Vacancies
At this moment, we have the vacancies listed below.
We are seeking writing instructors to teach our course, "Academic Writing 2: Writing a Scientific Paper with Impact," to PhD students in the natural and life sciences.
This 8-week course guides students in writing a scientific paper using the IMRaD structure – Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The course is delivered through e-learning modules on our custom ULearning platform (similar to Moodle) and is complemented by four 1.5-hour online meetings. Each weekly module focuses on the nuances of writing IMRaD sections with particular emphasis on argumentation, narrative flow, and handling academic uncertainty and certainty. The course also builds on principles from Academic Writing 1, reinforcing skills in writing readable, cohesive texts with concise language that maintains a high information density while remaining clear and accessible.
As an instructor, you will provide feedback on weekly assignments through online forums, offer individual feedback to students, and prepare and facilitate the online meetings.
Each edition of the course requires a commitment of approximately 50-60 hours. You will work with small groups of 10-12 PhD students. Compensation will be provided through a freelancer contract, or, if you are already employed by UU, alternative arrangements can be discussed. The course is currently offered 8 times throughout the academic year (and we are still expanding), and you have the flexibility to apply for one or more editions. Since our course is fully online, writing instructors are both permitted and expected to work remotely.
Requirements
- A PhD in a life sciences or natural sciences-related field, with at least 5 years of postdoctoral work experience in any field (research or non-research). We also encourage assistant or associate professors to apply.
- Proven proficiency in English; native speakers are preferred.
- Strong, demonstrable skills in academic writing; experience with teaching academic writing is preferred.
If you are interested, please send us your resume and motivation at coska@uu.nl.
We are currently looking for 6 teaching assistants for a mandatory 3,75 EC course in Academic Writing for second-year MBLS bachelor students in period 2 of the next academic year ('24/'25).
Your tasks will be:
- supervising all mandatory tutorial sessions (group size around 20 students)
- giving feedback to students in your tutorial group
- grading various assignments throughout the course in your tutorial group
We are looking for assistants who meet the following requirements:
- Is a master student or a PhD student.
- Is available during the following Thursday tutorial sessions from 13:15-15:00h: 14 Nov, 21 Nov, 28 Nov, 5 Dec, 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 9 Jan, 16 Jan.
- Has a good command of English and strong academic writing skills.
- Has a background in a life science-related master/PhD program.
The required time for this position is a total of 80 hours per teaching assistant. This is an average of 8 hrs/week during 10 weeks but note that this is not always equally distributed depending on assignment feedback and grading.
If you are a master student, we will financially compensate you through a temporary teaching assistant contract. If you are a PhD student, you can discuss with your supervisor whether this temporary position can help you fulfill your education obligations or can otherwise be a valuable learning experience to you (there is no better way to improve your own writing than teaching others how to improve theirs!).
If you are interested, please email us your motivation at coska@uu.nl.
Note: we have no current openings for this position in the next year, but we encourage you to still apply in case of unexpected openings and future expansion.
We are looking for writing teachers to teach our course "Academic Writing 1: Composing an Excellent Academic Text" to master or PhD students in the natural or life sciences.
This is a 8-week course in which students learn how to improve their writing strategies, build up their text, structure their writing, and write in a clear and professional academic style. Learning takes place through e-learning modules on our custom ULearning platform (similar to Moodle), supplemented with several online meetings. Some of the main topics in this course are the writing process, creating a writing plan, paragraph composition, readable sentences, cohesion, academic style, correct English, and giving and receiving peer feedback.
Teachers will give feedback on weekly assignments on the online forums, give individual feedback to students, and prepare and manage the online meetings.
The workload for one course edition is on the order of 40-50 hours. We work with groups of 10-12 PhD students and groups of 18-30 master students.
As our course format is fully online, our writing teachers are allowed and expected to work remotely.
Requirements
- At least 3 years of experience in teaching academic writing to life sciences and/or natural sciences students (preferably master or PhD level).
- A master's degree in English or an English-related program. Alternatively, a master's degree in a life sciences or natural sciences-related program with demonstrable proficiency in English.
If you are interested, please send us your resume and cover letter at coska@uu.nl.