AWC Welcome Day

Navigating in a sea of different academic journals can be a daunting task, even for an experienced researcher. More often than not we don’t really consider the potential publication outlets until the paper is written and perhaps presented at conferences. Can it be more effective to select the journal first? In this workshop, I will cover some strategies for journal selection and tips for writing a strong cover letter that helped me. I believe that following certain simple rules can really improve publication chances and make the publication process smoother and less stressful.

Speaker: Evgeny Sedashov, an assistant professor of political science and the academic director of the BA program in Computational Social Sciences at HSE University, received his Ph.D. in political science at the State University of New York at Binghamton in 2019.  His research interests include electoral studies, conflict studies, coalition politics, political economy, quantitative political methodology, and Russian politics. Dr. Sedashov has authored papers published in various internationally-recognized academic journals and has received a number of grants, fellowships, and honors, including the Sakip Sabanci International Research Award (2022) and the US Fulbright Fellowship (2013).

Participants' Feedback:  “I appreciated advice on how to write cover letters and abstracts. Practical tasks were elucidating.”

Depending on the choice of tools, working with databases of scientific literature and scientometric indicators can become either a boring chore or a fast and efficient process. At the seminar, we will study the main tools for selecting literature, taking into account their quality and search goals. We will consider the main scientometric indicators and features of their interpretation. Participants will explore effective techniques of working with scientific literature for quick submission and resubmission of an article to a selected journal.

Speaker: Konstantin Nefedov, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Management in HSE St. Petersburg Campus, where he runs a research seminar and supervises research projects at HSE Project Fair. His area of expertise is upgrading in Global Value Chains and Russian outward FDI. He has published in ABS journals and won "That’s interesting" award at AIB CEE conference in 2017. Konstantin also serves as a reviewer in Journal of International Management and International Journal of Emerging Markets.

Participants' Feedback:  “The workshop introduced many useful tools and tips that I can use in my work: new sources for the search of literature; and algorithm of search.”

One cannot turn into a writer overnight. Such a transformation needs a cumulative effect of gaining knowledge and mastering skills, as well as exposure to well-written samples, especially if you want to write research papers regularly. In contemporary “publish or perish” culture, academic writing skills might become pivotal for career growth in academia.

However, university courses do not always pay enough attention to fostering academic writing. We are going to draw up the necessary prerequisites for developing such skills in English through looking at the papers of HSE Physics graduates and postgraduates. The workshop will be beneficial for all researchers who want to feel more confident when planning their publication activities.

Speaker: Idaliia Fedotova, a research fellow at the Institute of Linguistics RAS, formerly a lecturer of the School of Foreign Languages at HSE University. Idalia participates in international conferences and seasonal schools in linguistics, gives talks, and publishes in high-ranking journals. She acted as a facilitator at the AWC Writers’ Retreat. Now she is also leading a writing group at HSE University.

Participants' Feedback: “I like the idea of "reading as a writer." The task prepared by the speaker was good, it inspired a feeling of competition in me.”

Collaboration and co-authorship are important elements of academic life for many researchers. Modern scientometric research shows that the number of articles written in co-authorship, as well as the number of authors of publications, increases from year to year. The researchers note that articles written in co-authorship are more visible in a global research community and receive more citations. If collaborations are so important, then how to organize joint work with co-authors so that this experience is effective and brings satisfaction to all participants?

At the workshop, the speaker Daria Maltseva will talk about collaboration from two perspectives. As a researcher of scientific interactions, Daria will present a number of modern trends in the field of scientific collaboration, and as the head of a  laboratory and co-author of articles in leading journals, she will share her experience of preparing publications with international and Russian colleagues.

Speaker: Daria Maltseva, Head of the International Laboratory for Applied Network Research, HSE University, Ph.D. in sociology. In 2015, she defended her thesis on the topic "Network approach in sociology: Genesis of ideas, current state, and possibilities of application," which was  published as a monograph in 2017. In co-authorship with Professor Vladimir Batagelj (University of Ljubljana), she carries out projects in bibliometric network analysis, sociology of science, and scientometrics. In co-authorship with colleagues from the laboratory, she implements projects aimed at studying the Russian scientific community. Daria is the author of publications in international and Russian peer-reviewed journals, including Q1-Q2 journals. In 2021-2023, she received a grant of the Russian Science Foundation for early-career scientists to do research on the topic "Collaboration patterns in the Russian sociological community: the structure of scientific schools and their growth potential." Daria is a frequent participant of leading international and Russian conferences in the field of network analysis.

Participants' Feedback: “The personal experience of the speaker and the ideas about collaboration networks were especially valuable.”

This workshop is aimed at sharing some writing tips based on my personal writing experience. I will reflect on my strengths and weaknesses of writing research papers in English and analyze what helped me improve my writing skills. I will give some practical advice on how to increase the efficiency of your research outreach as well as tips on how to improve your style and language. In particular, I will focus on the abstract as one of the most important parts of your paper, which directly affects it's impact. We will compare an abstract from one of my early papers before and after it was edited by a professional scientific editor. We will also discuss how to write a good abstract to increase the number of interested readers.

Speaker: Vladimir Shchur, Ph.D., head of the International Laboratory of Statistical and Computational Genomics, HSE University, associate professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics, MIEM, HSE University. He got his Ph.D. degree at the University Paris XI (Paris Sud), Orsay, France. He was a postdoc at the Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK in 2013-2016 and at the University of California, Berkeley, USA in 2016-2019. In June 2023, he defended his doctoral dissertation in applied mathematics at the HSE University. Vladimir is an author of two dozen research papers in English, most of which were published in the Q1 and Q2 journals including Nature Communications, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Computational biology, Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Participants' Feedback: “I liked it that the speaker gave examples from real articles; the template for writing an abstract was very useful.”

We invite you to explore the exciting fusion of AI (ChatGPT) and human interaction that is bringing vigor to the field of research. At the workshop, we will explore the intriguing prospect of leveraging ChatGPT's power for research. A collaborative voyage with AI awaits, ushering in a new era of integrated research exploration. By the end of the workshop, you will be well-versed in ChatGPT's role in research to smoothly and logically combine AI's powers with human brilliance. Join us on this groundbreaking journey, where AI (ChatGPT) and human intelligence come together to revolutionize and redefine research collaboration, breaking through barriers with innovation and delight. Your research experience will never be the same, but rather more rigorous and interesting!

NB: To actively participate in the workshop, you will need to log in to ChatGPT.

Speaker: Nazir Ahmed Jogezai, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow at the Laboratory for Educational Innovation Research, Institute of Education, HSE University. He is interested in contributing to AI integration in research and beyond. He loves to be on a voyage of change and innovation by addressing change agency and innovative capital within the context of an organization-individual nexus and the broader ecological parameters of change and innovation.

Participants' Feedback: “The contents are interesting and clear, and the speaker is very friendly. For me, it was useful to see another perspective. And I also appreciate the use of references in the slides.”

This workshop is intended for early-career researchers in mathematics or for researchers outside the field that plan to publish a mathematical paper.

In the first part, we will briefly discuss general aspects of writing, reviewing, and publishing as well as possible expectations that the involved parties might have. We will also talk about co-authorship habits and beliefs that help to write better. In addition, we will review some criteria for "good mathematical writing." Finally, we will also discuss practical resources such as Latex, Tikz, and Grammarly.

In the second part, we will review several principles for transforming badly written proofs into well-written ones. We will focus on removing clutter while at the same time remaining correct. The following questions will be discussed: How many lemmas should one use? How many definitions and symbols are used? How many details of calculations are needed? How much background should be added? Which logical constructions are hard to read and which ones are easy? Making proofs more readable is not only useful for the reader, but also leads to a deeper understanding of the presented materials and better ways to think about them. 

Speaker: Bruno Bauwens obtained a Bachelor’s in mathematics, a Master’s in engineering, and a Ph.D. in theoretical computer science at Ghent University. After completing several postdoc programs in Nancy, Montpellier, and Porto, he became an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department of the HSE University. He has been publishing papers in machine learning, information theory, logic, and computational complexity. He has taught a course in theoretical computer science with a writing module to Ph.D. students.

Participants' Feedback: "The discussion topic was fascinating. I also liked the suggested exercises."

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Unfortunately, great research is not enough to get published. Even the best ideas can be rejected if they are not packaged properly. This is true for all researchers no matter what their mother tongue is. Editors may often ask authors to rewrite the text to improve its readability. What makes the difference between a grammatically correct and a readable paper? What do editors mean when they ask to make the text "coherent and transparent" so it "runs smoothly" or "flows”? Why should it even matter? 

During the workshop, we will master the skill of looking at papers through the editor's eyes and practice rewriting some samples from this perspective. The main takeaway will be a checklist of typical obstacles on the way to readability and the ways of coping with the difficulties. 

Speaker: Marharyta Fabrykant is a leading research fellow at the Laboratory for Comparative Studies in Mass Consciousness at the Expert Institute of the HSE University. She holds Ph.D. degrees in sociology and social psychology and has published in many international journals including Comparative Sociology, Europe-Asia Studies, the Nationalities Papers, Nations and Nationalism, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and Slavic Review. She is on the editorial board of three journals and has served both as a reviewer and as a guest editor. Many of her papers in English have been published without co-authors or professional proofreading, solely by means of self-editing.

Participants' Feedback: “I enjoyed how positive energy was coming from the speaker. I'm going through rewriting my article (though it's in Russian), and this workshop was really helpful.”

You have submitted an article and are waiting for a reply from the editor. What is the editor doing in the meantime? Every day the editor receives a great number of submissions and has to make his/her judgment on the quality of the submitted documents. What makes the editor “throw the paper into the bin”? How can the author avoid desk rejection? What criteria does the editor use to send the manuscript to reviewers? All these questions and more will be discussed at the workshop. The speaker will share his editorial perspective on submissions, will give you examples of what can go wrong, and how to make the author-editor communication effective.

Speaker: Dirk Meissner, Distinguished Professor HSE, Head of the Laboratory for Economics of Innovation at HSE, and Academic Head of the international master program “Governance Science, Technology and Innovation.”  He is Associate Editor of Technological Forecasting and Social Change journal and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management as well as Springer book series Science, Technology and Innovation Studies. He guest-edited several Special Issues in journals such as Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, Journal of Business Research and Technovation among others.

Participants' Feedback: “It was interesting to learn how the work of the editor is carried out. Lots of humor.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

It always takes a significant effort to write a research paper, especially if it is your first paper. As we know, writing is learning by doing. So, looking now at the way your first paper was written can sometimes be  painful – the paper does not look perfect. At the workshop, I will go back to the past and, using my first published paper as an example, discuss problems and issues one can face when finalizing their (first) paper for journal submission. We will focus on the most challenging things: how to organize the introduction and how to avoid potential “red flags” in your paper. I will also present some practical exercises based on my own experience. Please get ready with your questions for the in-class discussion.

Speaker: Alexander Tarasov, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Theoretical Economics, Faculty of Economic Sciences, HSE University. Alexander received his Ph.D. degree in economics at the Pennsylvania State University in 2009. From 2009 till 2015, he worked at the University of Munich as an Assistant Professor. Alexander published his research papers in many leading research journals in Economics including the Journal of International Economics, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, European Economic Review, etc.

Participants' Feedback: "For me, the workshop was really motivating. I liked Alexander's honesty while speaking about his failure."

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Some people attend the AWC’s consultations because they have already been rejected by their chosen journal. Others come for assistance and advice before submitting their articles for publication. Whatever the subject matter, there are certain rules and protocols to be followed – some common ones between journals, and other, journal-specific ones which must be met before publication is achieved. The purpose of this workshop is to raise awareness of the requirements and mistakes that we come across frequently, how to be better prepared and maximize the use of the consultations.

Speaker: Pete Dick, the AWC’s consultant,  spent all his working life in the computing industry, running his own IT Consultancy company from 1991 onwards, prior to moving to Moscow in 2010, where he retrained and qualified as an English teacher. His background, together with people management and project management skills saw him quickly develop into the role of Deputy General Director of a school in Moscow before he set up his own, independent school. He also has wide experience in editing and proofreading papers written by Russian speakers of English, in collaboration with the AWC.

Participants' Feedback: “I appreciate that the workshop was run in a form of conversation, when the border between teacher and students was blurring.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

The quote from a reviewer “I understand what is meant, and sympathize with the idea, but the phrasing is awkward” sums up pretty much all the “why nots” for my article rejection. Sadly, all the translating, rewriting, and proofreading that my co-author and I did was not enough to put the pre-existing article draft written in Russian first into a publishable state in English. As painful as it was, most of the criticism voiced by the reviewer was valid. The most important point these comments highlighted was the difference in Russian and international academic conventions, resulting from different research approaches and publication traditions. After a proper grievance over the rejection, I’m going to analyze my mistakes and share academic “blind spots” to figure out better ways to meet international publication standards for pre-existing research. I’m also inviting you to share your success or failure stories.   

Speaker: Anastasia Artemova graduated from the Institute for Oriental Cultures and Antiques (RSUH) and then was on her Ph.D. journey for a long time afterwards, mostly as an independent researcher. Her major is Korean Classical Art and Culture. Anastasia regularly participates in international conferences and workshops on Korean Culture and Art and teaches the Korean language at the HSE University. Her biggest challenge, however, has been getting published, which she has been addressing by proactively working on improving her academic writing skills.

Participants' Feedback: "I liked that the speaker gave us some useful advice, provided good examples, and tips."

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Typically, the first draft of any paper is bad. Sometimes, it's terrible. However, even a terrible draft can be made into a good publication accepted at a top journal. What structural, logical, and substantive changes are required for this metamorphosis? The seminar will help answer this question by focusing on one particular paper accepted for publication at a top political science journal and its very first draft. Step by step, we are going to analyze the key changes to the draft that helped to develop it into a high-ranking publication.

Speaker: Denis Stukal is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at HSE. Before joining HSE in 2020, he was a Lecturer in Data Analytics in Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. In 2018-2019, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at New York University. He holds a Ph.D. in Politics from NYU (2018). His research focuses on political behavior and computational communication, and addresses issues related to the use of algorithms for online mobilization and demobilization. His major research projects study how new technologies, and in particular social media bots, are used for political purposes and how they affect political behavior and online political communication. His research has been published in journals such as Big Data, The Journal of Politics, and Comparative Politics.

Participants' Feedback: “100% practical workshop. Learning on a real example, in-depth analysis of the problems, good timing, and friendly atmosphere.”

Research writing has never been an easy task, and it is much more challenging when you write in a foreign language such as English. As non-native speakers of English, we experience some common problems during different stages of writing an article. At the workshop, we will discuss some of the problems and practical solutions to tackle them. We will go through some stages: preparing the first draft, the main writing stage, and polishing the text. I will share my experience and provide tips on making the text better.  I’m inviting you to exchange ideas, thus contributing to the workshop.

Speaker: Bernardo Pincheira is a Research Fellow at the Center for Institutional Studies, HSE University. He holds a doctoral degree in Economics from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Participants' Feedback: “Good examples and practice! Everything was to the point, educational, and interesting.”

English, as a means of communication, is one of the essential tools to get involved in international professional communication. The aim of the seminar is twofold. First, I will share  a success story of how to master your English while working at the university. You will find about the opportunities that HSE offers to practice and improve your English. Second, we will discuss and practice some communicative strategies which might be useful when you are planning to cooperate with foreign researchers on a joint project.

Speaker: Konstantin Khomutskii, Ph.D. in linguistics, is an associate professor of the HSE School of Foreign Languages (Moscow) with 15 years of English teaching experience. He has been teaching various English courses to students and adults – Business English, Academic English, ESP courses, and specific on-the-job training courses for HSE staff. Moreover, Konstantin has a broad research background in linguistics and place marketing, working within international research teams. He has authored a number of articles in peer-reviewed journals and students’ books for ESP courses.

Participants' Feedback: “Very well-structured, informative, participant-friendly. Inspiration in English learning!”

At this seminar, I will share my personal experience of overcoming several rounds of blind reviewing, which successfully resulted in a published paper. You will learn not to be afraid of the process. We will focus on how to engage in a constructive dialog with reviewers and advocate for your position. We will discuss possible comments from reviewers and the way to deal with them; we will practice persuasive strategies and polite refusal to firmly stand your ground.

Speaker: Olga Karamalak, Ph.D. in linguistics, an associate professor of the HSE School of Foreign Languages (Moscow), an ICELT (In-service Certificate in English Language Teaching issued by Cambridge) holder, a member of  the international association Distributed Language Group, a member of a research team in Switzerland Digital Fashion Communication (Università della Svizzera italiana), an alumna of American educational program Fulbright FLTA at Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, NC) and German scientific program DAAD Immanuel Kant at Leibnitz University, Hannover.

Participants' feedback: “The session was clearly structured; useful language, strategies and examples.”

The workshop is aimed at discussing how to set up a successful international research group using academic social media, e.g. ResearchGate. We will examine how particular information posted on researchers’ academic profile and their formal performance indicators work in practice for the partner search. The participants will explore strategies for

- highlighting their own academic profile
- engaging in online discussions
- composing questions on a research topic
- answering questions from other researchers in order to build successful academic relationships and carry out joint research.

Based on her own experience of the international partnership in the field of earth sciences, the speaker will focus on common pitfalls of initiating an international project and ways of avoiding these pitfalls.

Speaker: Maria Kozlova, Ph.D. in Biology from Lomonosov Moscow State University, a researcher at the HSE  Institute of Education with more than 15 years of prior experience in geoecology, satellite remote sensing, and interdisciplinary studies; international research team leader; author and co-author of research papers, including Scopus and WoS publications. Her special area of interest is exploring the potential of various kinds of online communication to exchange experience and find partners for joint international research projects.

Participants' Feedback: “The topic is relevant for me. This is exactly what I am planning I do in a couple of weeks - start searching for research partners. I liked the interactive part as well.”

Writing a research paper is a challenging, time-consuming and often lonely endeavor. Setting up an academic writing group within your lab or department might be helpful in order to find and lend support along the way. At this workshop, I will share personal experience of an academic writing group that we hold at the Center for Language and Brain. We will discuss how an academic writing group can be set up and coordinated, what the meetings may entail, etc. We will also have hands-on experience as a writing group: we will analyze examples of academic texts in terms of their structure, clarity, and language. Together, we will discuss what can be improved, and, hopefully, see that not only the author but also the readers can benefit from such activities in academic writing groups.

Speaker: Svetlana Malyutina, Ph.D., graduated from the Department of Theoretical and Computational Linguistics of Moscow State University and obtained a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of South Carolina in 2015. She is now a Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director at the Center for Language and Brain at the HSE. Svetlana conducts research in psycho- and neurolinguistics (aphasia, language changes in healthy aging, non-invasive brain stimulation, etc.) and has co-authored over 15 peer-reviewed papers in English. Svetlana is leading a weekly academic writing group at the Center for Language and Brain.

Participants' Feedback: “Very friendly speaker who made us feel welcome to share our views and experience. Lots of tips on running a writing group and also on providing helpful feedback to colleagues.”

Composing a dissertation as a compilation of published or accepted journal articles is becoming a popular way to obtain a doctoral degree. This eating-the-elephant-one-bite-at-a-time way has clear benefits: it is easier to maintain concentration and motivation working on a smaller piece at a time. However, there are shortcomings; for instance, it can be challenging to compose the pieces into a coherent (final) text of the dissertation. At the workshop, we will discuss and try out instruments and techniques aimed at helping a doctoral student to write this type of dissertation. We will cover the issues of planning a doctoral study, working with literature, drafting articles, choosing the right journals, writing the Introduction and Discussion chapters as keys to get an integral dissertation by the moment of defense.

Speaker: Dmitry Abbakumov is a leading psychometrician at the HSE University. He holds a doctoral degree in the methodology of educational sciences from KU Leuven, Belgium. His dissertation is a compilation of papers published in Applied Measurement in Education, Behavior Research Methods, Heliyon, and Psychologica Belgica.

Participants' Feedback: “Dmitry is a fantastic speaker! It was a pleasure to listen to him. He shared valuable tips for publishing.”

Editors of international peer-reviewed journals and international co-authors often ask questions that seem to us redundant, and the answers to which seem to be self-evident. In most cases, these are the questions: "Why...?" and "What do you mean by...?" The seminar aims to analyze what prevents us from making a text clear. The speaker will present cases of the most typical semantic barriers that arise between Russian-speaking authors and English-speaking editors in the field of social sciences and humanities. The speaker will also share her tips on how to write in such a way that your English-speaking colleagues will understand.

Speaker: Victoria Vasileva, Ph.D., associate professor at the School of Cultural Studies, the HSE Faculty of Humanities, graduated from Moscow State University in 1999. During 2009-2016, she was the Head of the International Audiovisual Anthropology Film Festival “Days of Ethnographic Cinema” ( Moscow). Her research areas include theory and history of media, media and cultural memory, audiovisual anthropology, history of the humanities and social sciences in the USSR. Victoria authored a number of research papers published in international peer-reviewed journals.

Participants' Feedback: “Impressive examples and personal experience of the speaker.”

Publishing a monograph, particularly with a top-rated publisher, is often seen as the pinnacle of research. This seminar is both for those who have published monographs and those who are planning to do it.  The presenter aims to share his own experience of writing and publishing books. Participants will discuss key stages of book production and author-to-publisher communication, and analyze book samples and publisher's expectations.  The presenter will provide advice based on his first hand experience of writing monographs for Springer Nature and IGI Global.

Speaker: Sergey Zykov, professor at the Software Engineering Department, Computer Science Faculty, HSE; holds certificates in PGCert (London School of Economics) and Teaching Excellence Program (iCarnegie Global Learning), Certified Teacher at Carnegie Mellon University, author of monographs by Springer Nature and IGI Global in 2016-2019.

Participants' Feedback: "The thorough analysis of how to publish a book. It was clear, relevant and thought-provoking."

The total number of your citations does not have a direct correlation with your H Index. Although being cited is nice, complying with the formal criteria for research applications (H Index) is more important. At the session, we will talk about simple steps to increase your H Index that are not time consuming. We will discuss the selection of the right journal, formulation of an attractive title and research problem, selection of keywords and using them in the abstract.  We will briefly discuss research identifiers and selected research services, such as ResearchGate, Mendeley, Publons, Academia.edu and more.  We will touch upon further publicizing your papers through conferences, social and professional media, and data sharing web-sites.

Speaker: Liliana Proskuryakova, leading Research Fellow, Research Laboratory for S&T Studies Director, National Center for Academic Mobility Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge National Research University "Higher School of Economics".

Participants' Feedback: “There was a lot of great and useful information and examples.”

In this seminar, we will discuss the peculiarities of collaboration with foreign co-authors while writing an academic paper. The presenter will share his experience of looking for co-authors and making them interested in collaboration. We will discuss Dos and Don’ts  of international collaboration while working on a joint paper. We will also talk about effective ways of communication, workload redistribution and other issues you might face to get your paper published.

Speaker: Evgeny Styrin, Ph.D. in Management Sociology, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Evgeny is a leading research fellow at the Institute of Public Administration and Governance, an associate professor at the Department of Public Administration, School of Social Sciences, HSE.

Participants' Feedback: “Everything was relevant, interesting, useful. There were examples from a topic not experienced before.”

This workshop will be focused on typical language problems rooted in sociocultural conventions. Participants are invited to do various exercises aimed at avoiding the translator’s “false friends” and mastering common collocations and idioms. This will help participants make their speech more accurate.

Speaker: Galina Pavlovskaya, Ph.D., senior lecturer of English at the Foreign Languages Department, the English Language Department for Economic and Mathematical Disciplines, in the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Galina was elected as one of the “Best teachers of the HSE” in 2017.

Participants' Feedback: "Now it's obvious how to improve my own speech, not scare of using idioms, check collocations if there are some doubts. It was very valuable.”

This interactive workshop is for those who would like to discuss some presentation techniques. The participants will get effective tips and do activities that will help them to become better presenters in English. Let’s have fun.

Speaker: Svetlana Suchkova, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Director of Academic Writing Center at Higher School of Economics (HSE), Management Board Member of the National Writing Centers Consortium (NWCC), Teacher of English, Teacher Trainer. She has widely published in the field of ELT methodology. She authored a number of EFL course books for Russian university students and academics. She has participated with presentations and workshops in numerous national and international conferences.

Participants' Feedback: “It was a very interactive workshop. The speaker was very emotional and constructive.”

Being a creative and ambitious scholar, you are eager to internationalize your scholarly experience and achievements and are thinking of applying for an exchange program.  What you need to do is to provide convincing reasoning why you are the right one to be selected. The workshop will focus on strategies and rhetoric tools aiming to help you write an eye-catching and meaningful motivation statement that will convince the Committee you’re their best choice.

Speaker: Aleksey Bakulev, Ph.D., Associate Professor at School of Foreign Languages, HSE. Aleksey was elected as one of the “Best teachers of the HSE” in 2017.

Participants' Feedback: “It was well-structured and clear, interesting and sometimes funny!”

At this workshop, we will discuss Q&A sessions that often end conference presentations. We will take both the position of the listener and the presenter. We will practice techniques of efficient questioning and answering, paying special attention to grammar structures and techniques for clarification and making sure you are understood.

Speaker: Tatiana Golechkova, Ph.D. in Philology, assistant professor at the New Economic School. She is a Cambridge Delta-qualified EFL teacher with broad experience in teaching academic writing and speaking to undergraduate and graduate students as well as academics. Her areas of special interest include strategies for efficient presentation and communication, genre features, and sociocultural peculiarities of English academic texts.

Participants' Feedback: "I had a lot of practice, learned some useful expressions and pivotal information.”