The learning workshop of the ZSKB (Central Study and Career Counselling Office). offers all students advice and help in the form of workshops on academic work.

They analyse and evaluate the significance of key topics and concepts and apply appropriate strategies and methods for dealing with subject-relevant issues. They deal with fundamental and specialised theoretical findings as well as more recent developments and research-related questions. The tasks are completed independently and on their own responsibility in small groups and are intensively supervised by the lecturers.

Workshops, counselling and help with academic work and writing

As a rule, presentations include the following, unless the lecturer specifies further criteria in the course:

• the written paper, see here: Handreichung wissenschaftliches Arbeiten
• the oral presentation in the seminar,
• and the discussion of the presentation.

The duration and scope of the presentation are determined by the lecturer or are specified in the subject-specific appendices of the subjects. You can also find guidelines for this in the above-mentioned handout. In consultation with the lecturers, the lectures can be prepared and led by the lecturers.

The lecture should be presented freely in your own words, no overly detailed quotations should be reproduced and quotations must always be labelled as such. The preparation of a thesis paper and the use of media during the presentation should be accepted as standard.

A presentation should present the topic, e.g. the theses of an author or the controversies about a topic or the knowledge about a subject as precisely as possible on the basis of the studies and reflect critically on them. The presentation of the topic should be clearly distinguished from personal criticism and individual judgement.

As a rule, seminar papers should examine a question chosen by the student or specified by the lecturer from the subject area of the course using scientific literature (bibliography - specify further reading). The subject of the seminar papers are the results of the research and the reasons that lead to conclusions, but not the students' own work and cognitive processes. The above-mentioned handout can also provide guidelines for seminar papers.

In principle, written assignments should be structured as follows:

1. introduction

• Relevance of the topic
• Objective of the paper
• Procedure for achieving the objective

2. main part

• Clarification of terms
• Giving structure to each chapter
• Reference to the objective
• Importance of the chapter for the topic
• Sequence of the individual sections in the chapter
• ...

3. conclusion

• Summary
• Evaluation + outlook

The research question

The research question is the central point of a successful scientific paper. Due to the complexity of reality and the constant development of political knowledge and decisions, a subject of research often has many aspects. The research question should focus on certain aspects and thus possibly neglect others that may also be important and worth investigating. The research question indicates which aspect is to be investigated.

The design of a study

On the basis of a research question, it should be clarified how the problem raised is to be investigated and in which steps the argumentation is to follow.

Theory reference

Findings can arise, for example, through the interaction of theory and empiricism. Theories are constructs (e.g. models, general relationships) that can help to organise, systematise and explain empirical observations. Within a scientific paper, theory and empiricism can be assigned to each other in different ways. It should be clear what weight should be given to theory and empiricism in the work.

The procedure

Once the research question, the design of the thesis and the type of theoretical reference have been determined, the sequence and relevance of the argumentation should be decided. This will then determine the structure of the thesis. All individual steps should follow a 'common thread' and be related to each other.