April is a great month to get into some healthy research habits and set yourself up for a productive year. This month in our PG researcher development series, we have a strong focus on beating procrastination. For some quick tips on overcoming procrastination and perfectionism, join the PG Wellness Toolkit on April 17; or for a deeper dive, apply to the upcoming 2-part procrastination programme run by Bright Side (sessions in late April).
If you’d like to put your renewed research focus to work with some quiet writing time, be sure to get your application for the May Writers’ Retreat in by the deadline of 12 April. You can find the application form here.
For those in the first year of a doctorate, don’t miss the Confirmation of Candidature Q&A Forum on 8 April with Graduate Research School Dean, Professor Nigel Harris. Bring your questions and pick his brain on how to frame your research proposal and presentation for the best chance of success.
There are lots of other highlights this month as well – so read on for a round-up of activities for AUT postgrad researchers in April!
Postgraduate Research Workshops in April 2024
| What? | Where? | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Thesis writing: Connecting parts to the whole Discusses how the different parts of a thesis connect to each other. Participants will analyse examples relevant to them and practice using language to clearly show how existing knowledge connects to their new research, to what others may do with it in the future, and where that information gets organised across a thesis. Bring an article you have read recently and a sample of your own writing. Suited to PG research students. | Online | Thu 4 Apr, 12:00pm – 2:00pm |
| Thesis writing: Using literature to support your view Discusses writing strategies and reasons for bringing in past research to support your own arguments. Participants will practice precise language that changes the extent to which you may agree or disagree with the views of others. Bring an article you have read recently and a sample of your own writing. Suited to PG research students. | Online | Thu 4 Apr, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Confirmation of Candidature: Q&A Forum This forum is an opportunity to ask questions about aspects of the confirmation of candidature. Please note, you must watch the ‘Confirmation of Candidature: Processes’ and ‘Confirmation of Candidature: Presenting Well’ videos available on the PG_Me organisation on Canvas prior to attending. | Online | Mon 8 Apr, 1:00pm – 1:30pm |
| Thesis writing: Literature reviews An overview of the structure of literature reviews within a thesis. Identifies typical functions and distinctive features of this section in relation to the whole research project. Participants analyse, discuss and relate text examples to their own writing. Systematic reviews are not covered. | Online and City campus | Tue 9 Apr, 2:00pm – 4:00pm and Mon 22 Apr, 2:00pm – 4:00pm |
| Tools for editing your writing Fully booked; waitlist available 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. | Online | Tue 9 Apr, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Thesis writing: Conclusions An overview of the structure of a Conclusion 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. | City campus | Wed 10 Apr, 2:00pm – 4:00pm |
| Understanding Format 2 at AUT: Q&A Forum This forum is an opportunity to ask questions about aspects of Format 2 (‘thesis by publication’). Please note, you must watch the relevant video available on the PG_Me organisation on Canvas prior to attending. | Online | Thu 11 Apr, 10:00am – 10:30am |
| Understanding Format 3 at AUT: Q&A Forum This forum is an opportunity to ask questions about aspects of Format 3 (‘practice-oriented research’). Please note, you must watch the relevant video available on the PG_Me organisation on Canvas prior to attending. | Online | Thu 11 Apr, 1:00pm – 1:30pm |
| Getting started with writing Focuses on strategies to help researchers digest reading in preparation for writing about what you’ve read. Participants try freewriting and mapping concepts as strategies to get words on the page and then create more structured writing. Bring an article you have read recently and a sample of your own writing. | Online | Thu 11 Apr, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| NVivo quick start Fully booked; waitlist available 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. | City campus | Wed 17 Apr, 9:30am – 4:00pm |
| Postgrad Students Wellness Toolkit session: Perfectionism, procrastination, and motivation This 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 17 Apr, 3:00pm – 4:00pm |
| Generating content for online researcher profiles Focuses on thinking through who you are as a researcher for the purpose of generating and refining content for research profiles. Engage in practical activities to identify and reflect on what you research, how and why you research it, and who is in your research network. Bring a device and be prepared to log in to AUT’s Microsoft 365 during the workshop. | Online | Wed 17 Apr, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Writing clear and persuasive arguments Fully booked; waitlist available 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 | Thu 18 Apr, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| SPSS quick start SPSS is designed to assist researchers in the analysis of quantitative data, and is one of the most user-friendly and popular packages on the market today. 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 | Tue 23 Apr, 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. You will analyse and discuss text examples and relate these to your own writing. | Online | Tue 23 Apr, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Thesis writing: Fine-tuning your literature review Introduces a process to cross-check how a literature review connects to other sections, such as findings and discussion chapters or parts of a journal article. Participants will use their own work to visually track where concepts are first introduced and then continue to be used. Suited to research students who have already drafted both their research findings and literature review. | Online | Wed 24 Apr, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Introduction to mixed methods This workshop will provide a foundational understanding of mixed methods research. Attendees will explore the key principles of mixed methods, including design strategies, implementation techniques, and methods of data interpretation. The workshop will focus on practical skills, demonstrating how to integrate different data types to address research questions effectively. | City campus | Tue 30 Apr, 9:00am – 12:00pm |
