Writing a doctoral thesis can be a lonely experience. Everything else seems to be more important than your own writing project. Against this backdrop, the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (ViDSS) and the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies (DSHCS) offer a five-day writing retreat (Monday noon to Friday evening) in which doctoral candidates can dedicate themselves to their writing projects with professional coaching and support.

The Winter Writing School 2026 at Stift Seitenstetten is for doctoral candidates in the final active writing phase who want to or need to focus on writing – be it their monograph or a paper. The aim is that participants progress in their proposed projects over the course of the retreat. They will spend most of the time writing their individual texts and will have the opportunity to address questions and receive advice according to their needs.

The participants will be accompanied by writing coach Melanie Sindelar who provides structure and is available with expertise for any questions and problems related to writing. There will be space for one-to-one sessions, peer-to-peer exchange and self-assessment rounds.

Language: The Writing Writing School will be held in English but is open to all doctoral candidates regardless of the language in which they are writing their texts.

Coach: Melanie Sindelar is a career coach for early-career academics and an editor and translator of academic and non-fiction work. She holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Vienna and an MSc in anthropology from the University of Oxford. She has held positions at institutions such as the Central European University, Ruhr University Bochum, Charles University, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Target group: The Writing Writing School is open to all members of the DSHCS and the ViDSS. Participants must have successfully passed the public presentation at the Faculty (FÖP) and submitted the doctoral thesis agreement. The Writing School is designed for doctoral candidates in their active writing phase to work on a specific writing project, such as dissertation chapters or a paper. It is not designed for doctoral candidates in the final phase who have already completed their dissertation. Prior to the Writing School, participants will be asked to submit the text they plan to work on during the retreat. This gives them a clear idea of their work package and helps the coach to prepare targeted input.  

Costs and practicalities: The ViDSS, the DSHCS and the respective Faculties cover the costs for accommodation, breakfast, lunch, coffee break, dinner, and the writing coach. Participants cover their own travel costs and will be asked for a cost contribution of € 50 which needs to be paid in advance. 
Please note that PCs or laptops cannot be provided. In addition to your laptop, bring whatever you need to feel comfortable while writing.

Selection: The participants will be selected based on their motivation and the work plan they submitted. All applicants will be informed after the end of the application period. Please note that selected applicants need to pay the cost contribution in order to reserve their place in the Summer Writing School.