The millennium shift has witnessed an academic writing turn in the view of academic writing as “an essentially and private process” (Maher et al. 2008). Social aspects of writing that have been acknowledged in the scholarship point towards perspectives on how norms within academics are negotiated, and which norms, cultures and languages that are present in academic writing processes where students with different experiences participate (Hellstén & Ucker Perotto 2018. Turner 2003). This study presents patterns of progression among PhD students in a doctoral course in academic writing, i.e. skills and insights offered and/or acquired within the course that potentially are useful for action as a full-fledged researcher. The analysis is based on ethnographic documentation of the course across three different academic years of delivery. The findings highlight the role of social activities within the course for broadening and deepening understandings of academic work and mission.