The two organisers: Katharina Hertfelder and Sabine Vetter-Hauser
The Long Night of Writing at HFU resounding success
The “Long Night of Writing” took place for the first time in the Schwenningen campus library at the beginning of December. From 6.00 - 10.00pm students and others who were interested were able to experience a diverse and inspiring programme that covered many different aspects of academic writing, as well as other facets of writing situations in everyday university life.
After a warm welcome by Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Enkler and a short introduction by Katharina Hertfelder, who welcomed those interested in writing on behalf of the entire organising team, the event started with a motivating warm-up freewriting session that helped participants get into writing quickly and easily. Participants were then treated to a wide selection of workshops and lectures designed by dedicated speakers from various departments. Among the most popular offers were “Tell me a story. Tips and tricks for writing scientific texts” by Prof. Dr. Markus Egert and “The use of AI in scientific writing – the rules” with Prof. Dr. Christoph Zydorek.
For those interested in research and literature management, there were practical introductions such as "Research Check-up: Fit for the Long Night of Writing“ with Peter Daub, ”Mastering References with Zotero: A Practical Introduction for Academic Writing“ by Dr. Ozan Varli, ”Literature Research: Which AI Tools Help?" with Sabine Vetter-Hauser, and support for Citavi and other tools by Friederike Broß, among others. The student assistants at the HFU CARES Writing Center offered international perspectives and lighthearted entertainment with “Of blank pages and big words: writing myths from an international perspective,” while Prof. Dr. Stefan Selke provided creative inspiration with “Be a voice – not an echo! Optimistic messages for the future on vinyl.” For a targeted introduction to academic work, Prof. Dr. Paul Taylor gave the online Zoom workshop “Building your thesis in 15 minutes.” Katharina Hertfelder, certified writing consultant and initiator of the event, who has been offering individual writing advice on study-related and career-oriented writing for international students since April 2025, provided insight into four important topics in the writing process. For example, she introduced students to the strategy of reverse outlining, which writers can use to specifically review and improve the structure of their texts. The programme was accompanied by guided exercise breaks and workshops on healthy eating during the writing process, offered by Maximilian Federer.
The positive response and lively participation show how great the interest is in academic writing and exchange formats such as this. The interdisciplinary focus and wide variety of topics created a lively atmosphere and provided numerous new ideas. The first “Long Night of Writing” at HFU was a resounding success – many thanks to all those involved for their commitment, to the Public Science Lab for their cooperation, and to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Academic Exchange Service for their support!
