About Susan
Susan Mitchell is an academic and scientific writing consultant who specialises in working with research academics, using her experience as an editor and her background in education and training.
Over the last 24 years she has run writing courses for postgraduates, researchers and staff at a large number of academic institutions and has read and advised on many academic ‘works in progress’. This has allowed her to develop a wide range of practical, useable writing strategies and tips.
Her approach to academic writing is personally encouraging yet professionally rigorous. She examines research writing in terms of:
- Organisation
- Critical thinking
- Editorial techniques
- Academic content
- Persuasiveness
- Effectiveness
- Publishability
Clients and participants
Universities: Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Durham, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Leeds, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores, Lund, Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan, Newcastle, Strathclyde, Stirling and Svalbard.
Research Institutes: Macaulay Land Use Institute, Marine Scotland, the Non-Wovens Innovation & Research Institute, the Scottish Agricultural College, the Sowerby Centre for Health Informatics, NHS North East Public Health, The Swedish Institute for International Affairs, Smith & Nephew Ltd, Quintessa Ltd, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble) and CERN (Geneva).
Participants: course participants have attended from the sciences, medicine, engineering, law, social sciences, humanities and the arts.
Courses, one-to-one writing advice and writing retreats
Courses: Susan offers four main types of course to universities and research institutions:
- A full day’s writing skills course. This course covers essential good practice in writing, editing techniques and methods of improving organisation.
- A full day’s writing skills course plus prior editing of examples of participants’ writing. This course again covers essential good practice but has the added advantage of participants receiving feedback on writing in their own individual research context.
- Individual coaching. Researchers can pre-book a 60-minute one-to-one writing advice session with Susan to discuss their writing in detail. This intensive individual coaching has proved especially popular with staff and is particularly effective for busy academics.
- A two-day or three-day Writing Retreat. Writing Retreats involve a full day’s writing skills course plus prior editing, a day where participants can concentrate on their own writing and an optional day where participants can receive individual, tailored writing advice. Retreats are popular with early-career, mid-career and experienced academics.
Additional courses are also available for PhD supervisors who wish to gain skills in diagnosing and solving students’ problems with academic writing and critical thinking.
