— with Roland Toth (WI) and Jochen Knaus (WI)
When: September 10, 2026, 10am-3.30pm
Where: WI Flexroom (A1_04); in-person only
Level: Beginner/intermediate
Category: Software, typesetting
Seats: 20
Writing is at the core of scientific work. Working on papers, research proposals, reports, and reviews is one of the most important aspects of scientists’ everyday tasks. In recent years, LaTeX has grown in popularity as a typesetting system and markup language for scientific and technical writing in the social sciences. Unlike software such as Microsoft Word and Google Docs, LaTeX distinguishes between a document’s source text (consisting of the content and formatting instructions) and its rendered version (e.g., a PDF file, containing the formatted content). This provides more precision and control by separating text semantic and its formatting. LaTeX is also popular because it is a common endpoint for document generation feed by modern programming frameworks and libraries, such as R Markdown, Quarto, Sweave, or PyLaTeX.
This workshop introduces participants to LaTeX through Overleaf. Overleaf is a web service that works in any modern browser and that does not require installing software. Similar to Google Docs, Overleaf supports collaborative writing. Documents can be shared and edited together in real time, also allowing to post comments and track changes. While Overleaf can be used on its official website for free (with limited features) or with a subscription plan (to unlock more features), the Weizenbaum Institute hosts its own instance of Overleaf on secured servers.
The workshop introduces participants to the basics of Overleaf (e.g., setting up an account, creating a project, collaboration, and file management) and the fundamentals of LaTeX (e.g., formatting, packages, and citations). Participants will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned within a small project.
To ensure an interactive setting, participation is limited to 20 seats. The workshop is aimed at participants at a beginner to intermediate level.
Roland Toth is Data Scientist at the Methods Lab at the Weizenbaum Institute, where he supports the research groups at the institute methodologically. His research focuses on the measurement of mobile media use and mobile methods, such as experience sampling, logging, and data donations.
Jochen Knaus is Research Information Officer and AI Officer at the Weizenbaum Institute.