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Researcher Training for Part-Time and Distance
Doctoral Students
Wednesday 17th – Friday 19th June 2015
Programme
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IntroductionFrom juggling your research and other commitments to preparing for your viva, this three-day series of workshops addresses a wide range of research and personal skills. Whether you’re just starting or are near completion, this is an opportunity to explore the research process, pick up some useful tips and share your experiences and ideas with other part-time and distance researchers.
It is up to you to decide, in discussion with your supervisor(s), which of the sessions you will attend. As the Researcher Development Team run a similar programme on an annual basis, there will be opportunities to attend courses in the future, and we encourage you to focus on identifying the skills you will need over the next year when making your selection.
VenuesIn order to minimise the need for travel between venues across campus and to ensure easy access to appropriate IT training rooms and the Bill Bryson Library, all workshops and meals will be held at venues situated in the lower half of the Science Site, Durham City Campus. A map can be found at:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/map/DurhammapandkeyJan2014.pdf.
The Science site encompasses the buildings shaded in black on Stockton road, in the lower-middle of the map.
CostsAll the workshops, refreshments and lunches are free.
As this is a non-residential programme, accommodation is not provided. If you need to organise accommodation, you can book bed and breakfast at one of Durham University’s colleges. For further details and prices, see:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/event.durham/tourism/
For details about hotels and guest houses in Durham, see:
http://www.thisisdurham.com/
Booking Places1. On the Timetable and Booking Form:
a) complete the participant details
b) indicate which workshops you wish to attend in the ‘booking’ column.
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2. Save the document and send it to the Researcher Development team
By email to: [email protected]
By post to: Carolyn McAlhoneCentre for Academic and Researcher DevelopmentDurham UniversityThe Palatine CentreStockton RoadDurhamDH1 3LE
You will receive confirmation of the workshops you have booked places on.
Further InformationIf you have any queries about any of the workshops, please contact:
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9:15 – 9:45 Arrival
9:45 – 10:00 Welcome
10:00 – 13:00 Starting your Doctorate
Trainer: Bob Matthew
Target audience: First year research postgraduates.
This course aims to demystify the Doctorate. In addition to exploring the structure and criteria of a doctorate the session focuses on getting started and establishing good practice. This is also an opportunity for participants to discuss concerns and ideas about workload, supervision and motivation.
By the end of this session, participants will have: explored the criteria for a doctorate considered how best to get started had an opportunity to share ideas, expectations and experiences.
10:00 – 13:00 Introduction to Endnote
Trainer: Teresa Henley
Target audience: First, second and third year research postgraduates.
This course provides the knowledge to use Endnote for bibliography management, via a step-by-step introduction to the fundamentals so that you can use Endnote as a:
Reference database: to store, manage and search for bibliographic references in a user’s private reference library.
Bibliography maker: to build lists of cited works automatically into Microsoft Word and, later, to scan a document for the in-text citations in order to compile a bibliography in any format that is required.
Online database: to search online bibliographic databases and retrieve the references directly into Endnote, in order to store them in the user’s own personal reference library.
Wednesday 17th June
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10:00 – 13:00 Introduction to Giving Presentations
Trainer: Christine Bohlander
Target audience: First, second and third year research postgraduates.
This course explores the key aspects of planning and delivering a presentation, different types of presentation structure, and the use of visual aids and supplementary material. We will also focus on strategies for dealing with nerves and different presentation techniques.By the end of the session, participants will have:
gained an understanding of the key issues in planning a successful and appropriate presentation
explored how to structure your presentation considered the value and potential of using visual aids had an opportunity to share concerns and experiences of giving presentations explored techniques for successful delivery and controlling nerves
14:00 - 17:00 Long Documents in Word
Trainers: David Heading, Sarah Dodds, Teresa Henley
Target audience: First, second and third year research postgraduates.
This course explores the facilities within Word that aid the production of longer documents.Topics include:
organising a longer document splitting a document into sections generating a table of contents and an index working with multiple files and using the Master Document facility
Wednesday 17th June
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14:00 – 16:00 Finding Information
Trainer: James Bisset
Target audience: First year research postgraduates, or anyone looking for help or assurance around their search skills.
This session will include some content specific to Durham research students in the final part of the session.
The internet is a rich source for researchers but its vast size means that even the most proficient user can struggle to find relevant information. This session will introduce you to a range of resources to help you find information for your research, and some search technique tips for improving the how you search the content available.
This hands-on pc-based session will focus on:
Search tips and techniques (basic introduction to Boolean connectors, proximity connectors, wildcards and truncation tools to broaden and narrow your search results)
Advanced features of Google Scholar - basic overview of strengths and weaknesses of Google Scholar - setting up to connect to your institutional subscriptions - connecting to your reference management software - advanced search tips
Sources for locating: - academic theses (UK and international) Durham Specific content: Using Durham University library as a part-time researcher Sources for locating: - newspaper resources
Wednesday 17th June
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14:00 – 16:00 Stress Management
Trainer: a member of the Counselling Service
This session will look at ways of identifying the early signs of stress, safe and practical responses to assist ourselves and others.
By the end of the course delegates will have:
defined what stress is, its purpose and what it can indicate about our life identified the common causes and indicators of stress learned how to use stress as a tool for self-awareness
The workshop will be highly interactive and experiential; delegates will be encouraged to share their own knowledge and experience. Information will be conveyed through a variety of mediums including:
computerised presentations group discussion and exercises interactive process work.
16:30 – 18:00 Introduction to Project Management
Trainer: Christine Bohlander
Target audience: First year research postgraduates
A PhD project requires careful planning and management in order to ensure success. This session focuses on exploring how you can apply the various methods of project management to your research project:
• Principles of Project Management• Stakeholder Management• Tools for Planning• Managing Risks
Wednesday 17th June
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9:00 - 12:00 Introduction to NVivo
Trainer: David Heading
Target audience: First, second and third year research postgraduates.
NVivo is a software package designed to assist research with qualitative data. It contains a selection of tools to facilitate data management and analysis. The course will cover:
Creating projects Adding documents and linking external files Creating nodes and coding data Creating cases and attributes Using queries Using sets Creating dynamic models Generating reports.
9:00 - 12:00 First Steps with Excel 2010
Trainer: Sarah Dodds
This workshop will introduce the basic concepts of data entry, formatting and presentation, and also some of the more commonly used functions to enable you to create some basic spreadsheets. Topics included in this first course include:
Navigating a spreadsheet Entering data Formatting data Arithmetic operations Simple functions (SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, COUNT) Charts Printing spreadsheets
Thursday 18th June
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9:00 – 12:00 Improve your Memory
Trainer: Margaret Greenhall
A range of tools will be introduced to help you improve your memory. For most people the problem is not remembering something, it is inputting the information initially.
We need to pay attention to details and connect them to other information already stored to make it readily accessible. All memories, whether factual or emotional, are stored as sensory information in your brain. Some may include pictures, sounds, tastes/smells and others feelings. Techniques that engage as many of these sensory systems as possible are much better at helping you remember all the information you need.
The session will give people practice with using a range of simple mnemonic techniques. A brief introduction to theories of how and why people remember and forget will be given. Most of the session will focus on practical techniques to implement in the workplace to help improve your memory. This also includes a brief outline of workplace memory aids.
This session will help participants to:
Utilise the four main principles of memory; Understand the causes of forgetting; Understand some very basic theories of how your memory works; Improve recall of information you want to remember; Help to remember facts for presentations; Help remember names and match them to people; Introduce and practice mnemonic techniques.
Thursday 18th June
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13:00 - 15:00 Publishing your Research: Open Access
Trainer: James Bisset (Durham University) with support from colleagues at Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teeside Universities
Target audience: All who are interested in pursuing an academic career in the UK, but predominantly second and third year research postgraduates (or anyone in receipt of Doctoral funding from the Research Councils).
Open Access publishing is currently a prominent topic of discussion within the academic community. It is also a requirement of many funders, both within the UK and internationally, to which all researchers looking to publish need to be aware of. In addition to this, any academic looking to pursue a career at a UK University should be aware that making your research publications open access is an eligibility requirement for submission to the next REF.
This session aims to cover the basics:
• what is open access, • how you can make your publications open access, • how this also applies to your thesis, • what the benefits are to you as a researcher and an author.
Time will also be made available to allow discussion and Q&A of the many issues and concerns that open access publishing might have for you.
13:00 – 16:30 Speed Reading
Trainer: Margaret Greenhall
How many hours a week do you spend reading? When did you last learn a new technique to improve your reading?
This workshop will help participants to:
• Measure their initial reading speed and comprehension• Consider how they read and what limits their current speed• Distinguish between types of reading material and choose the appropriate reading
strategy• Learn and practise techniques of speed reading• Design an individual learning programme to follow after the workshop.
Thursday 18th June
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15:30 – 17:00 Academic CVs and Covering Letters
Trainer: David Henderson
Target audience: All PhD researchers
This workshop will focus on developing effective CVs and covering letters for academic jobs.
By the end of the session you will:
Be aware of the distinct features of an academic CV Have an appreciation of what makes a CV and covering letter effective Have a better understanding of how to market yourself effectively in a CV and
covering letter Have the opportunity to discuss example CVs with your peers (please bring a copy of
your own CV if you are willing to discuss it with your peers)
15:30 – 17:00 Copyright for Researchers
Trainer: Colin Theakston, Academic Liaison Librarian and University Copyright Officer.
Target audience: First, second and third year research postgraduates.
This session will provide an overview of copyright law in the UK. Throughout the session users will learn about rights for authors, length of copyright, "fair dealing", digital copyright, Crown copyright, the licences held by the University and their scope, "orphan works", "creative commons", and the UK government licencing scheme.
Thursday 18th June
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15:30 – 17:30 Keeping up to date with Emerging Research
Trainer: James Bisset
Target audience: First, second and third year research postgraduates.
It is a frightening reality that a literature review is often out of date as soon as you have started it. During the course of your research you will need to ensure that you keep up to date with the most current publications and news in your field.
This hands-on session will take an in-depth look at current awareness, covering both email alerts and RSS feeds as tools to help you discover new articles and academic debate relevant to your needs. No technical knowledge of RSS required - this session simply looks at what they are, and some examples of how to use and manage them.
This hands-on pc-based session will focus on:
E-mail alerts and RSS feeds Setting up an online RSS reader account and starting to populate with current
awareness feeds Using RSS and email alerts to keep up with new book, journal and other publications. A brief overview of additional tools for keeping up to date to explore in your own
time
Thursday 18th June
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9:00 – 12:00 Completing your Doctorate and Preparing for your Viva
Trainer: Bob Matthew
Target audience: Final year research postgraduates.
How are you going to pull all your research together into a coherent thesis? What are the administrative procedures you need to complete before you can submit your thesis? How are examiners (internal and external) appointed? In focussing on these and other questions, the course enables you to make the best use of your time during the final stages of your research.
By the end of this session, participants will have: prioritised essential activity with the aim of completion become familiar with the processes and procedures for the successful completion of
a research degree discussed issues pertinent to their own situation.
9:00 – 12:00 Introduction to Access
Trainer: Sarah Dodds
This course is intended for those who need to enter, analyse and output data using a database application. The course will introduce simple, single tabled databases and will include:
• Understanding Data Structures - Tables, Records, Fields• Data Entry – tables and forms• Queries• Reports
Friday 19th June
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9:00 – 12:00 Digital Tools for Researchers
Trainer: tbc
Target audience: First, second and third year research postgraduates.
This session aims to provide an introduction to various digital tools available to all researchers, which might support key tasks such as note-taking, collaboration and networking, raising your online profile as academics and monitoring the impact of your published work.
This session will allow you to set up accounts on some freely available services, for you to make use of the time in session to explore these. The session aims to pull in expertise from colleagues in library, IT and careers support services.
9:00 – 12:00 Be a Better Writer
Trainer: Helen Lawrence
Target audience: First, second and third year research postgraduates.
Have you ever looked at your academic writing and thought, 'Well, it's ok, but it could be better'? If so, this session is for you. We will explore the character and style of academic writing, then consider ways to enhance both the clarity and accuracy of your written work.
Friday 19th June
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13:00 – 14:30 Preparing for Academic Job Interviews
Trainer: David Henderson
Target audience: All PhD researchers, especially if you are less familiar with the interview process for academic jobs
This workshop will look at the structure, style and content of academic interviews in the UK. What kind of questions will you be asked? How should you answer these to impress the selectors? There will be information and advice from the careers adviser plus a chance to practice answering typical questions with your peers.
By the end of this session you will:
Be aware of the questions you may be asked at interview and how best to prepare Have had the opportunity to discuss interview questions and experiences with your
peers Have had the opportunity to practice answering some typical interview questions
13:00 – 16:00 Introduction to Zotero
Trainer: Teresa Henley
This course provides the knowledge to use Zotero for bibliography management, via a step by step introduction to the fundamentals to utilise Zotero as a
• Reference Database: to store manage and search for bibliographic references in a user's private reference library.
• Bibliography Maker: to build lists of cited works automatically into Microsoft Word and, later, to scan a document for the in-text citations in order to compile a bibliography in any format that is required.
Friday 19th June
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13:00 – 16:00 Maintaining Motivation
Trainer: Helen Lawrence
Have you ever felt that you are running out of steam? Do you sometimes feel you can’t be bothered to keep going with your research?
It’s very common that during the PhD process a candidate will experience a lack of motivation; this is made worse when the candidate is part-time and there are so many pressures on time. This session will examine ways which your motivation can be rediscovered and maintained, thus helping to keep you on track and complete your PhD in good time. We’ll look what is causes you to lose motivation, before practising a number of different techniques that can help get you from into a more motivated place.
13:00 – 16:00 Language Awareness workshop
Trainers: Christine Bohlander, Mike Watts
Do you intend to learn a western European language such as German, French or Italian? Then this workshop is the ideal gateway to an understanding of the communalities with English.
This workshop aims to equip researchers with the skills to identify words of German, French and Latin origin in the English language and thereby reduce the barriers to identifying cognates in other western languages.
In this interactive workshop, participants will work on texts from different languages, including Old English. There is no prior knowledge required.
By the end of the session, participants will have
developed an increased awareness of the contribution made by other languages to modern English,
discovered ways of identifying the origins of some English cognates, applied this knowledge to texts in other European languages, with a view to
understanding the relations between western European languages and to being able to decode some features of foreign languages.
Friday 19th June
