Writing Center
Do you need help getting started with your writing project? Do you want to narrow down your topic, organise your text effectively or are you unsure about citing or using AI? Then you have come to the right place! The Schreibwerkstatt team supports students with questions relating to academic writing by offering a variety of formats such as individual writing consultations, workshops and self-study materials.
Open office hours during the Wintersemester 25/26
Our open office hours at the Student Center will take place every Monday from 4:15-5:45 pm during the semester, starting on November 3. As usual, they will be held in room 53/110.
Just drop by! If you have any questions or would like to make an appointment outside of office hours, just email us at schreibwerkstatt@uos.de.
Micromodule "Managing the academic writing processes"
In this self-study unit, you will find many tips and techniques to familiarize yourself with and better manage your own academic writing process. You can discover your writing type(s) using self-tests and learn which methods might be suitable for which stage of the writing process. The aim is to make you aware of the many small steps that lead to a successful writing project and to develop strategies for each of these steps, be it for planning, research, rough drafting or the subsequent revision with fine-tuning. If you are already an experienced writer, this MiMo can also serve as an overview, especially the appendix with alphabetically listed writing strategies.
Register for the micromodule: Managing the academic writing processes and get started!
By the way: The micromodule was created by the Writing Center team at Osnabrück University in cooperation with virtUOS ( UOS.DLL project)
About us
Hello, we are the Schreibwerkstatt - a small team that supports you in all aspects of academic writing. Our aim is to provide you with support in effectively developing your academic writing skills. We offer individual writing consultations as well as workshops on topics such as text organization, the use of AI and writer's block. In the lecture-free periods, we host a digital writing week. Here you have the opportunity to attend workshops as well as writing sessions where you can work on your writing tasks in the company of other students. We are also represented at the “Lange Nacht der aufgeschobenen Hausarbeiten” [Long Night of postponed term papers] with additional consultations, workshops and writing sessions. Just get in touch with us, we look forward to hearing from you!
Workshops and seminars
The Writing Center also offers individual workshops tailored to specific needs. Interested parties can email schreibwerkstatt@uni-osnabrueck.de with their proposed topic.
We will discuss your ideas with you in more detail so that we can plan and, if necessary, offer the workshop. At least five participants are required for the workshop to take place.
One-to-one writing consultations at the Schreibwerkstatt: Frequently Asked Questions
Every now and again while writing an academic text, there comes a time when it is useful to talk about either the text or the writing process itself. Talking about it can help you to clarify your thoughts, anticipate problems and return you to your writing with renewed vigour. To help you do this, you can schedule a one-to-one writing consultation at any point during the writing process. We offer advice on writing about all academic genres including term-papers, essays, journal articles, or dissertations and theses. You can either use our open consultation sessions or arrange for an individual appointment by emailing schreibwerkstatt@uni-osnabrueck.de.
A typical consultation session is an individual matter and is thus geared towards the writer and their particular concerns. You will usually be asked to present your concerns to us so that we can help you to find solutions. You can also submit a text sample of three to five pages before the consultation. You can formulate specific questions concerning the sample, which can serve as the session’s starting point. In principle, however, you can make use of a consultation session at any point during the writing process, even if you have not yet produced any text.
We usually set aside approx. 60 minutes for each session. Where necessary, further sessions can be scheduled, or the initial session can be extended.
The purpose of a consultation is to offer you lasting support at all points in the academic writing process. We deal with issues such as:
- Time-management
- Writer's Block
- Finding a topic
- Developing and formulating a research question or thesis statement
- Outlining and structuring a text
- Building an argument
- Embedding quotations
- Avoiding plagiarism
- Linguistic adequacy and appropriationess
- Revision strategies
- Using (online-)resources
- Academic writing in a foreign language
The following issues are not part of our expertise:
- Proofreading entire texts
- Helping you with the funtions of specific text-processing programs (e.g. Microsoft Word or open Office)
- Using the library catalogue and literature databases
- Evaluating content and discipline-specific matters
- Predicting or speculating about the grade
To arrange an indidividual consultation, simply send an email to schreibwerkstatt@uni-osnabrueck.de. We also offer regular open consultation hours at the Student Center, which are held by our peer tutors. You can find the dates for the current semester on our homepage.
- Writing Center: Workshops on various issues related to academic writing. Workshops geared towards specific target groups can be designed and offered on request for a minimum of five participants.
- Language Center: Classes and workshops about German or English for academic purposes.
- University Library: literature research, databases, reference management tools, citation styles. Further topics covered by the library together with its full programme of workshops and support be found on their homepage.
- Equal Opportunities Office: Support for students with a disability or chronic disease.
- Studying PLuS: A handy overview of all course formats that facilitate soft-skill development.
- Schools and institutes: Departments and institutes sometimes offer discipline-specific support; please refer to their homepages.
- Student Services: Psychological and social counselling.