From September 22nd to 24th, 2025 we, that is 28 PhD and MD students together with six postdocs and PIs, have travelled to Alexisbad for our yearly SynAGE retreat. This year’s goal was to set aside time to support everyone in their individual writing processes: no matter what everybody had on their mind. From research proposals to manuscripts that had to be written, from reviews to the final PhD or MD thesis everything was possible.
For quality time without distractions, we chose a conference hotel in the small Harz town of Alexisbad. In addition to green forests and slopes, there’s plenty of fresh air and peace and quiet. The latter is only sometimes interrupted by the sounds of the narrow gauge railway named Selketalbahn and some of it’s steam trains. In this setting, all participants had the opportunity to fully focus on our shared goal: making progress in their own writing process.
In order to provide inspiration and foster networking, Dana Zöllner, Janelle Pakan and Oliver Stork each provided an input session on different topics focussing on writing tips and tricks, plagiarism and AI help as well as how the overall procedure of submitting a PhD thesis works at our university. Each session led to questions and discussions and provided an inspirational kick-off for the day.
The peaceful nature around us inspired some participants to take an evening stroll or prepare for the new day with a morning run. On the second day, personal writing time was interrupted for a short group hike—and not just to stretch our legs. On the wooden slopes, many interesting discussions ensued.
pictures provided by Liudmila Sosulina and Dana Zöllner