Introduction to LaTeX: From Document to Doctoral Thesis

Target group

Doctoral candidates who want to learn how to use LaTeX for writing academic texts, including but not limited to their doctoral thesis.

Content

We‘ve all been there....you are working late into the night trying to finish a paper, but the figures won‘t go where you want them to and the references for your bibliography are getting mixed up....and the footnotes...don‘t even get me started! Thanks, Microsoft Word!

But what if there was another way? Maybe there is: LaTeX.

So what is LaTeX and why should you use it to write your doctoral thesis?

LaTeX is document preparation typesetting system a that uses plain text input in order to create an attractive end product. This software has been in use in academia for decades and improvements are continuously made. It is especially useful for formatting large documents such as books, scientific articles or an academic thesis. LaTeX makes it easy to include references, figures with captions, nice looking tables and equations, and can save you some stress when writing your thesis in addition to making your thesis stand out for its fabulous formatting!

Objectives

By the end of the workshop, you will:

• Have a clearer sense of how to use LaTeX and for what purposes
• Get comfortable with the LaTeX programming environment
• Learn how to include figures, references, equations, cross-references, table of contents, title pages, etc.
• Be able to do basic troubleshooting for LaTeX documents
• Create a plan of action to organize your written thesis with LaTeX

Methods

In this course, we will be using Overleaf, a free web-based LaTeX editor to demonstrate the functionality of LaTeX and in the end we will create a personalized template that you can use for your thesis! The course will be taught in English, but if you are writing in German, this is not a problem. The same principles apply and questions can be asked in German or English. Please bring your laptop as it will be necessary for you to follow along with the course.

Prerequisites

None.