Research Skills 2023-2024
(Wed 18 Oct 2023 - Thu 6 Jun 2024)
October 2023
Wed 18 |
Effective note making is an essential bridge between reading and writing. When making notes for a long piece of writing, if you paraphrase and interpret as you go along, you will be able to retrieve what you have learned from reading quickly and efficiently and often produce sections that you can drop straight into your work. This workshop will introduce you to the theory of good note making, discuss different note making techniques and offer advice for deciding which approach best suits your practices. |
Thu 19 |
Managing your references with Zotero
Finished
Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after crucial research literature, whether planning for a literature review or simply keeping track of developments in a particular discipline. This session will introduce Zotero. Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Zotero (and tools like it) can help maximise a research project workflow while also ensuring that critical resources and information are not lost at any point in the research process. |
Wed 25 |
Literature Searching for Researchers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine)
Finished
This session equips participants with foundational skills that they need to build and execute effective search strategies to locate relevant materials for literature reviews, projects, and other related research activities. The session will explore key searching techniques, where to search, how to troubleshoot common searching problems, as well as keeping up to date with the latest research. |
Do you know what Open Research (OR) is and how it affects your research? This course will address these questions by providing information about what OR is - its definitions, policies, and practices - throughout the lifecycle of a research project. We will explore how OR looks in different disciplines and what restrictions may exist, as well as what Cambridge is doing to address these. This course is intended for researchers and librarians across all career stages and various disciplines. |
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Thu 26 |
This session will help prepare you to begin your literature review. You will learn strategies for searching for relevant material, how to troubleshoot common search problems, and how to stay up to date with new publications in your field. Please note: This session will also be offered, either online or in person, in Lent and Easter terms, with dates to be confirmed. |
November 2023
Tue 7 |
Managing your Research with Endnote
Finished
Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after crucial research literature, whether planning for a literature review or simply keeping track of developments in a particular discipline. This session will introduce Endnote. Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Endnote (and tools like it) can help maximise a research project workflow while also ensuring that critical resources and information are not lost at any point in the research process. Please note: This session will also be offered online in Lent and Easter terms, with dates to be confirmed. |
Wed 8 |
This session will help researchers explore academic literature through discussing key skills such as critical evaluation, structural reading, effective note-taking, and getting started with writing. Please note: This session will also be offered online in Lent and Easter terms, with dates to be confirmed. |
Thu 9 |
Finished your PhD thesis? It’s time to submit. Unsure of your access level options? Confused about any third-party copyright in your thesis? Then this session is for you. The final step after completing your thesis is to deposit an electronic copy into the University’s Repository, Apollo. This training session will cover how to ensure you meet all the requirements for submission, how to decide on the access level for your thesis and finally a demonstration of successfully depositing your work using Symplectic Elements. |
Wed 15 |
Do you feel you often experience 'writer's block' where you can't seem to start or make good progress with your writing? In this class, we will discuss ways of mitigating and getting past writer's block, particularly through seeing blocks as opportunities for writing. Through discussing certain myths about academic writing and healthy ways of conceptualising the writing process, you will become familiar with techniques for freeing up your writing and making steady progress on your dissertation and other writing projects. Please note: This session will also be offered, either online or in person, in Lent and Easter terms, with dates to be confirmed. |
Thu 16 |
Writing for Publication for Researchers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine)
Finished
A course designed to take you step-by-step through academic writing and publication, with tips and resources to make writing up as simple as possible. The course will demystify the peer-review process, and help you to improve the precision and clarity of your academic writing. Please note: This session will also be offered online in Lent and Easter terms, with dates to be confirmed. |
Mon 20 |
Managing your references with Zotero
Finished
Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after crucial research literature, whether planning for a literature review or simply keeping track of developments in a particular discipline. This session will introduce Zotero. Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Zotero (and tools like it) can help maximise a research project workflow while also ensuring that critical resources and information are not lost at any point in the research process. |
Tue 21 |
Undertaking good Research Data Management is a key responsibility as a researcher and it prevents disasters. You will encounter research data in many forms, ranging from measurements, numbers and images to documents and publications. Whether you create, receive or collect this information, you will need to look after it properly. Managing digital information properly is a complex issue. Doing it correctly from the start could save you a lot of time and hassle when preparing a publication or writing up your thesis. Please note: This session will also be offered, either online or in person, in Lent and Easter terms, with dates to be confirmed. |
Wed 22 |
Publishing journal articles is a key element of a successful research career. As you are starting on this journey, you may have a lot of questions, for example:
Please note: This session will also be offered, either online or in person, in Lent and Easter terms with dates to be confirmed. |
Thu 23 |
From fair dealing to sharing your research online it seems that nothing with copyright is ever simple. There are few black and white rules about copyright but there can be serious consequences for getting things wrong! This session will cover the basics of UK copyright law and how these impact researchers such as dealing with third party materials, seeking permissions and how to manage risk. |
Finished your PhD thesis? It’s time to submit. Unsure of your access level options? Confused about any third-party copyright in your thesis? Then this session is for you. The final step after completing your thesis is to deposit an electronic copy into the University’s Repository, Apollo. This training session will cover how to ensure you meet all the requirements for submission, how to decide on the access level for your thesis and finally a demonstration of successfully depositing your work using Symplectic Elements. |
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Tue 28 |
Managing your Research Data for Researchers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine)
Finished
Undertaking good Research Data Management is a key responsibility as a researcher and it prevents disasters. You will encounter research data in many forms, ranging from measurements, numbers and images to documents and publications. Whether you create, receive or collect this information, you will need to look after it properly. This course will teach you how to store, organise and share your research data well. Doing this correctly from the start could save you a lot of time and hassle when preparing a publication or writing up your thesis. |
January 2024
Thu 18 |
Publishing journal articles is a key element of a successful research career. Those starting on this journey may have a lot of questions, such as:
Learning outcomes By the end of this class, you should be able to:
Please note: This session will also be offered in Easter term, with a date to be confirmed. |
Wed 24 |
Literature Searching for Researchers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine)
Finished
This session equips participants with foundational skills that they need to build and execute effective search strategies to locate relevant materials for literature reviews, projects, and other related research activities. The session will explore key searching techniques, where to search, how to troubleshoot common searching problems, as well as keeping up to date with the latest research. |
February 2024
Tue 6 |
Finished your PhD thesis? It’s time to submit. Unsure of your access level options? Confused about any third-party copyright in your thesis? Then this session is for you. The final step after completing your thesis is to deposit an electronic copy into the University’s Repository, Apollo. This training session will cover how to ensure you meet all the requirements for submission, how to decide on the access level for your thesis and finally a demonstration of successfully depositing your work using Symplectic Elements. |
This session focuses on finding literature in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The session will help you build a list of literature for your research topic (sometimes referred to as secondary literature) by introducing key resources for finding materials, illustrating a range of techniques for searching, and discussing how to stay up to date with research in your field. By the end of this session, you should be able to: • Plan a strategy for finding literature on your research topic. • Discover a range of resources available for your literature search. • Make the most of the resources available using a range of techniques and tools. • Stay up to date with research in your field. • Build a list of relevant literature related to your research topic. If you are a STEMM researcher, you may find our Literature Searching for Researchers (STEMM) course useful https://www.training.cam.ac.uk/cul/course/cul-rs-search-stemm Other related courses in our Research Skills programme include Managing your References with Zotero and Managing your Research with Endnote. The Engaging with your literature: critical reading and managing literature-based research (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) course from the Researcher Development team may also be useful. |
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Wed 7 |
Do you know what Open Research (OR) is and how it affects your research? This session will address these questions by providing information about what OR is - its definitions, policies, and practices - throughout the lifecycle of a research project. We will explore how OR looks in different disciplines and what restrictions may exist, as well as what Cambridge is doing to address these. This session is intended for researchers and librarians across all career stages and various disciplines. |
Thu 8 |
Managing your References with Zotero
Finished
Using a reference manager is one of the best ways to look after crucial research literature, whether planning for a literature review or simply keeping track of developments in a particular discipline. This session will introduce Zotero. Using live demonstrations, discussions, and troubleshooting common referencing issues, the session will give an in-depth look at how Zotero (and tools like it) can help maximise a research project workflow while also ensuring that critical resources and information are not lost at any point in the research process. |
Wed 14 |
This session will help researchers explore academic literature through discussing key skills such as critical evaluation, structural reading, effective note-taking, and getting started with writing. |
Thu 15 |
Do you feel you often experience 'writer's block' where you can't seem to start or make good progress with your writing? In this session, we will discuss ways of mitigating and getting past writer's block, particularly through seeing blocks as opportunities for writing. Through discussing certain myths about academic writing and healthy ways of conceptualising the writing process, you will become familiar with techniques for freeing up your writing and making steady progress on your dissertation and other writing projects. Learning outcomes By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Please note: This session will also be offered in Easter term, date to be confirmed. |
Wed 28 |
Effective note making is an essential bridge between reading and writing. When making notes for a long piece of writing, if you paraphrase and interpret as you go along, you will be able to retrieve what you have learned from reading quickly and efficiently and often produce sections that you can drop straight into your work. This session will introduce you to the theory of good note making, discuss different note making techniques and offer advice for deciding which approach best suits your practices. Learning outcomes By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Please note: This session will be offered again in Easter term, date to be confirmed. |