How to write a paper: In this tutorial, participants will learn how best to write a paper, what things are important to keep in mind, and how to stay as motivated as possible.

Optimize your writing productivity: The course teaches techniques that make it possible to write efficiently and with ease. Participants learn to dissolve writing blocks. They develop individual action plans to sustainably improve self-management and writing productivity.

Oral Defense Workshop for Doctoral Students: In their oral defence, doctoral candidates must give a presentation in which they explain the central points of their research project. This is followed by a discussion with the members of the examination committee. The aim of the course is to optimally prepare participants for this situation.

Scientific Research and Writing with AI: AI tools for research and writing are currently the subject of controversial debate. The developments are rapid and confusing. In addition to versatile basic tools such as ChatGPT 4o, there are now a number of AI applications that have been developed specifically for the scientific field. These include helpful tools for literature research and evaluation, for supporting feedback processes and for revising and fine-tuning texts.The workshop approaches the topic from different angles. First of all, our aim is to gain a better understanding of how language-based AI models in particular work. This is the only way to assess results correctly and critically where appropriate. Secondly, we will try out various AI tools and jointly discuss them in our group. And finally, we will reflect on the potential of AI tools as an aid in scientific research and writing, but also on what limitations there are in dealing with AI.

Tackling problems together: After the webinar, participants will have expanded their repertoire of creative problem-solving techniques and be even better prepared to deal with the challenges of their dissertations as well as their day-to-day work. The webinar has a unique content each time that it occurs, because it is driven by the question: What are the problems that you and your group most wish to solve?

What's next? Are you nearing the end of your doctoral project and planning a career in academia? Maybe you already are a Postdoc and need further orientation on how to finance your future research? In this Open Door Talk, the team of Freie Universität’s research funding service will inform you about funding options for postdoctoral research projects.
They will introduce funding opportunities for the various disciplines from a postdoc perspective and present a short overview of interdisciplinary and discipline-specific programs and their requirements as well as tipps and information regarding proposal writing.

Writer's Block and Procrastination: When the writing does not flow – which it probably will at some point during a PhD – the terms »writer’s block« and »procrastination« quickly enter into the minds of many academics. However, it’s not obvious what these terms convey beyond the feeling that the writing does not go as one had hoped or expected. In this workshop, therefore, participants will have the chance to analyze their writing processes in detail: Participants will identify the things that do work for them, describe very carefully the challenges that they do face, and develop individual solutions for the writer’s block and/or the procrastination that keeps them from writing.     

Writing Week 2025: Book an entire week to learn about Self-management for the scientific writing process, discuss about procrastination and just write – alone and in tandems! Use the opportunity to establish writing groups.