FAU Writing Center: Your secret weapon for perfect theses!

FAU Writing Center: Your secret weapon for perfect theses!

The Writing Center at the Language Center of the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) offers comprehensive support for students, doctoral candidates and employees who are faced with the challenge of writing academic papers. This support includes projects such as term papers, theses and dissertations as well as preparation for language exams. April 22, 2025 shows that the need for professional writing advice is constantly growing.

Individual writing consultations are at the heart of the offer and help those seeking advice to structure the writing process, start texts or revise existing work. In personal consultations, participants talk to trained writing consultants about their texts. The consultations are tailored to the individual needs of the students, be it the specific development of research questions or the optimization of the entire work process. Language challenges such as grammar and expression, which are crucial for the quality of scientific texts, are also common concerns among those seeking advice.

A wide range of offerings for writing support

The writing center offers a variety of free services. This includes the open writing consultation hour, which can be attended every Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. without prior registration. In addition, workshops to improve academic writing take place annually in German and English. The “Long Night of Writing” will be held in March, offering workshops and writing advice to promote writing in a creative environment.

In addition, paid workshops are offered specifically for academic writing, which support scientists in successfully writing English-language publications. Highly specialized writing retreats and tailored workshops for departments or working groups are also available and are very popular. These retreats help participants develop productive writing habits and expand their writing skills.

The process of academic writing

Academic writing, the offer emphasizes, is fundamentally different from academic and journalistic writing. It requires specific specialist knowledge and a special use of language. Each text genre has its own requirements, for example the structure of a term paper is completely different to that of an essay or internship report. The strategies needed to write a five-page text are significantly different from those needed for longer theses of 30 or 60 pages. The Writing Center supports students in every phase of their writing projects and provides valuable resources to help them specifically develop their writing skills.

However, responsibility for the text always remains with the writer. The Writing Center does not proofread texts and does not offer any content support. Another important aspect of the advice offered is the exploration of topics such as procrastination, time management and the use of new technologies, including the use of AI in writing projects.

Overall, the Writing Center is viewed by many at FAU as an essential service point for promoting and further developing writing skills. This initiative is crucial to supporting students and researchers on their academic journey.

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