Life in Thesis-land : gratuitous advertising

Public Service Announcement: Endnote classes

Karen.Hall — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:58:00 GMT

In this I speak as someone who migrated to Endnote part-way through my thesis, and mostly taught myself how to use it: get Endnote for the start, and learn how to use it effectively!

The HSS Library offers an introductory class on using EndNote software to manage bibliographies. The class 
is two hours long. A range of session times are currently available in late March to Mid April:

Friday 28th March - 11.00 am - 1.00 pm
Wednesday 2nd April - 10.00 am - 12 noon
Wednesday 9th April - 10.00 am - 12 noon
Tuesday 15th April - 10.00 am - 12 noon

Email hss-ref@library.uwa.edu.au to secure your place at one of these sessions.

Want to get away from it all? Postgrad Writing Retreat applications now open.

Karen.Hall — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:35:00 GMT

The Graduate Research School is calling for applications for the Postgraduate Writing Retreat to be held in 2008. The writing retreat will take place on 4-8 February, at UWA’s Albany Centre, and includes both time for individual writing as well as opportunities to develop writing skills and receive feedback. 16 places are available for students, with costs for the retreat, accommodation, and transport to be covered by the Graduate Research School. Students wishing to participate must apply by Monday 10 December. Further details, including application forms, are available at
http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/events/writing_retreat

That's the official blurb: unofficially, I just like to point out that the writing retreat means

getting out of Perth to somewhere cooler in the middle of summer
having a whole building - including a ghost - to set up for your writing space
time to write without everyday interference
access to people whose job it is to help you write better
did I mention the getting out of Perth?

The applications aren't that scary. We basically want to know that you would make the most of the time and opportunity to make progress on your thesis. Don't promise anything unrealistic, like writing the whole thing in a week, but work out a clearly defined goal that fits the scope of the retreat. You're also asked to get a statement of support form your supervisor - this is so that they can support your goal-setting and shows that they won't report us for kidnapping you or anything! If you have any queries, comment here or contact me.

Virtual Research Week

Karen.Hall — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 01:42:00 GMT

The PSA Research Careers Week (held 10-13 Sept) was a cornucopia of information for research students at any stage in their degree. From designing your thesis, to managing supervision and the mid-thesis doldrums, to examinations and what distinguishes a PhD, there was something of interest no matter where you are up to in your studies. There was also a focus on life after the degree: how the generic skills that you develop - as well as your expertise - can set you up for careers in research, academic or industry.

Even better, the Week is now a virtual cornucopia - with PowerPoint slides and Lectopia recordings up on the PSA website. Check it out!

Liveblogging Research Careers Week

Karen.Hall — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 01:11:00 GMT

I'm currently sitting in the foyer of the Tattersall Lecture Theatre, waiting for the PSA Research Careers Week to begin. Friday was a little bit crazy with all the last-minute preparation, but here we are now ready to go. The first session - right now, if you are reading this in real time - is on 'Life as an Academic', but there will be things happening all day, so come on down!

Conference Presentations workshop for Arts Postgrads

Karen.Hall — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:32:00 GMT

Successful presentations at conferences require planning and practice. This workshop – specifically for Arts, Humanities and Social Science postgraduates – will cover topics including defining a topic of suitable scope, conveying your argument clearly to the audience, using powerpoint effectively, and general public speaking skills. The workshop will help you to gain confidence and perform well at conferences: useful skills with the Social and Cultural Studies Graduate Conference coming up (and the chance to win prizes for presentation skills).
The workshop will be held on Friday 7 September, 2-4pm, in Guild Seminar Room 1. Register to attend.

That's the official blurb, anyway. More informally, this will be a workshop for all those people who think that a conference presentation should be more than regurgitating a series of powerpoint dot points, who want to give a vibrant and engaging presentation even if the norm in their area of study is reading out written papers, and who generally want to share their interest in their topic with an audience!

Research Skillz

Karen.Hall — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 01:14:00 GMT

Want to set yourself up with some mad research skillz? The Research Skills workshops, starting Friday 10 August, can help you get start and continue to make progress in your PhD and Masters research. There are four session, each running for three hours - with tea, coffee and chocie bikkies included!

Details about the workshops are available here, and also over on the myResearchSpace forums. You can register for the workshops here.

Any questions? Leave a comment.

Writing a Scientific Paper for Publication - lecture 24 July

Karen.Hall — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:34:00 GMT

A lecture on 'Writing a Scientific Paper for Publication' will be given by
Professor Hans Lambers next Tuesday 24th July at 12 noon in Geography
Lecture Theatre 1 (Room G. 21). This lecture will be recorded using the
Lectopia system and available from the Graduate Research School's
website.

Professor Lambers is currently the Editor in chief of "Plant and Soil",
a member of the Editorial Review Board of "Plant, Cell and Environment",
Editor of "Tree Physiology", Editor of "Perspectives in Plant Ecology,
Evolution and Systematics" and a member of the International Review
Board of "Annals of Botany". He is an ISI Highly Cited Researcher, has
well over 200 publications in International Journals and has written or
edited 10 books.

Out-Geek This!

Karen.Hall — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 03:41:00 GMT

Signup to Get Smart! Get Smart is the new membership program for Study Smarter (formerly Learning, Language and Research Skills). They run a whole range of services - from workshops on grammar and critical thinking to public speaking peer learning groups - and you get even more information and support once you become a member.

(And on the geek front: see the nested registration form - that was me! And the funky rotating member profiles - that was me too (and working with HTML). In fact, apart from Lisa's very cool nested events thing, the page is all me! Do I win yet?)

Limina Conference: 25 May

Karen.Hall — Wed, 02 May 2007 08:11:00 GMT

Warning: Gratuitous Hijacking of myresearchspace for advertising purposes.

Limina presents a conference titled 'Strange Attractors: Unpredictable Combinations in Historical and Cultural Contexts' on Friday 25 May.

It's a one day conference held at the University Club, with papers from a range of disciplines - from history to literature to maths to music. This is a good chance to see the kinds of work that postgraduates are doing and to see interdisciplinarity in practice. More details available here - I hope to see you there!