Online Workshop Series with One-to-One Writing Coaching for International Students: Academic Writing – Step by Step
Language support for your academic and scholarly writing – from the initial idea to the finished text.
Writing academic texts is one of the key requirements of your degree programme – from essays and term papers right through to your bachelor's degree or Master's thesis.
To provide you with targeted support in this area, we are offering a six-part series of mini-workshops on academic writing. The workshops are aimed at international students from all degree programmes who wish to further develop their linguistic and academic writing skills in German.
All workshops can be attended independently of one another, depending on individual needs. However, the content builds on each other. Please register separately for each workshop you wish to attend.
The workshops are held in German.
In addition, you can book individual writing coaching sessions – either independently of your participation in the workshops or following them. During the coaching sessions, you will receive personalised feedback and targeted support for your own term paper, dissertation or other academic text.
If you are interested in one-to-one coaching, you can speak to the lecturer directly during the workshops or contact the International Office at international@fh-potsdam.de.
About the lecturer:
Dr. phil. Laura Demir – Lecturer in German as a Foreign Language and Literary and Cultural Studies; writing coach and editor
Format:
The session will take place online via Zoom. You will receive the Zoom link after registering.
24/10/2026, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Workshop 1: From idea to research question
How does one formulate a good research question? This workshop demonstrates how topics can be narrowed down, clarified and transformed into researchable questions – without resorting to generalisations or normative statements.
29/10/2026, 7.00 pm – 8.00 pm
Additional course in person: Academic German Decoded
Crash course for international students as part of the Long Night of Writing
Registration: Registration opens on the 7th of October via the Long Night of Writing event website.
07/11/2026, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Workshop 2: Formulating questions in writing
How can a topic be developed into a precise academic research question and formulated clearly in writing? You will learn typical ways of phrasing research questions and practise narrowing down and refining questions, as well as embedding them appropriately within an academic text.
14/11/2026, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Workshop 3: Developing a structure: outline and central theme
How does a research question become a coherent outline? This workshop teaches strategies for structuring text, as well as linguistic tools such as conjunctions and prepositional phrases for organising text.
20/11/2026, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Workshop 4: Citing and summarising academic sources
How are sources correctly cited? The focus is on citation styles, how to handle sources, and the first subjunctive when expressing the views of others.
28/11/2026, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Workshop 5: Academic writing: writing precisely and in a structured manner
What does an academic text sound like? This workshop covers nominal style, typical phrasing and linguistic devices for creating coherent transitions and clear argumentation.
05/12/2026, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Workshop 6: Formulating a conclusion and an outlook
How are findings summarised and contextualised? The focus is on writing conclusions and outlooks, as well as the targeted use of hedging to convey nuanced statements.
