From November 24 to 28, twenty young scholars gathered for an inspiring writing retreat.
The goal of the four-day event was to create space for uninterrupted writing, spark new ideas and support one another in the often-solitary journey of academic research. The retreat combined focused writing time, engaging workshops, and community-building activities:
- Writing Sessions: Dedicated blocks for tackling dissertations and papers in a calm, productive environment.
- Research Bingo: As a playful get-to-know activity and to help each other connect, participants played a round of research bingo – aiming to find multiple other scholars working on the same questions, using the same method or aspiring to complete the same goals.
- Self-Motivation and Organisation Workshop: An exchange of good tools, methods but also challenges PhD students face when working on their own long-term projects
- ‘Meet the Writers’: An online roundtable, in which two alumni - Moritz Appels and Rebecca Ruehle – as well as two accomplished scholars – Andreas Ostermeier and Astrid Hopfensitz – joined us to share their own personal tips and tricks on writing well.
- Evening Connections: Peer feedback, idea-sharing, and moments to unwind over a good meal and the peaceful atmosphere of Wittenberg at night.
Participants left feeling energized and accomplished, with many making major progress on their work. One attendee put it simply: “I got more done in two hours here than in the entire last week.”
A huge thank you to the Karl Schlecht Stiftung and the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg for making this retreat possible. Their support helped create a space where ideas thrived and progress flourished.