Summary
Robin a senior teacher of academic STEMM communication at the Centre for Academic English and is responsible for the coordination, quality assurance and strategic development of the Centre's programme for doctoral students. He also manages the Imperial College London Doctoral Academic Communication Requirement, which involves coordinating and developing the associated assessments, policies and procedures.
Through extensive research into STEMM texts, Robin has developed a considerable depth of knowledge and expertise in writing, particularly at the doctoral and postdoctoral level. This has allowed the Centre to expand its provision for academics and researchers, and to actively support the research output of the College.
Robin uses this expertise to develop and deliver a range of research communication courses and workshops, in addition to providing 1:1 consultations. He is a lead trainer on the Centre's Writing Tools for Research Publication Success workshops for the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Postdoc & Fellows Development Centre. In collaboration with the Graduate School, he has contributed to the development of the award-winning doctoral Thesis Writing Retreats, and is a retreat coach.
On an international level, he has designed and delivered STEMM research writing courses for the Beijing Huatong Guokang Foundation (BHGF), Beijing, China; the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy; and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
Robin is a Senior Fellow of the Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy). He is an external examiner of English for STEMM modules for undergraduate students at the University of Reading and the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST).
BACKGROUND
Robin has over 20 years’ experience designing and teaching academic language and literacy programmes, with a particular focus on STEMM research writing. Prior to joining Imperial in 2006, he developed and delivered courses at the University of Bordeaux (Medicine & Life Sciences), the Bordeaux Kedge Business School, and the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
J. King, R. Mowat, A. Northern & G. Riley-Jones (2019) Moving beyond the EGAP/ESAP dichotomy: How an understanding of approaches to EAP teaching in specialised contexts at the extreme ends (STEM & AHSS) could inform and transform teaching of EAP in between. [Conference] BALEAP Conference: Innovation, Exploration and Transformation. University of Leeds. 12–14 April 2019.
J. King, R. Mowat & A. Northern (2018) Don’t be scared by the science: The most common problems in STEM research writing and how to deal with them. [Conference] EAP in the South East event: EAP for STEM. University of Reading. 16 February 2018.
J. King, R. Mowat & A. Northern (2018) Reverse engineering: an approach to supporting the publication of STEM research at Imperial College. [Conference] EAP in the South East event: EAP for STEM. University of Reading. 16 February 2018.