Research Skills Workshops

This page contains information about current and forthcoming workshops and writing groups. Resources including materials from previous workshops are also available.

Workshops in 2009...

Writing a scientific research article: a one day workshop for postgraduate students and early career researchers: this workshop will provide training in communicating science effectively in English.

The workshop will be conducted by Margaret Cargill of SciWriting. Margaret specialises in providing training and consultancy advice on communicating science effectively in English.

This workshop will be held from 9-5pm on Monday 9th November.

Places are strictly limited to 20 participants.

To be considered for a place at this workshop a completed application form should be delivered to the Graduate Research and Scholarships Office by 5pm on Monday 2nd November, or emailed to krys.haq@uwa.edu.au

Research Skills: Kickstart your Research, Writing your Research Proposal, Managing and Reviewing the Literature, Conceptualising your Research. The next series of these workshops will be held in March 2010.  

Thesis Writing: Write a Better Thesis, Principles of Academic Writing, Academic Writing in Practice. The next series of these workshops will be held in April-May 2010.

The following workshops for research students and staff were presented on 15th and 16th June by Dr Maria Gardiner and Mr Hugh Kearns, Flinders University.

1. Completion Masterclass: getting your thesis finished. This masterclass provided practical strategies to deal with common problems that interfere with thesis completion. The Masterclass was run over two half-days. The presenters will offer email follow-up and support for 3 months.

2. The Balanced Researcher: for anyone who is juggling research along with many other demands. This workshop considered how to use time more effectively, specific strategies for coping with email overload, how to pick the right things to work on, how to deal with distractions and interruptions, how to say NO gracefully, setting boundaries and "looking after me".

The materials covered in this workshop may be downloaded from http://www.vitae.ac.uk/CMS/files/Vitae-Balanced-Researcher-June-2008.pdf

3. Turbocharge your Writing: for research students and staff who wish to increase their writing productivity. This workshop will help you to understand why it's hard to get started, how we deliberately use distractions to slow writing down, the principles of quick-starting, how to deal with destructive internal beliefs, how to set a writing plan and stick to it, how to set achievable goals by writing in a silo, how to greatly increase the number of actual words you produce.

Workshops for more effective management of your research using the Web of Knowledge and Ovid were held in May and July 2009. If you missed them, and would like to know more about using these resources more effectively, please ask the Reference Librarian at your appropriate subject library for training. You can use Web of Knowledge and various Ovid databases to help you to:

• find influential papers in your field 
• identify the top journals in your field
• identify emerging areas of research
• find funding for research
• track and manage citations from your own publications,

.

 Some useful additional references:

"It's not a Nobel Prize: how experienced examiners assess research theses"

"The Science of Scientific Writing"

Workshop booklets and presentations from 2008:

Research Skills Workshops:

Kickstart your Research (Science); Writing your Research Proposal (Sci); Managing and Reviewing the Literature (Sci); Conceptualising your Research (Sci).

Writing your Research Proposal (Arts); Writing your Literature Review (Arts); Conceptualising your Research (Arts)

Thesis Writing Workshops:

Write a Better Thesis (Sci); Principles of Academic Writing (Sci); Academic Writing in Practice (Sci).

Write a Better Thesis (Arts); Writing in Practice (Arts)

Presenting your Research: Successful Poster Presentations, Delivering a conference Paper,  Preparing your Results for Publication

Career Development and Grant Writing:

Building your Track Record in Research; How to Publish your Research;  

Writing a Grant Application        

Progressing through your PhD

 Turbocharge your Writing.

Current Workshops

Workshops are free, but you must register to attend. 

Writing Groups

A facilitated writing group is run continuously throughout the year. We also offer at least one Writers Retreat each year.

Facilitated Writing Group

One of the most useful strategies for effective progress through your candidature is to develop the habit of writing on a regular basis. Furthermore, to improve your productivity, it is recommended that you do some writing at the start of the day, before you open your email or the internet. This group offers you the opportunity to get into good writing habits in a supportive environment.

We meet in the Post Graduate Students Association Lounge (1st Floor, Guild Village South Wing) from 8.30 - 10.30am every Wednesday.  Bring your laptop and some writing to work on. We will supply tea, coffee, juice and some light snacks to help get your day off to a productive start. Students are also welcome to discuss their writing with one of the Graduate Education Officers at this time.

Please email krys.haq@uwa.edu.au or michael.azariadis@uwa.edu.au for more information, otherwise feel free to just turn up with your laptop and drafts of some writing to work on.

Postgraduate Writers Retreat

NEWS FLASH: The 2010 Writers Retreat will be held at the UWA Centre in Albany from 31st January - 5th February 2010.

Resources for Research Students

Inside the Researcher's Toolbox: Qualitative Methodologies

Recordings from this series of lectures are available on-line. Topics covered are:

• How to run focus groups
• Asking the right questions: understanding in-depth interviews
• Designing your survey/questionnaire
• Case study design
• Mastering content analysis in 7 easy steps
• Introducing NUD*IST to newbies

An introduction to using Nvivo8 to analyse data in qualitative research

Research and Writing Skills: Workbooks

Science/Applied Sciences

Research Skills

Kickstart your Research (PDF, 461.2kb)

Writing your Research Proposal (PDF, 412.4kb)

Managing and Reviewing the Literature (PDF, 139.4 kb)

Conceptualising your Research (PDF, 1.3mb)

Research Skills

Kickstart your Research (PDF, 174kb)
Writing the Research Proposal (PDF, 319kb)
Managing and Reviewing the Literature (PDF, 189kb)
Conceptualising your Research (PDF, 223kb)

Thesis Writing

Writing a Better Thesis (PDF, 412kb)

It's a PhD not a Nobel Prize: how experienced examiners assess research theses

Principles of Academic Writing (PDF)

Thesis Writing

Writing a Better Thesis (PDF, 306kb)

Resources for Students Undertaking a Short Research Project

(e.g. Honours and Final Year Project Students, Masters by Coursework Dissertation)

Managing your Research Project (PDF, 382kb)

Managing and Reviewing the Literature (PDF ,252kb)

Structuring your Thesis (PDF, 310kb)

Managing your Research Project (PDF, 170kb)

Managing and Reviewing the Literature (PDF, 232kb)

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