able to work on deadlines, so please plan ahead.
How it works
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Please tell us of your interest in using the service by sending an email to us at ga-writing@zuv.uni-heidelberg.de. Make sure to include the following information:
- your full name
- your dissertation topic
- your advisor’s name, department, and faculty
- what type of text you would like to bring and its length
- your nationality and/or your native language(s)
(Please note: The Academic Writing Support team is not available every day, so we may take a few working days to reply to your email.)
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We will set up an appointment for an initial consultation to which you should bring a hardcopy as well as a digital file of your text.
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After your text has been proof read, you will receive an appointment for a follow-up consultation, in which your paper will be returned to you along with a feedback sheet.
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During the follow-up consultation, you and your writing consultant can discuss the text and the corrections, especially those corrections which could influence the reader’s understanding of your content. You will be offered specific and general suggestions for improving your academic writing for future papers.
Contact
Please contact the Academic Writing Support by sending an email to:
ga-writing@zuv.uni-heidelberg.de
Office hours are also available for short consultations or to arrange appointments:
Monday: 11:00-12:00, Servicestelle, INF 304, on the ground floor of the Zentralmensa.
For general inquiries about Academic Writing Support you can also contact Iris Koban at the Graduate Academy: phone: 06221 / 54-3794, email: iris.koban@zuv.uni-heidelberg.de
The current proof readers are:
Michael Cofrin, Ph.D. is a social psychologist. Before moving to Germany in 2007, he was a member of the University of New Hampshire’s psychology department where he taught courses on Social Psychology and Statistics in the Behavioural Sciences. Since he moved to Germany, he has taught Linear Statistics at Universität Heidelberg and the Psychology of Leadership at Universität Stuttgart. Michael has also had a career in business. He is currently part of a small team of professionals that consults mid-size companies on matters related to leadership and lean management. He continues to teach classes for the University of Maryland and Hochschule der Wirtschaft für Management in Mannheim. Since 2010, Michael has been proofreading psychological manuscripts written by German authors.
Paul Fletcher is a native English speaker eager to assist graduate students of all disciplines in improving their English language composition skills. He is currently completing his PhD in History at the University of Heidelberg. Before starting his doctoral research, he received an MA in Urban History from the University of Leicester, U.K. and a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Florida Atlantic University, U.S.A. Paul worked as an English tutor in Florida and currently holds a position as a proofreader for a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal and book-series. Studying and working in different parts of the world have broadened his capacity to gauge the most common errors non-native speakers make when writing in English. Aside from correcting mistakes, his main goals are to help students find and perfect their own literary voice and writing style. In addition to his academic and professional profile, Paul writes fiction and poetry and is an avid reader of all forms of literature.
