Scientific Writing Workshops

Scientific writing workshops are conceived for PhD students and postdocs who would like to make their writing process more structured and effective. They're tailored to members of the physics department and are meant to complement the courses and services offered by the ETH Library.

Available formats

Two-day workshop

• The workshop takes place over two consecutive full weekdays in Hönggerberg.
• To make the workshop more interactive, participants do some preparation work: they are asked to find examples of papers that make great or daunting reads as well as to share samples of their writing prior to the workshop.

Half-day workshop

• This version of the workshop is conceived for an extended group meeting or a group retreat: its duration can vary from two to four hours.
• As the scale is smaller, the workshop is meant to focus on the group's research topics.
  
• The structure of the workshop is shaped by the group's input: participants are asked to share their drafts prior to the event, so that most writing examples discussed during the workshop come directly from the group's work in progress.

What these writing workshops are

• They're an opportunity to gain better awareness of one's reading and writing processes.
• They cover fundamental aspects of the scientific writing practice and discuss common pitfalls best avoided when writing scholarly texts.
• They offer pointers for revising one's writing and for giving feedback on other people's writing.
  
• They provide an overview of the scientific publishing landscape and of the journal peer-review process.

What these writing workshops are not

• They aren't English language courses. The Language Center of UZH and ETH Zurich has a rich external page selection of language courses.
  
• They focus on writing scientific papers, which by extension can apply to reports and theses. Writing grant proposals is a different matter and is not discussed.