Academic Skills Center

CERGE-EI's Academic Skills Center (ASC) is a unique resource.

What other institution actually teaches students how to write and think at the graduate level? That's what the ASC does at CERGE-EI.  

The ASC provides instruction and consultation in professional, Economic-specific language and research skills to CERGE-EI's educational programs. ASC faculty have impeccable educational qualifications and a long history of working with Economists on their texts and presentations. The Center's courses and consultations are geared towards second-language learners, but virtually all of what we teach is also beneficial for native speakers.

Students in CERGE-EI's PhD, MAE and JME programs are required to take our courses which count in their educational record for fellowship an dother purposes.  Often CERGE-EI graduates find the ASC component of their study one of the most valuable parts of their curriculum after they enter the workplace or start writing their dissertations.

This section of the web site refers mostly to the ASC's work in the PhD program.  To learn more about the MAE Program and the ASC's role in it, visit the description of the MAE study program.

Testimonials from students and alumni

"On the first class of my ASC course, I learnt that academic research has something that most of the other professions don’t – a very critical audience. The ASC’s devoted work helps non-native English speaking students to successfully meet that challenge. The lecturers have a crucial role in training us in how to communicate and present our research. They helped me improve the structure of the way I think, analyze the problem, and present a solution."

Dragana Stanišic, CERGE-EI Junior Researcher

"The ability to write and present scientific work that is consistent with the standards and rules of the modern academic community is a valuable skill.  However, the Academic Skill Center has been trying to offer something more to CERGE-EI students: critical analysis, idea organization and efficient communication are a set of skills useful well beyond academia."

Beka Lamazoshvili, CERGE-EI Junior Researcher, Country Economist, OGResearch

"The ASC targets more than future academics. If some day I open up a consultancy [office] or become an entrepreneur, I can easily imagine myself applying those invaluable skills in my everyday life. Having the help of the ASC faculty on top of the excellent Economics programs is one of the most valuable strengths CERGE-EI possesses over other equivalent programs in both Europe and the United States."

Petar Stankov, Sr. Asst. Professor of Economics, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria

"Prior to entering CERGE-EI, I thought I would write academic texts in English in economics on the fly. Even after 4 years of experience of trying to write such a text, I still feel that I need guidance sometimes. In this respect, the Academic Skills Center at CERGE-EI seems to be one of its strong advantages. The center has helped me to improve in my skills of writing (and thinking) in English in economics significantly. Currently it continues doing so, and its help is invaluable.

Vahagn Jerbashian, CERGE-EI Junior Researcher

"I think that including reading, writing and presentation skills is an excellent idea ... before coming to CERGE-EI no one really thought me how to write or present. CERGE-EI [ASC] courses are making my (working) life easier now, you can be sure of that."

"I think communication and presentation skills is an important part of a program. The CERGE-EI program is strong in this respect. However, we of course have a lot of experience with CERGE-EI PhD students not realizing the use of our English courses until they go out into the 'real world'!"

Faculty

Go to the Faculty section to view profiles  of the professors in our Center.

The ASC is also unique in that all its members are expert and experienced editors of academic Economics texts who provide editing consultation services to authors for all CERGE-EI publications, including Working Papers, Dissertations, Research in Brief Series, and books.

If you have any comments or questions please contact the center’s Organizer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

ASC Teaching Approach and Methodology, Course Descriptions

ASC Workshops available for those outside of CERGE-EI