MrAndrew Northern

Andrew is Head of Departmental Collaborations and a Senior Teaching Fellow at Imperial's Centre for Academic English (CfAE), and a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA).

Andrew leads CfAE's collaborations with programme and module leaders across Engineering, Natural Sciences and Medicine, and oversees the design and delivery of CfAE's commissioned departmental provision, ensuring pedagogical quality and innovation. As an experienced academic writing coach, he also leads collaborative training for research groups in writing for publication and supports doctoral students at thesis writing retreats.

Andrew is part of Imperial's AI Tools for Teaching and Assessment working group, shaping the university's educational policy and training on generative AI. He delivers expert guidance on using AI tools responsibly in the writing process while preserving academic integrity and authorial voice. He has collaborated with Imperial's AI Futurists on developing the university's AI principles and vision for AI in education, and is also an advocate for lifelong learning as a core pillar of the university's educational strategy.

Background

Before joining Imperial, Andrew taught academic communication at Tsinghua University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), while also collaborating with other leading institutions to develop government-funded Writing across the Curriculum initiatives. 

Qualifications

Recognition

Individual award: Imperial President's Award for Excellence in Collaboration (2025)

Professional Roles

External Examiner: Pre-sessional Academic English Programme, Queen Mary University of London

Editorial review board: Professional and Academic English

Peer reviewer: Journal of English for Academic Purposes; Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education

 
Conference Presentations and Publications

Northern, A., Nijhoff, C., Beis, K., Nelson, R., Vargas-Seymour, A., Neagu, A., Nayel, A. & Syam, D. (2025). Sustainable teaching, learning and assessment in the age of generative AI in a STEMB university [Conference panel discussion]. Academic Practice and Technology (APT) Conference, King's College London. 1 July 2025.

King, J., Mowat, R. & Northern, A. (2025). How we learnt to stop worrying and thrive in the third space. [Conference] BALEAP Conference: Collaboration, Co-creation and Community: The transformative potential of EAP. University of Plymouth. 14–17 April 2025.

Tyrer, P. & Northern A. (2022). ‘Writing for Publication’ in Clinical Topics in Teaching Psychiatry, Eds. Huline-Dickens, S. & Casey, P. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Northern, A. & Hartill J. (2022). ‘Responding to the challenges of moving an on-campus pre-sessional online during the COVID-19 pandemic’ in Cases on Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) During Covid-19: Insights from Around the World. Available at: . Ed. Kohnke, L. IGI Global.

Glasman-Deal, H. & Northern A. (2021). Scholarly Communication hosted by Shea, D. New Books Network. [Podcast episode]. 

Northern, A. & Glasman-Deal, H. (2021). The academic writing rehearsal: learning from the performance. [Conference presentation]. NFEAP conference: Stages. Oslo Metropolitan University. 3-4 June 2021. Online.

Northern, A. & White, R. (2021). Surviving and thriving in challenging times: Investigating pre-sessional teacher emotions on an online summer pre-sessional course. [Conference presentation]. BALEAP conference: Exploring pedagogical approaches in EAP teaching. University of Glasgow. 6-10 April 2021. Online.

Northern, A., White, R. & Mtuda M. (2021). Project: online asynchronous academic communication workshops for Imperial students. Available at: . Imperial Learning and Teaching. Blog. Ed. Rialas, A.

King, J., Mowat, R., Northern, A. & Riley-Jones, G. (2019). Moving beyond the EGAP/ESAP dichotomy: How an understanding of approaches to EAP teaching in specialised contexts at the extreme ends (STEM & AHSS) could inform and transform teaching of EAP in between. [Conference] BALEAP Conference: Innovation, Exploration and Transformation. University of Leeds. 12–14 April 2019.

Northern, A. (2018). Embedding academic literacy within the curriculum. Imperial Learning and Teaching. Blog. Ed. Rialas, A. 

Northern, A. & Daughton, B. (2018). Navigating STEM research texts: Strategies for EAP teachers. [Conference] CPD Conference: Creatively navigating current controversies in EAP: Applications for classroom practice. Queen Mary University of London. 12 April 2018.

King, J., Mowat, R. & Northern, A. (2018). Don’t be scared by the science: The most common problems in STEM research writing and how to deal with them. [Conference] EAP in the South East event: EAP for STEM. University of Reading. 16 February 2018.

King, J., Mowat, R. & Northern, A. (2018). Reverse engineering: an approach to supporting the publication of STEM research at Imperial College. [Conference] EAP in the South East event: EAP for STEM. University of Reading. 16 February 2018.

Tang, E. & Northern, A. (2016). A discovery-based approach to teaching academic and professional communication to civil engineers. [Conference] Centre for English Language Communication (CELC) Symposium, National University of Singapore. 26 May 2016.

Northern, A. & Kohnke, L. (2014). Developing higher order thinking and independent research skills for first-year undergraduates in Hong Kong. English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) Conference. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 5 June 2014.

Northern, A..& Kohnke, L. (2014). Turnitin-to-a-learning-experience: Exploring the use of similarity detection software (Turnitin) to develop student writers' understanding of academic integrity. English Language Centre (ELC) Writing Roundtable: Innovations in developing writers beyond the writing classroom, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 26 May 2014.