Dr Mihai Balanescu
Dr Mihai Balanescu is an academic researcher in the field of literary studies
with emphasis on writing and composition. He has more recently gained
expertise in counselling and Personal Development support, as well as ESOL
training. His experience comes from the University of East Anglia (literary
criticism and doctoral research in African-American Studies with emphasis on
the Harlem Renaissance arts) and University of Warwick.
His association with the Centre for Student Careers and Skills has also resulted in the provision of an
established academic skills support service for all Warwick students. He has developed the Academic Writing
Programme, and the WAW Central e-learning resource.
Mihai is also the Academic Coach for research students on the Research Student Skills Programme, covering
the areas of academic writing, time management, working with supervisors, writing literature reviews,
upgrading from MPhil to PhD, preparing for Viva, ePortfolio support and Personal Development. Most
importantly, he teaches the Academic Writing Series, the year-long course for Research students.
Outside Warwick, Mihai is the founder of Sophia Libris, the UK's first dedicated academic advising and
coaching consultancy.
RSSP sessions taught by Mihai:
Understanding Academic writing & the main types of postgraduate writing (W1R)
Elements of structure & organisation in your writing (W2R)
Paragraph construction: elements and transition (W3R)
The academic writing style & language (W4R)
Developing critical analysis: the cognitive domain (W6R)
Ordering a critical argument: the P.E.A. matrix model (W7R)
Reporting using critical resources: paraphrase, summary & synthesis (W8R)
Grammatical accuracy: morphology and syntax (W9R)
Grammatical accuracy: syntax (W10R)
Revision, proofreading & editing (W12R)
Engaging the reader: writing text that is interesting to read (W13R)
Contextualising own writing: the integration of original ideas (W14R)
Strategies for manipulating semantics and emphasis in writing (W18R)
Referencing & plagiarism: conventions regarding citation, references and bibliographical data (W16R)
Thesis structure (W15R)
Defending your argument (W22R)
Presenting academic writing to specific audiences (W19R)
The Peer Review Process: what it is and how to do it (W23R)
Overcoming writer’s block: how to regain thesis writing faculties (W20R)
How not to write: common problems and errors in academic writing (W21R)