Graduate student workshops

Know Your Resources: the Basic Step

Regardless of where you are from or where you are on your educational pathway, starting a graduate program can be a daunting prospect. The objective of the Basic Step is to help provide you with a solid foundation for your success as a graduate student.

There are many facets to this step, ranging from introducing graduate students to their rights and responsibilities and advice on working with their advisor, through introducing international students to the delights of Winnipeg, to beginning the process of career planning and determining what graduate students want to do post-graduation.
 

Personal Management: the Healthy Step

As graduate students, it is too easy to get caught up in the constant barrage of coursework, term papers, exams and, of course, research. The objective of the Healthy Step is to help facilitate your academic success without compromising your mental or physical health, or your interpersonal relationships. Indeed, many of the workshops in the Healthy Step will demonstrate that the opposite is true and that success in a graduate program is facilitated by good well-being and healthy relationships.

Data Management: the Research Step

For many graduate students, the collection and analysis of data is the core of their program. The objective of the Research Step is to help you work with library databases and statistics, as well as introducing you to the regulations which govern the ethical and legal use of both human subjects and animals in research.

Writing and Speaking: the Communication Step

The collection and analysis of data is important; however, it is an academic exercise without the dissemination of generated knowledge. The objective of the Communication Step is to provide graduate students with the skills to present their findings at a graduate level in both oral and written formats. Individual workshops are designed to help graduate students as they complete their thesis and move towards a post-graduate career by helping with networking, public speaking, and social media use.

Planning with Intention: the Career Step

Regardless of the stage of your graduate program, it is never too early to start thinking about, and planning for, the next step, whether that be the next degree or on to a career. The objective of the Career Step is to give you some basic skills to help you both find a job and succeed in that job. For those considering academia, workshops on successful Tri-Council grant writing are available, and we’re not forgetting that most important of issues – financial planning.

Ideas into Action: the Entrepreneurial Step

Finding something that is marketable is one of the more interesting aspects of graduate studies; but what would you do? The objective of the Entrepreneurial Step is to help graduate students determine whether they have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, and if they are, to direct them on how to launch a career as one. The workshops also give you skills such as conflict resolution and intellectual property which would be vital to someone starting a small business after completing graduate studies.

This one hour, hands-on session provides an overview of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and how it can be used. Attendees compare various GIS software and data types, become familiar with navigating the QGIS interface and procedures for adding and symbolizing data. Discussion is centered on integrating researcher data with secondary data sources.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

This two hour interactive workshop explores career options either in Academia or industry, and helps graduate students to: identify the skills they have gained from their academic programs and other experiences (e.g., internships, experiential education, work and volunteering); connect their skills with employability skills that are valued in the workplace; and start thinking early on about life after graduation.

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Career Services
Step: Career

In the Canadian workplace, diversity is valued. Many businesses have a diverse workforce with varying skill sets, personalities, and perspectives. This is especially true in Manitoba. Manitoba’s diversity contributes to the innovation and success of many businesses. Newcomers may encounter cultural differences that are different from their native country. Knowing these differences is important to the success of many newcomers in the Canadian workforce. This 1.5 hour workshop talks about how Canadian workplace culture plays a role in career success in Canada.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Career Services
Step: Career

In this two hour workshop, participants learn specific strategies and skills to communicate and address conflict in a way that may be easier for others to hear without compromising the integrity of their message. Conflict styles, nonverbal communication, and skills to address behaviours that get in the way of connecting and communicating with others, including the four behaviours that have been empirically shown to be most damaging to communicating and building positive relationships, are also covered.

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Student Counselling Centre
Step: Communication

This one hour workshop covers what students need to know about copyright while preparing a thesis - whether you can use images and text created by others, when permission is needed, how to get permission, how to find free resources, details of the Copyright Act, and more.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Copyright Office
Step: Communication

In this 1.5 hour workshop, participants are given an overview of research ethics at the University of Manitoba Fort Garry Campus, including helpful tips and best practices to ensure compliance with provincial and federal guidelines. Students learn about the Fort Garry REB timelines, how to create a well-prepared ethics application, and receive key tips from the Human Ethics Officer for Fort Garry.

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Human Ethics Officer
Step: Research

This one hour session provides an overview of key concepts in data visualization and focuses on the top ten do’s and dont's when creating charts and graphics to communicate research data. Hands-on examples are used to explore different tools, as well as design considerations for accessibility.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

This two hour workshop focuses on advanced features of EndNote, including: Working with PDFs (watched folders, annotations); Working with references (reference updates, global editing, using smart groups); Working with journal term lists; Managing figures; Syncing your desktop library with your online account and sharing your library; and Working with Output styles (making minor modifications, installing new styles).

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

This two hour workshop provides a hands-on introduction to the EndNote desktop reference management program. Participants learn how to automatically add references from databases (e.g. Web of Science, PubMed) and Google Scholar, import and export references manually, and use the online search feature in EndNote. How to find full text, manage PDFs of articles within EndNote, create bibliographies and insert citations while writing, and organizing references into groups are also covered.

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

This 1.5 hour session covers how to build effective professional and personal networks. Participants learn how to put this knowledge into practice and how to present themselves to people who can be key to their future success.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Career Services
Step: Career

This one hour workshop helps students who are unsure as to what is expected in a literature review, or not sure how to start one. Participants learn the purpose and objectives of a literature review and strategies that help synthesize information they have gathered, and to properly paraphrase others’ research.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Academic Learning Centre
Step: Communication

In this one hour workshop, participants learn how to select and efficiently search the scholarly databases that the UM Libraries subscribe to. Discover hidden gems and new pathways to retrieve relevant grey literature and community-based resources to enhance your results.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

In this two hour workshop, participants learn key strategies that will help conduct an effective and successful job search now and throughout their careers.

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Career Services
Step: Career

In this 1.5 hour workshop, participants learn strategies to keep up with new and relevant research. These strategies include how to use Google Alert, saved searches in various research databases, citation alerts to monitor citations, Journal Table of Contents alerts and BrowZine to find journals and read articles on your iPad or tablet.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Research

This 1.5 hour workshop provides an overview of how to create unexpected opportunities by recognizing and including chance events into your life plan. The following concepts are covered: What is planned happenstance?; Five skills of planned happenstance and elaboration of these skills; The contrast between traditional and planned happenstance life planning approach; Identifying and discussing planned happenstance activities. Real world examples, interactive activities, and small and large group discussions are used to elaborate on these ideas.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Student Counselling Centre
Step: Career

Students may be looking for work because they are graduating; or they may already be working and are ready to move to another position. There are countless employers that may have work; but attempting to find work without a clear focus and understanding of how to highlight foreign credentials and work experience can result in frustration and wasted time. This 1.5 hour workshop teaches students how to develop a targeted brand, self-market to Manitoban employers, and understand employer expectations in a new hire.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Career Services
Step: Career

This 1.5 hour session covers various networking and academic profile websites such as ResearchGate, Mendeley, ResearchID, and Google Scholar Profiles. Participants learn about author identification systems such as ORCID and how it links with some of the systems.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Career, Research

Mendeley is a citation management tool that works with a collection of PDFs. It helps organize and manage sources in folders and by highlighting, annotating and making notes. It helps to identify and include in-text citations quickly and create a bibliography for your paper. In this 1.5 hour introductory session, students learn the essential features of Mendeley to assess whether it works for their research flow.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

In this two hour workshop, participants learn key strategies that help them conduct an effective and successful job search now and throughout their career, including identifying and expanding their network of contacts.

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Career Services
Step: Career

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a powerful tool used for digital mapping and spatial analysis. This one hour workshop provides an introductory overview of GIS software; gives a variety of examples of methods of how GIS can be used for data analysis and visualization in science-related disciplines; details how to prepare data or determine if data would be suitable for analysis within GIS software; and describes where to find secondary data to include in analyses.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

This one hour session guides participants through the complete process of preparing for their first publication. It covers important factors to consider when selecting a journal, how the peer-review and revision process works, understanding open access options, the benefits of creating an ORCID, copyright issues, and how to keep track of potential future citations.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic

This 1.5 hour workshop highlights library tools and services that every graduate student should know. Attendees learn about searching for theses, document delivery, article alerts, an overview of citation management software and more.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic

In this 1.5 hour workshop, practitioner stress, burnout, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue is explored and explained. Remedies that can be implemented are shared and discussed in a supportive environment to help students begin their journey into becoming a resilient practitioner.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Student Counselling Centre
Step: Healthy

Procrastination is a challenge that many graduate students face. This workshop will focus on learning strategies that can assist you if you encounter this difficulty while taking classes, studying, working in the lab or writing your thesis or dissertation. There will be in session practice of skills learned so please bring writing materials or a charged laptop or tablet to this session.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Student Counselling Centre
Step: Communication

Skills and experience are valued in the workplace. This two hour workshop helps graduate students identify the skills they have gained from their academic programs and other experiences (e.g., internships, experiential education, work and volunteering), and connect these skills with those that are valued in the workplace. The differences between a resume and a CV, along with tips and strategies to help get the job you want, are also covered.

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Career Services
Step: Communication, Career

This 1.5 hour session shows participants how to quickly search for images and use them in their work. Participants also learn how to find free images online, how to cite found images, and discuss creative commons/copyright.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic

This one hour session teaches tips and tricks to use when searching in Google and Google Scholar. The Google Scholar portion includes what Google Scholar has for resources, adding records to My Library, and linking back to the Library to get full text. This workshop is interactive, and answers questions about these two commonly searched web resources.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic

This 1.5 hour workshop teaches how to effectively search for information. Attendees learn search techniques for scholarly information, and Web resources. You'll also learn truncation, wild card, and Boolean logic search techniques, as well as search commands for search engines.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic

Scopus is a multidisciplinary database that indexes journals in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities and has powerful citation analysis and visualization tools. In this one hour workshop, participants learn how to construct and refine keyword search strategies, save searches and set up alerts to keep up with literature or researchers in their field, find the highly cited work in a field, and use author tools to analyze research output.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

This two hour workshop covers several different options to locate research literature including the Library Search option, subject-specific databases, and Google Scholar.

Duration: 2 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic

Writing a thesis or dissertation is lonely work with no traditional deadlines and requires a writing skill set that students often have to develop as they write. This one hour workshop provides strategies and tools that students can use to minimize those challenges. Participants are encouraged to bring what writing, organization, and time-management strategies work for them and share them at the session.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Academic Learning Centre
Step: Communication

This one hour workshop focuses on the common mistakes made when completing a scholarship application, and differentiates between a strong versus a weak application for Master’s and PhD scholarships. Students receive an overview on how they should calculate their GPA when considering eligibility for awards.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Faculty of Graduate Studies Awards Office
Step: Communication

Ideally, the graduate student experience is a time for intellectual and personal growth and interpersonal exchanges that are civil and collegial. To that end, the University supports a learning and workplace environment that is respectful. Unfortunately, issues and conflicts can arise and for graduate students, it is important to know their rights and responsibilities. In this one hour interactive session using real life scenarios, students have an opportunity to discuss what is a respectful learning and workplace environment, the complaints process, where to go for advice, and other practical tips on problem solving.

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Student Advocacy
Step: Basic

This 1.5 hour workshop focuses on the myths and realities of the graduate student/advisor relationship and what is within a student's control to help establish and maintain a positive relationship. Particular strategies are shared, including information about the rights and responsibilities of a graduate student.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Student Counselling Centre
Step: Basic

This one hour workshop aims to help students transition smoothly to graduate-level writing by discussing some of the differences between undergraduate and graduate-level writing, including the different expectations related to content (complexity of ideas, critical thinking), research (depth and breadth), writing style (clarity and conciseness), and formatting (punctuation and conventions).

Duration: 1 hour
Presented by: Academic Learning Centre
Step: Communication

In this 1.5 hour session, participants examine poster samples to identify successful strategies for selecting and organizing the textual and visual components of a poster and tailoring a poster to your target audience; useful poster design tools are also identified.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Academic Learning Centre
Step: Communication

In this 1.5 hour session, students learn how to merge duplicate records, import RIS files, advanced search options, and tagging. We will also discuss how to manage your PDFs and annotations using free cloud services such as Box, Dropbox, or Google Drive and using Zotfile, a third-party Zotero plug-in.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic, Research

Zotero is a free, open source reference management software that can be used to gather, organize and manage sources and share research. In this 1.5 hour workshop, participants find out how Zotero works as a citation management tool through the combination of demonstrations and hands-on exercises.

Duration: 1.5 hours
Presented by: Libraries
Step: Basic