Workshops for ECRs

Are you a PhD researcher or a Postdoctoral scholar looking to share your research with public audiences? The Academic Writing for the Public workshops are geared to preparing PhD researchers and Postdocs who work on gender and sexuality to craft public-facing writing. The workshop is hosted by GENDER.ED, the cross-University hub for gender and sexuality studies at the University of Edinburgh. In a hands-on and interactive session of three hours, selected participants will learn how to distill complex research ideas for wide audiences, share their research with an interdisciplinary cohort, learn how to pitch, and hone their own pieces, which will be considered for publication as part of the 'ECR Spotlight Series' on the GENDER.ED blog.

In 2025, Academic Writing for the Public workshop took place on 29 April.

Read what past participants had to say:

What drew me to the workshop:

"I don't usually situate myself within gender and sexuality studies because my research can be quite theoretical -- but I figured that was something I wanted to change. This seemed like a really great way to challenge the way I think about my own work."

"The attention to gender not simply as a marginal idea but a key component of feminist academic practice. I was interested in meeting people who were drawn to this workshop and have been grateful to have had the opportunity to share space with what I found to be very inspiring research."

What I learned:

"Pay attention to power dynamics! Gender and sexuality is not a marginal conversation but a key component of thinking with intersectionality. How to synthesise and make a dense research argument palatable to the public. Structuring writing that captures attention and delivers a concept effectively."

"...Practical examples outlining how to structure public facing work, gave me a really clear picture on how to approach blog writing good range of disciplines to consider within examples."

"Audience is key: whether that's intended, possible, imagined, unexpected, etc. Again, this is something I rarely wanted to think about until this workshop."

"The way one needs to pitch ideas for blog post and how my own research may resonate to others who do not have any idea of my research."

"I loved going through examples of writing to have a better idea of what appeals to readers."