Wits-TUB-UNILAG Urban Lab Interdisciplinary Bilateral Postgraduate Studies Programme

URBAN LAB SUMMER SCHOOL – INCLUSIVE URBAN FUTURES

Call for Participation: Doctoral Writing Workshop

May 26 – 30, 2025

The Wits-TUB-UNILG Urban Lab hereby announces the Doctoral Writing Workshop which will
run concurrently with the 2025 WITS-TUB-UNILAG Urban Lab Summer School. This event
will take place at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Nigeria, providing an invaluable
opportunity for doctoral students to refine their academic skills, deepen their understanding of
inclusive urban futures, and engage in collaborative learning.

The Doctoral Writing Workshop is an intensive programme designed to equip doctoral
students with advanced writing skills tailored to urban studies and inclusive urban futures. This
workshop is part of the Wits-TUB-UNILG Urban Lab’s annual summer school and focuses on
enhancing participants’ academic writing, research communication, and critical thinking.
Attendees will engage in activities including listening to leading researchers in the field of
urban development, peer-reviewed writing sessions, and discussions on communicating
complex urban research.

Objectives:

1. To improve participants’ academic writing and research articulation skills.
2. To guide participants in developing research proposals, and adhering to academic conventions in urban studies research.
3. To strengthen participants’ capacity to engage with critical urban issues and develop clear arguments.
4. To provide a collaborative environment for doctoral candidates to refine their work, with feedback from peers and mentors.

Program Details:

This program will be a mix of lectures, practical writing exercises, and group discussions,
focusing on the following key areas:

• Developing a research and career agenda for urban studies
• Critical thinking and writing in urban studies research
• Structuring and writing impactful research papers and dissertations.
• Navigating academic writing conventions, citation styles, and research articulation.

Application:

We invite eligible candidates to apply for this opportunity. Candidates travel from across
Nigeria and accommodation and feeding for the duration of the workshop will be covered by
the Urban Lab.

• Eligibility: Registered PhD candidates in Nigerian Universities with research focus in the area of sustainable urbanization, who are interested in exploring issues of inclusive urban development and sustainability.
• Requirement: One page CV; Statement of motivation (not more than 500 words)
  indicating your research interests and why you want to participate in the Writing
  workshop, as well as one issue that you would like covered in the workshop; Letter of
  Support from PhD supervisor.
• Deadline: April 11, 2025, to centreforhousing@unilag.edu.ng. Application should be
  sent as a single pdf file and email titled Urban Lab Doctoral Workshop