Doctoral seminar: The ii Paper-A-Thon

This year’s edition of the Doctoral Seminar (DocSem), organized by Manuel Schmidt-Kraepelin and Niclas Kannengießer, focused on one of the most essential skills for early-career researchers: developing and communicating research ideas effectively. Under the theme of a "Paper-A-Thon,” the three-day seminar offered PhD students a structured, hands-on experience in academic writing, reviewing, and presenting.

The seminar was built around a sequence of sessions designed to partially simulate the academic publishing process, starting from initial idea generation and ending with a formal academic presentation. Each day combined expert-led workshops with time for group work and peer feedback.

Three focused sessions guided the participants through key stages of academic communication:

• Dr. Niclas Kannengießer opened the academic programme with a session on how to pitch your research, providing the PhD students with a template to use.
• Dr. Benjamin Sturm continued with a session on how to write an (extended) abstract, where participants learned how to structure their abstracts and align with academic expectations.
• Kathrin Brecker followed with a practical workshop on what makes a good academic presentation, sharing strategies for clear, confident delivery and compelling slide design.
• Dr. Scott Thiebes led the third session on how to do good reviews, providing insights into the peer review process, evaluation criteria, and how to write constructive, balanced feedback.

Between these sessions, participants worked in groups to iteratively develop their own paper ideas. Starting with a short research pitch, each team refined their concept into an extended abstract and finally into a presentation. A collaborative review process followed, in which all abstracts were assessed by peers, providing valuable experience in both giving and receiving academic feedback.

To conclude the seminar, two awards were presented: one for the Best Reviewer (Philipp Toussaint), acknowledging the participant who delivered the most insightful and constructive reviews, and one for the Best Group Effort, honoring outstanding teamwork and research development.

Beyond the academic program, the seminar also fostered community-building and informal exchange among participants, reinforcing the value of peer support during the PhD journey.

One example of this was the morning running club. They did not only go for a run, but also discovered the local Kneipp basin.

Overall, DocSem 2025 proved to be an enriching and motivating experience, helping doctoral researchers strengthen their academic skill set and gain confidence in communicating their research in professional settings.