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Successful, high-level, Economics writing and speaking skills are not solely based on talent, but are skills that can be learned, practiced, and developed.

The Academic Skills Center (ASC) offers language and communication skills support specifically tailored for all CERGE-EI Masters in Applied Economics and PhD in Economics students.

ASC services include:

  • PhD in Economics and MA in Applied Economics writing courses
  • Presentation skills development courses
  • Dissertation writing assistance
  • Open Hours for other needs
  • Editing
  • Teaching Assistant Training
  • Pedagogical Training for Teaching Fellows

Effective writing and speaking at the graduate and post-graduate levels has attracted significant attention over the past few decades.  As Wright and Hope (1996) note, speaking and writing skills used to be overlooked in most universities.  Later, many western universities introduced courses to address the needs of non-native speakers of English, which has led to considerable research in the field. Today over three decades of literature has enriched the resources of western universities, enabling students to produce much higher-level oral and written texts on a broad scale.  This is why the International Writing Centers Association (2013) counts that there are now over 1,000 Centers like ours in U.S. and Canadian universities – and similar numbers in the U.K.  All the students in these universities take courses in effective in-field writing and speaking, regardless of their native language.  These students include numerous western-educated economists, both present and future.

The CERGE-EI ASC offers a balance of courses and individual instruction to help intermediate and advanced writers and speakers structure complex data, develop and express extended arguments, and position their work as a contribution to ongoing research and debate in their field.

Our aim is to be a useful resource for all students, staff and faculty here at CERGE-EI, and to support the success of our MA in Applied Economics/PhD in Economics students.