Long Night Against Procrastination

After a well-received first edition, the faculty library and the study counselling team are once again creating the ideal conditions to tackle your (procrastinated) writing and research assignments. From 5 p.m. until midnight, students are welcome in the library to work on their tasks in the company of others. Compared to last year, you now have two extra hours to be productive! Feeling stuck? No worries: ask a writing coach for help, or talk to an information specialist who can assist you in finding relevant literature.  

Because everyone’s ideal working environment looks a little different, you can choose between three workspaces: 

• Social learning: in this space you can feel free to chat aloud with your neighbour or one of the coaches - this way, you can learn from each other
• Ambient music: soft background music plays here to support your thinking processes
• Deep silence: for those who prefer working in complete silence 

Between writing sessions, you can take part in workshops (also in English!) where experts share tips to improve your writing and research process, or you can unwind during a yoga session. A full overview of the programme can be found at the bottom of this page. If you need a break, from 9:30 p.m. onwards you can play board games, throw darts, colour, or stretch your limbs with some 80s aerobics. At midnight, we will close the evening with a concert by GUHO. And of course, as good work requires good fuel, we’ll provide sandwiches, plenty of snacks, and drinks to keep you going throughout the night. 

Registration is required, as the number of participants is limited. Make sure to sign up by 26 February.

Register

Informative workshops from 7:00–7:30 p.m.

Da’k het morregen zal doen. Enkele adviezen om uitstellen aan te pakken (Chris Bulcaen) [session in Dutch] 

Bij uitstelgedrag komen aspecten kijken als afleidingen en verleidingen, laag zelfvertrouwen (of ook wel eens te veel zelfvertrouwen), faalangst, gebrek aan motivatie en waardering. Deze sessie wil vooral concrete adviezen geven om beter om te gaan met die aspecten van uitstelgedrag. 

Haal meer uit databanken (Line Pattyn) [session in Dutch]

Verloopt de zoektocht naar wetenschappelijke literatuur voor jouw onderzoeksopdracht, bachelor- of masterproef moeizaam? Iedereen kent JSTOR, maar wist je dat er veel meer databanken zijn die je kunnen helpen bij je scriptie? Sommige bieden onmiddellijk toegang tot de fulltext, andere leiden je naar cruciale literatuur. En wat met de vernieuwde catalogus? Of zoek je toch niet beter gewoon in Google Scholar?  

An eye for an AI? The identity of the humanities in the (Gen)AI era (Jasper Degraeuwe)

By means of live demos, this voluntarily interactive workshop (i.e. watching TikToks on your laptop while pretending to listen is also allowed) will show how GenAI can be used to assist (i.e. not replace) you in your future professional life. Topics to be discussed range from few-shot prompting to retrieval-augmented generation. After this workshop, the very hot but equally vague term “responsible AI use” will actually have meaning to you!

You Can’t Put off Writing Forever: Strategies to get started, and keep going (Sarah Haas)

Writers are constantly employing personal strategies to progress through the writing process. Participants will be introduced to an overview/framework of different categories of strategy, and invited to discuss their own tricks and tips they use to get started writing and to keep going. 

Informative workshops from 7:45–8:15 p.m.

Van uitgestelde taak tot ingeleverde paper. Waarom je vastzit — en hoe je weer vooruit geraakt (Klaar Vanopstal) [session in Dutch]

Loop je vast met je onderzoek of paper en voelt alles vaag, chaotisch of gewoon hopeloos? In deze korte, interactieve workshop ontdek je waar het precies fout gaat. Je werkt in kleine groepjes rond jouw blokkade in het onderzoeksproces en eindigt met een concrete, haalbare next step. Minder paniek, meer resultaat.

Smart note-taking with Obsidian: An introductory workshop (Willem Derde)

Do you lose track of your notes about what you’ve read? Want to do better than Artificial Intelligence? Then turn your notes, insights, and quotations into a powerful, interconnected web of knowledge—where you effortlessly make connections and retrieve ideas, as if you had built a second brain.

Efficiënt refereren. Vlot aan de slag met Zotero (Arne Dhondt) [session in Dutch]

Met het (gratis!) programma Zotero organiseer je al je literatuur en voeg je eenvoudig correcte referenties in je tekst toe. Zotero helpt je ook om automatisch referentielijsten te maken voor je onderzoekspapers, bachelor- of masterscriptie. Dankzij deze quick start kan je snel aan de slag met het programma.  

Het bos door de bomen. Hoe de structuur van je paper je kan helpen om te beginnen met schrijven (Liesbet Triest) [session in Dutch]

Echt beginnen met schrijven is een van de moeilijkste onderdelen van het schrijfproces. In deze workshop krijg je een heldere blik op hoe de structuur van een paper in elkaar zit en hoe die je kan helpen om die moeilijke eerste woorden op papier te krijgen. En daarna ook de rest.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! How to deal with procrastination (Chris Bulcaen)

Academic procrastination involves aspects such as distractions and temptations, low self-confidence (or sometimes too much self-confidence), fear of failure, lack of motivation and appreciation. This session mainly wants to give concrete advice on how to better deal with those aspects of procrastination.

Relaxing activities

Learn to relax with yoga (Polly Hazarika)  

Would you like to get acquainted with yoga? Then this is the perfect introductory session. Polly Hazarika has been practising yoga for 25 years and will use this class to create a sense of bodily awareness, both in movement and in stillness. Individual attention and adaptations are possible, so everyone can participate — complete beginners as well as those with some experience. You don’t need to bring your own mat, but do wear comfortable clothing! Two sessions: 7:00–7:30 p.m. and 7:45–8:15 p.m. The instruction language is Dutch.

Get energized with 80s aerobics (80s Aerobics Allstars Team) 

Boost your energy and confidence during this empowering 80s aerobics session led by Petra and her Allstars Team. Under the motto “nothing is required and nothing has to be perfect,” this colourful, positive crew gets absolutely everyone moving to the best music of the eighties. To help you fully embrace the vibe, they even bring a dress-up box filled with matching outfits. It’s the perfect opportunity to get out of your head and into your body. Three sessions: 9:30–10:15 p.m., 10:15–11:00 p.m., and 11:00–11:45 p.m. The instruction language is Dutch.