Report for British Academy: Supporting Syrian Academics in Collaborative Research Writing: Preparing Outputs from Research Projects (Ref: WW20200128)

The writing workshops were a collaboration between the University of Kent, University of Surrey and the

Council for At Risk Academics (hereafter Cara).

Syrian academics (n=25) participated in seven online workshops and one four-day face-to-face retreat intended to build their writing expertise and support the completion of journal articles and grant applications for further research. Participants were supported through structured workshops focused on all four elements of Tardy’s (2009) framework of writing expertise, and worked closely with disciplinary mentors on their own projects.

Participants are all registered with the Cara Syria Programme, established in 2016 to provide in-region support

to Syrian academics living in exile in neighbouring countries. All had won grants from Cara to conduct

mentored research projects. This workshop responded to Syrian academics’ self-identified needs and priorities

in research, writing and academic collaboration.