Work aids: guides & AI tools

General information about the work aids

Academic writing and working poses a variety of challenges: from finding a topic, researching and writing a text to formal and stylistic design.

On this page you will find aids for all phases of your work process:

  • Classic working aids: Guidelines and form specifications from your specialist areas, supplemented by handouts for researching, presenting and citing.
  • AI-supported tools: digital tools that can support you in your work and help you, for example, to structure ideas, refine texts or formulate search queries.

Important: The content and formal requirements of your lecturers or departments always take priority. Use AI as a tool, not as a substitute for your own academic work. Responsibility for the content always lies with the user.

Link: AI research tools

Guides & handouts

AI: General

Regulation on the use of AI at Trier UAS?

Important: The use of AI for text creation is not yet uniformly regulated at Trier University of Applied Sciences. Please clarify with your lecturers whether and in what way AI-supported tools are permitted when writing your seminar papers or theses.

Overview links

Selection:

AI: Application areas

Finding topics and brainstorming

What for?

  • At the beginning of a writing project, the question often arises: What do I want to or should I write about? What is the topic I have chosen about?
  • AI tools can be available to you as a dialog partner to gain initial insights, structure aspects of a topic, generate questions or identify gaps in existing research.


Selection:

Literature research

What for?

  • Literature research forms the basis of a scientific paper. Especially at the beginning of a writing or research project, it is difficult to find your way through the multitude of potentially relevant search tools and sources.
  • AI-supported tools can help you gain a better idea of your search objectives, compile research terms, formulate search queries, select databases or obtain an overview of the current state of research.


Selection:

Text comprehension and analysis

What for?

  • Scientific sources can require a great deal of reading or a lot of prior knowledge. The question often arises: Is it worth investing a lot of time in understanding the source or is it not relevant to my work?
  • AI tools allow you to make the decision easier with simplified summaries, visualizations or interactive explanations.


Selection:

  • General
    Generative models such as ChatGPT ("Please explain the following section to me in simple terms ...")
  • Explainpaper
    Explainpaper
  • Tilda Technologies
    Humata
  • SciSummery
    SciSummery
Text production

For what?

  • Writing and structuring scientific texts is laborious and time-consuming. It is often difficult to write a first draft (“fear of the blank sheet of paper”).
  •  AI tools can support you by creating initial text and outline suggestions.


Selection:

  • General
    Generative models such as ChatGPT ("I am writing a seminar paper on the topic ... Can you give me an introduction ...")
  • Jenni
    jenni
  • Cactus Communications
    Paperpal
  • Samwell
    Samwell
  • Writesonic
    Writesonic
Text revision and correction

What for?

  • The first versions of a scientific text usually contain a number of flaws: spelling mistakes, unscientific formulations, weaknesses in argumentation, etc. It is therefore important to revise your own text in several loops.
  • AI tools can support you with language correction, stylistic improvement or argumentation checks.


Selection:

Visualization and creative help

What for?

  • Especially if you want to present your results in a lecture or poster, it makes sense to work with illustrations and visualizations.
  • AI tools can help you to generate diagrams, concept maps, poster ideas, illustrations or layouts.


Selection:

Prompt generators

What for?

  • The results you get from generative AI models such as ChatGPT depend heavily on how you communicate with the AI. In general, the following applies: The more concretely you describe the background and context of your request, the better results you will achieve.
  • There are tools to help you formulate your input.


Selection:

Questions? Suggestions?

Please contact our information team:

AI use: Please read

  • The use of AI for text creation is not yet uniformly regulated at Trier University of Applied Sciences. You should therefore clarify with your lecturers whether and in what way AI-supported tools are permitted when writing your seminar papers or theses.
  • Generative AI models such as ChatGPT can provide incorrect or even invented statements or sources (“hallucinations”). Therefore, check all information critically.
  • The use of AI should be understood as support. Do not miss the opportunity to develop your own research skills.
  • The use of AI can have problematic aspects, for example in relation to copyright issues or the high energy requirements.
  • AI tools are developing rapidly. We endeavor to keep this website up to date, but can only provide a snapshot of the possibilities currently available. Suggestions are welcome.

Web Editing Library

Missing information? Broken links?
Please send your suggestions and comments to:

webredbib[at]umwelt-campus.de

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