Summer School at the University of the National Education Commission, Krakow; July 2025

Writing, reviewing, and applying: Practical tools and strategies for academic success (with AI and beyond)
Day 1: Core skills – from writing to reviewing (6 hours with breaks)
Block 1: Academic writing – from idea to publication
- Understanding writing as a process: how to begin, plan, and structure your work.
- Types of academic publications (articles, reviews, case studies).
- Finding and selecting journals
- Common problems and how to solve them.
- Tools to help you write (standard and AI-based).
Block 2: Literature reviews – from search to synthesis
- Types of reviews: systematic, scoping, narrative, meta-analysis.
- Step-by-step guide to a successful review.
- Tools for literature search & management (standard and AI-based).
Block 3: Structure and language of academic texts
- Writing good titles, abstracts, and keywords.
- Using AI to improve language, eliminate “Ponglish,” and optimize for discoverability.
- Language-checking tools.
- Responsible use of generative AI: boundaries, risks, and disclosure.
Block 4: Submitting and promoting your work
- Submission process – cover letters, peer review, responding to reviewers
- What to do with rejections.
- Promoting your work post-publication – standard and AI-based (visual abstract generators, social media post creators) tools.
Day 2: Grants and Project Management (3 hours with breaks)
Block 5: Submitting and promoting your work
- Grant proposals – from idea to submission
- Key sections of a research grant (objectives, methodology, impact)
- How to align your idea with the funding call
- AI and standard tools to support proposal writing.
Block 6: Project management for researchers
- Overview of project lifecycle: planning, execution, monitoring, dissemination.
- Key skills: time and resource management, teamwork, reporting.
- Tools for managing research projects: AI-based and standard.
The coach:
Piotr Siuda (PhD and habilitation) is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Cultural Studies at Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He is interested in the social aspects of the internet, game studies, esports, and the use of AI in research. Author of several books and articles in many journals indexed in Web of Science and Scopus (e.g., Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Critical Studies in Media Communication, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Games and Culture, Leisure Studies). Principal Investigator for numerous research projects; currently leading the National Science Center OPUS 22 project titled Rhizomatic networks, circulation of meanings and contents, and offline contexts of online drug trade. Member of The Association of Internet Researchers and the Polish Society for Social Communication. He serves as an Associate Editor at the SAGE Journal of Creative Communication. His complete portfolio can be found on his website: http://piotrsiuda.com