SENSE has a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs), which meet regularly via Zoom and in person throughout the Netherlands. Meetings are open to all SENSE members. Guests are welcome to attend one or two meetings before deciding whether they would like to join SENSE.
If you would like to attend one of our SIG meetings, keep an eye on the Events calendar or the SIG events page, or please email our SIGs coordinator at
- Amsterdam SIG – Amsterdam and surrounds
- Arnhem SIG – Arnhem and surrounds
- SenseMed – for those working in the medical and/or biology fields
- UniSIG – for members with clients in academia
- Utrecht SIG – Utrecht and surrounds
Other SIGs that existed in the past include the Starters SIG, Tech SIG, Southern SIG, Zuid-Holland SIG, SENSE Ed, the Training SIG, Copywriting SIG, Eastern SIG (Zwolle), SIG Far North (Groningen), and FINLEGSIG (finance/legal).
Amsterdam SIG
The Amsterdam SIG organizes networking events (social get-togethers) without a formal agenda. The SIG usually meets about once a quarter, somewhere in Amsterdam.
Arnhem SIG
The Arnhem SIG organizes networking events (social get-togethers) without a formal agenda. The SIG aims to meet 3-4 times per year.
SenseMed
SenseMed's members work in the fields of medicine, biomedical research, and related subjects. Most of SenseMed's activities are online, and SenseMed is lucky to count scientists, teachers of scientific writing, psychologists, nurses, and biologists among its ranks.
Here are some of SenseMed's most recent meetings:
- A full dose of SenseMed
In this all-day in-person event, SENSE members Daphne Lees, Curtis Barrett and Sally Hill gave a guided tour through three aspects of medical English: medical translation, medical editing, and medical writing. - Keeping up with the latest trends in the (bio)medical sciences
When editors and translators of medical and biomedical texts encounter unfamiliar terms, the challenge is identifying whether a term is either just "bad English" or is actually a new term that's worked its way into the field. - Editing medical/biomedical texts: proofreading or heavy lifting?
Various issues were discussed, including whether to approach the job differently if the client is a PhD/medical student or the supervisor/professor, clients’ expectations, and the purpose of various texts (e.g. a publication, dissertation, grant proposal, commercial application).
UniSIG
UniSIG enables editors and translators who work with academic and university texts (such as research articles, grant applications, dissertations, course books) to network and share experiences. Online meetings allow speakers and members from far afield to contribute, and there are also occasional in-person events.
Here are some of UniSIG's most recent meetings:
- Language editing and writing support available for English and Ukrainian academic texts and writers
Professor Tatyana Yakhontova from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv contrasted traditional and present-day Ukrainian approaches to writing and editing. - Dealing with Chinese and Southeast Asian clients in academia
Kenneth Quek, an academic revisor for the Language Centre of the University of Helsinki, uncovered and explained some of the ways that cultural differences can lead to difficulties in the provider–client relationship. - Using AI to revise the language of academic texts: what Writefull can offerAt an in-person meeting, Juan Castro and Hilde van Zeeland (Writefull’s CEO and Chief Applied Linguist) discussed and demonstrated how Writefull’s features can help authors in academia and their editors.
- Social writing with academic authors
Kate Sotejeff-Wilson, a freelance translator working in Finnish, German, Polish and English, spoke about how and why to organise writing retreats with academic authors. - Copy-editorial decision-making strategies
Adrian Stenton and Morana Lukač, both of whom were at Leiden University at the time, spoke about the online survey of 288 editors they conducted in 2020. Although respondents were asked to focus on a single usage feature, many couldn’t resist editing the entire text, which revealed interesting differences and similarities in edits.
Utrecht SIG
The Utrecht SIG organizes an annual in-person social meeting in the Utrecht area.
