Looking for a little mid-winter productivity boost? We’ve got you covered!
We have a great range of workshops coming up in July, covering everything from SPSS and NVivo data analysis skills, to many perspectives on writing, to preparing for those doctoral milestones (PGR9 and oral examinations). Check out the details below.
July is also a busy month for our 3MT competition, with judges making their deliberations in advance of the AUT finals event on August 4th. (Be sure to register if you’d like to attend the finals – it’s always a good time!)
We’ve had some buzz around the Research Students’ Peer Groups lately, and several groups (the Research Writing Group; Qualitative and Mixed Methods Group; and the Distance Students’ Group) are now going strong with new leaders. Check out the full range of groups and info on how to join here.
Finally, we have our last Write-Away day for the year on July 7th – if you applied for that one, you should have already been advised of the outcome. Applications are now open for the full writing retreat from 2-5 October, so you can apply here if you’re interested in that.
Postgraduate Research Workshops in July
| What? | Where? | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Communicating your research identity Focuses on thinking through who you are as a researcher for the purpose of generating and refining content for research profiles and considering where to publish. Suited to doctoral and non-doctoral students (masters, honours) who want to develop and communicate their research identity. | Online | Mon 3 Jul, 12:00pm – 2:00pm |
| Thesis writing: Introductions An overview of the structure of an Introduction section of a thesis. Identifies typical functions and distinctive features of this section in relation to the whole research project. Participants analyse and discuss text examples and relate these to their own writing. | Online | Tue 4 Jul, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| SPSS core skills for students SPSS is designed to assist researchers in the analysis of quantitative data. This training course will teach participants how to successfully set-up SPSS data files and also run some basic analyses. No statistical knowledge is required for this workshop; however, the focus of the session will be on the SPSS software rather than statistical theory. | Online | Fri 7 Jul, 10:00am – 12:00pm |
| Thesis formatting: The works This workshop focuses on the best ways to use Microsoft Word to handle a long document such as a thesis. Topics covered will include: using styles, section breaks, table of contents, page numbering and using various techniques to move around a long document easily. | City campus | Sat 8 Jul, 9:00am – 2:00pm |
| Writing about research significance Explores where and how you can make your research findings stand out. Participants will consider ‘what matters’ and ‘who cares’ and where this information goes across a thesis or research output. | Online | Tue 11 Jul, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Tools for editing your writing Introduces ProWritingAid as a tool for editing. Focuses on using statistics to examine draft writing. These statistics are related to choices about paragraph structure, and where to condense your writing or elaborate. Participants will have time to use the tool to edit their own work. | City campus | Wed 12 Jul, 10:00am – 12:00pm |
| Writing clear and persuasive arguments Considers fundamental differences between writing descriptively and persuasively. Participants will look closely at why some arguments are easy to follow. We also consider the way language enables us to control how much we align with other points of view. Bring an article you have read recently and a sample of your own writing where you are either writing about past literature or discussing your research findings. | Online | Mon 17 Jul, 12:00pm – 2:00pm |
| Library essentials for postgraduates Learn about the wide range of resources, spaces and support available at Te Mātāpuna Library & Learning Services for Postgraduate students. | Online | Tue 18 Jul, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Preparing for a doctoral oral examination Engage in this informative session where you will find out about the doctoral oral examination process, how to prepare for it and what to expect. The facilitator will lead the discussion and answer any questions you may have about the process. | Online | Wed 19 Jul, 10:00am – 12:00pm |
| Postgrad students wellness toolkit This month’s session covers perfectionism, procrastination, and motivation – very common postgraduate issues. Procrastination has been associated with negative personal consequences, including on physical and mental wellbeing (e.g. anxiety, depression, quality of life). The session’s aim is to help you to better manage these issues, to protect your overall wellbeing and support academic success. | Online | Wed 19 Jul, 2:00pm – 3:00pm |
| Preparing a PGR9 research proposal This session is specifically for doctoral students who are preparing their PGR9 research proposal, and postgraduate research supervisors. It will describe the PGR9 process and cover the key elements required for writing a proposal for a doctoral research project at AUT. | Online | Thu 20 Jul, 10:00am – 12:00pm |
| Thesis writing: Discussions Provides an overview of the structure of discussion sections within a thesis. Identifies typical functions and distinctive features of this section in relation to the whole research project. Participants analyse and discuss text examples and relate these to their own writing. | Online | Thu 20 Jul, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Writing up qualitative research Moving from the analysis and interpretive stages to the writing phase can be challenging for qualitative researchers, and many people struggle with this stage of the research process. This training course covers tips and tricks for managing this process. | Online | Fri 21 Jul, 10:00am – 12:00pm |
| NVivo core skills for students This course is targeted at researchers wanting an efficient means of handling and analysing their qualitative data. No prior knowledge of the software is assumed; however a basic understanding of qualitative analysis procedures would be helpful. | Online | Fri 28 Jul, 10:00am – 3:00pm |
