Workshops
Every semester, the Writing Lab organises interactive, hands-on (and free!) workshops to help you improve your academic writing skills.
Don't know exactly what is expected of you when it comes to writing assignments? Do you want to sharpen your academic writing style or structure your text more clearly? Or maybe you're working on your thesis and you're looking for tactics to keep yourself disciplined in your writing? Then our workshops are for you! Take a look below for the full range of workshops in the first semester of 2025-26 and sign up! You can register for the basic skills workshop with the POPcorner: see the links under Basic skills in academic writing below.
Workshop descriptions
Whatever your educational background, academic writing at university can be a big challenge. What exactly is an academic text? How do you come up with a good research question? How do you give your paper a clear structure and use an academic writing style? In this workshop--organized together with POPcorner the Hague--we will address these questions and teach you the basic rules and techniques of academic writing, so you know exactly how to approach your next academic writing assignment.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: Dutch and English editions
Class format: Group on campus
Duration: 2 hours
Upcoming editions:
- September 30th 15.15-17.00 - English. Location: Apiary (Beehive Student Centre, Turfmarkt 104 2511 DC The Hague).
- October 2nd 15.15-17.00 - Dutch. Location: Apiary (Beehive Student Centre, Turfmarkt 104 2511 DC The Hague).
Your teachers keep insisting on it: your text must have a clear structure! This makes sense, because a clear structure makes a text more pleasant to read and easier to understand. In this workshop you will learn how to structure your text in a crystal clear way at both chapter and paragraph level, for example by using core sentences and signal words. In this way you will lift your academic writing skills to a higher level.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: Dutch and English editions
Class format: Group on campus
Duration: 2 hours
Upcoming editions:
- October 13th 15:15-17:00 - Dutch. Location: Lipsius 1.13 (Leiden)
- October 15th 15:15-17:00 - English (The Hague)
Academic writing assignments must be written in an academic style. But what does that actually mean? What exactly makes a writing style academic or non-academic? In this workshop you learn to evaluate your own writing style and to make it more academic where necessary by looking at texts in detail. This way you will lift your writing style to a higher level in no time.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: Dutch and English editions
Class format: Group on campus
Duration: 2 hours
Upcoming editions:
- October 29th 15.15-17:00 - Dutch. Location: Lipsius 1.13 (Leiden)
- October 29th 15.15-17:00 - English. Location: Wijnhaven 3.18 (The Hague)
Writing a thesis or paper can be a big challenge, especially now study space on campus is becoming scarce and you need to spend more of your writing time at home. How to make sure you can get to work motivated and concentrated, and write efficiently? In this workshop we will explain the best strategies and you will have the opportunity to share your experiences and tips & tricks with students in the same boat as you: procrastination will soon be a thing of the past!
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: Dutch and English editions
Class format: Group on campus
Duration: 2 hours
Upcoming editions:
- December 1st 15:15-17:00 - Dutch. Location: Lipsius 1.13 (Leiden)
- December 2nd 13.15-15.00 - English. Location: Wijnhaven 2.60 (The Hague)
Generative AI is a hot topic: new developments happen blindingly fast and where one person embraces the tech, another strongly objects to its use. It may very well by that you already use GenAI in your course prep! In this workshop we want to move beyond this yes/no divide and think with each other about how and when to use GenAI in our academic writing process. To do so, we will also zoom out a little and tackle questions such as: what is GenAI to begin with? What can and can't these programs do? Should this software have a place within higher education? What are the pros, what are the cons? And (a crucial question) how does GenAI relate to plagiarism? Everyone interested is welcome: whether you're an experienced user, a sceptic, or just don't know how to feel about it just yet. The goal of the workshop is to have an open discussion that will help us make responsible choices concerning our use of GenAI.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: Dutch and English editions
Class format: Group on campus
Duration: 2 hours
Upcoming editions:
- 9 December 15.15-17.00 - Dutch. Location: Lipsius 1.13 (Leiden)
- 10 December 15.15-17.00 - English. Location: Wijnhaven 2.19 (The Hague)