Thank you to all involved in the Ph.D Writers’ Week that took place here in the Writers’ Space of the Regional Writing Centre (C1-065) in January 2017.

Ph.D. Writers’ Week is modeled on similar residential Writers’ Retreats, which the RWC runs with the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Writers’ Week aims to help Ph.D. students advance their writing. It provides a structured approach to writing from 9am- 1pm daily with the option of continuing from 2-5pm, helping participants stay ‘on track’. In addition, writing as a member of a group, where distractions such as e-mail and Facebook are minimised, serves as an additional incentive and creates a productive work atmosphere.

Ph.D Writers’ Week is aimed at Ph.D. students who have a specific writing project which they need to complete. In order to be successful, the Ph.D Writers’ Week requires participants to have clearly defined writing goals, which can be broken down into smaller daily milestones.

 As you can see from the schedule below, two workshops were delivered by The Regional Writing Centre’s co- director Lawrence Cleary, as well as daily-debriefing sessions to structure the participants writing. The writers also met with one of the Regional Writing Centre’s peer tutors for a 30 minute session during the week to discuss a certain aspect of their writing.

Additionally, the writers also enjoy time to socialise with their peers over tea, coffee and lunch on Monday and Friday of the week. This allows writers’ to swap stories about their writing experience and to motivate one another throughout the week. For details on the next Ph.D Writers’ Week in June 2017, please contact writingcentre@ul.ie.