In 2008, Barbara Budrich and two business partners founded the training company, which was initially called Text-Uni. Since 2012, it has been operating under the name budrich training. It started with face-to-face workshops on academic publishing – now budrich training offers writing workshops, writing clubs, coaching and webinars in German and English on various areas of academic publishing and academic career planning. Five trainers are on board at budrich training. But what exactly does budrich training do and who are the trainers?
1 The founder
Barbara Budrich began working as an editor in 1993 at the publishing house Leske + Budrich, which belonged to her father Edmund Budrich. In 2004, after the sale of Leske + Budrich, she founded her first own company, Verlag Barbara Budrich. She has published numerous books and essays and is invited to speak on various occasions – from academic publishing to corporate topics.
Barbara Budrich was still working in her father’s company when she was first asked if she could give a workshop on academic publishing: “Barbara, would you organise a workshop on academic publishing with our young academics? They are participants in a research training group and all plan to publish their dissertations in the near future.” People who know Barbara Budrich can imagine that she immediately agreed. That was the beginning. Over the years, the requests increased: from universities, research training groups, professional societies and organisations. From offices for equal opportunities, from graduate schools, from centres of university didactics. The text university or budrich training came into being.
2 The idea
Those who do not publish in the sciences do not disseminate their findings and achievements and are thus not present in the field. However, it is rarely a lack of ideas that prevents both young and experienced scientists from publishing. Rather, it is questions about how to find the right publication partner or how a text should be written.
The aim of budrich training is to disseminate more information on the topics of scientific writing and publishing and to close the gap between the publishing and scientific worlds.
3 The approach
The trainers come from the real world – they are editors, consultants and publishing people. They have systematically prepared their writing and publishing experience to pass it on in workshops, lectures and coaching sessions.
Whether students, young academics or experiences researchers – budrich training offers tailor-made programmes for every step of the academic career, for the respective subject areas and the specific purpose.
Experience shows that all career stages and subject areas have their own challenges. Therefore, our workshops and coaching always include pre-talks in which the budrich training team informs you about the different options or determines your needs with you.
4 The workshops and coaching sessions
“Ask the Publisher!” or “Academic Writing Style Booster” are the names of some of our English-language workshops. Most academics and academic authors take part in one of the budrich training workshops at conferences and summer schools, within the programmes of graduate schools or at education centres at universities. Within one to three hours, participants receive compact insights into the world of scientific writing and publishing.
For academics who want to work specifically on their writing style or develop their own publication strategy, budrich training offers workshops lasting one to several days: In “Publishing in the English Language Academic Market for Non-native Speakers”, participants learn, for example, what they need to pay attention to when they want to publish on the English-language academic market and how the working methods of English-language publishers differ from those of German publishers.
In the budrich training writing workshops, participants deal with the stylistic and formal basics of scientific writing. They learn helpful writing techniques and work – preferably in small groups – on their own texts.
budrich training offers coaching, workshops and advice on academic writing, publishing and career development all year round – within and outside the semester break, on-site or online. In addition to workshops, budrich training’s portfolio includes the webinar series “Publishing Insights” as well as individual and academic coaching and writing clubs.
5 The trainers
In addition to Barbara Budrich, four trainers currently share their knowledge in workshops, writing clubs and coaching sessions; one staff member coordinates the events.
Christine Ehlers is a freelance communications consultant and trainer and teaches tried-and-tested approaches from journalism and PR for texts that get noticed.
Jakob Horstmann works as a journalist, editor and independent consultant for international publishing in Germany, the UK and Eastern Europe. Previously, he worked as an editor at Zed Books in London.
Miriam von Maydell is programme manager at the publishing house Barbara Budrich and studied German and English language and literature with a focus on gender studies in Bonn, Potsdam and Lancaster. Previously, she worked as a freelance editor, among other things.
Cathrin Mund has coordinated budrich training since November 2021 and is responsible for organisation, marketing and PR. She is also responsible for international marketing and sales at the Barbara Budrich publishing house.
Do you have questions about budrich training? Get in touch with us.
Header photo: pexels.com / Karolina Grabowska
