Writing the introductory essay

Please note that the October and May courses are onsite and the January course is online.

As part of your PhD, you will more likely be required to engage with quite a bit of writing. From the outset of your trajectory, skills such as literature research and communicating your ideas are extremely important. As such, this course, Writing the Introductory Chapter, takes you through some of the challenges that many PhDs encounter at the start of their PhD.

At FSE, the 'introductory essay' is likely to form the basis for the first chapter of your PhD thesis. It is therefore the first thing that your audience will read, and it is likely to attract a wider audience than some of the more specific papers you publish later on. As such, the information and argumentation you include, and the language you use to communicate this are extremely important.

There is no one way to write an introductory essay. This course aims to help you understand some possible ways to create this text and gives some specific advice on writing which will be applicable to other forms of writing.  

Learning goals:

• Understand the writing process from the perspective of both reader and writer
• Create an introductory essay that makes a value proposition to your field
• Creatively use ‘tools of the trade’ such as paragraphs, sentences, and stylistic considerations of phrasing to strengthen your position
• Engage actively in peer feedback both within your discipline and in others

Format and schedule for 2025-26

The course consists of eight 2.5h sessions which take place on consecutive weeks (same day/time). However, please reserve 10 weeks for the course due to potential Dutch public holidays or teacher illness.

• Group 1: Start on October 21 (9:30-12:00)
• Group 2: Spring 2026, tba
• Group 3: Spring 2026, tba

Prerequisites and workload

• B2 level of English is required to understand the sessions and to actively engage in class discussions. If you suspect your English skills do not yet meet this requirement, please consider first taking the courses Scientific writing: Basics and/or Spoken English skills.
• Be ready to write the introductory chapter - the workload is significant: 20 hours of class time and 80+ hours of individual reading, writing, and processing time.