Academic in atelier with us (8)
I believe the answer is:
studious
'academic' is the definition.
(academic can mean studious or scholarly)
'atelier with us' is the wordplay.
'atelier' becomes 'studio' (I've seen this in another clue).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'studio'+'us'='STUDIOUS'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for studious that I've seen before include "Deliberate and painstaking - preparing for exam?" , "working hard" , "with great care" , "showing diligence" , "Devoted to learning; deliberate" .)