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Target Audience: All staff

We also host an online Power Hour of Writing on the last Friday of each month. You can sign up to the online sessions here. 

Following a highly successful kick-off event in December 2025, the Power Hour of Writing (PHOW) is here to stay! PHOW will now take place in-person monthly. This is a chance for staff to write distraction-free, build community, and celebrate progress together.

Agenda: 10 min goal setting, 1 hour writing, 10 min share progress

"This was great for a full productive hour of writing!" - anonymous, Dec 2025.

"It put me in such a productive mindset which lasted the rest of the day!" - anonymous, Dec 2025.

The Power Hour of Writing was created by Dr Stephanie Zihms, currently at Glasgow Caledonian University, and is designed to help researchers carve out protected time for writing, foster a sense of community, and celebrate progress together. This hour is yours to write without distractions, whether you’re drafting a grant proposal, editing a report/article, or finishing your thesis. For more information about the Power Hour of Writing, see their website. 

This is a joint initiative between the Researcher Development Teams for postgraduate researchers and research staff to foster a supportive and inclusive environment.

The evidence it works 

Dr Stephanie Zihms (Glasgow Caledonian University) and Dr Clare Reid Mackie (University of the West of Scotland) found that researchers attending the Power Hour of Writing reported greater writing-related confidence, an improved sense of belonging within academic communities, and felt the initiative enabled them to legitimise time writing (Zihms and Mackie, 2023).  

References 

Zihms, S.G. and Mackie, C.R., 2023. The Power Hour of Writing: An empirical evaluation of our online writing community. Journal of Academic Writing, 13(1), pp.22-34

Accessibility

The session is being held in room TC721 of the TIC Building. Before attending the session, please contact staffcards@strath.ac.uk to request TIC level 7 access is added to your staff card.

Please sign in either with reception, or using the machines on your right as you enter TIC, on arrival. To access room TC721 you can take the lift to level 7 and use your staff card on the swipe pad for the doors immediately to your left. Once through those doors, room TC721 is the second door on the corridor and requires swipe access. If you have any issues, please speak to reception staff who will be able to help.

On-campus activity

• Full access information for the venue is available via AccessAble 
• Hybrid provision is not available 
• There will be audience participation
• There will not be any breaks
• The session is relaxed – this means you can stretch, move around, stim etc.
• In line with current University health and safety guidance, attendees are encouraged to use face masks
• The room has mechanical ventilation / The room has passive ventilation (i.e. open windows
• Please contact osdu-equity@strath.ac.uk to discuss any further access requirements

Prerequisites