Are you thinking of entering the 3MT competition or Postgraduate Research Symposium? Time to get moving! Entries for both close this Friday 5 July. It’s easy to enter for either (or both) because at this stage, you’re just taking the first step. All you need to do for 3MT is fill in an online form; and for the PG Research Symposium, submit an abstract. Easy! So get those entries in, and you can do the full prep work later.
Meanwhile, there are lots of workshops coming up in July to help with your research skills. We have a special focus on systematic literature reviews this month – check out the 3-part workshop series on how to do them justice! For our friends in health, there’s also a special workshop on systematically searching for health literature.
Another highlight is the ever-popular thesis formatting workshop ‘The Works’ on Saturday 6th July. People rave about this one, and it can be a life-saver if you’ve never worked with a thesis-length document in MS Word before.
If you’re coming up to your doctoral oral exam, don’t miss the Q&A forum on 31st July. This is a chance to ask all your questions directly of the Graduate Research School Dean, Professor Nigel Harris. Pick his brain (and put yours at ease).
Bookings are available for all workshops on eLab, or use the direct link for your chosen workshop below. Happy learning!
Postgraduate Research Workshops in July 2024
| What? | Where? | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Thesis writing: Connecting sections and chapters This workshop explores how we can organise research writing so that our readers clearly see how sections within a chapter and different chapters connect. Bring a research article that you think has a nice flow (one you think it is well written and easy to follow). Suited to research students who have fully drafted at least one chapter or article. | Online | Tue 2 July, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| 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 | Wed 3 July, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| 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 July, 2:00pm – 4:00pm |
| 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 6 July, 9:00am – 2:00pm |
| Open Access without APC: Read and publish options at AUT Te Mātāpuna Library & Learning Services has agreements with some publishers that enables AUT authors to publish open access in some journals without paying the Article Processing Charge. Find out the what, where and how of our Read & Publish options. | Online | Tue 9 July, 12:00pm – 1:00pm |
| Thesis writing: Highlighting 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. Bring an article you have read recently and a sample of your own writing. Suited to PG research students who already have their research findings. | Online | Tue 9 July, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Publishing for postgraduates and early career researchers This Library workshop will help you find relevant publications for your research. You will learn about the elements of a publishing strategy and how to find and evaluate journals to publish in. | Online | Wed 10 July, 11:00am – 12:30pm |
| 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 | Thu 11 July, 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 15 July, 1:00pm – 1:30pm |
| Library essentials for postgraduates Learn about the wide range of resources, spaces and support available at Te Mātāpuna Library & Learning Services for postgraduate students. Includes guidance on finding academic literature, accessing online guides and workshops, and using interloans and distance services. | Online | Mon 15 July, 5:30pm – 6:30pm |
| Systematically searching for health literature This Library workshop will take you through the literature searching process: developing a search strategy, searching health databases in a systematic way, and best practices for recording and managing results. Please have your research question handy so you can use it to develop and practice your search. | Online | Mon 15 July, 5:30pm – 7:00pm and Wed 31 Jul, 12:00pm – 1:30pm |
| 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 | Tue 16 July, 2:00pm – 4:00pm |
| Session 1: Systematic Literature Review (SLR) – curious! Part one of a series of three workshops exploring systematic reviews. How is a systematic review different from a literature review? Why do people have different ideas on what a SLR actually is? Is it the right type of research for me? | Online | Tue 16 July, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Literature searching for postgraduate research This Library workshop will guide you through the literature searching process: developing a search strategy, searching databases systematically, using key search techniques, and evaluating, recording and organising results. Please have your research question handy so you can use it to develop and practice your search. | Online | Wed 17 Jul, 5:30pm – 7:00pm and Tue 30 Jul, 12:00pm – 1:30pm |
| Interviewing skills for qualitative researchers This workshop aims to help researchers decide when interviews are suitable as a data gathering tool. It will look at the aim of interviews, what research questions they can answer and what they can’t. | Online | Tue 23 Jul, 5:00pm – 7:00pm |
| Session 2: Systematic Literature Review (SLR) – A deep dive into search techniques Building on the content covered in session one, this workshop will take you through an advanced literature searching process. Learn how to develop a search strategy, how to search databases in a systematic way, where to locate existing systematic reviews, how to create alerts and learn best practices for recording and managing results. This is an interactive session. | Online | Tue 23 Jul, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| 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 | Wed 24 Jul, 12:00pm – 2:00pm |
| 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 | Tue 30 Jul, 12:00pm – 2:00pm |
| Session 3: Systematic Literature Review (SLR) – Writing the Introduction and Method Provides an overview of the structure of introduction and method sections for a systematic literature review. Identifies typical functions and distinctive features of these sections. Participants analyse and discuss text examples and relate these to their own writing or reading. | Online | Tue 30 Jul, 5:30pm – 7:30pm |
| Doctoral oral examination: Q&A forum This forum is an opportunity to ask questions about aspects of the doctoral oral examination. Please note, you must watch the ‘Doctoral Oral Examination: Processes’ and ‘Doctoral Oral Examination: Presenting Well’ videos available on the PG_Me organisation on Canvas prior to attending. | Online | Wed 31 Jul, 10:00am – 10:30am |
