Facilitator: Stephen McDonald

Date: 03rd December 2025, 14:00-15:00

This session offers a more detailed look at discovery tools, covering subject specific databases with a particular emphasis on using Scopus and Web of Science, Google Scholar, repositories, data sources and open access discovery tools. 

Facilitator: Dr Neil Raven

Date: TBC                 

Aimed at final year PhD students, this session deals with the final phase of the process and explores strategies to help ensure successful completion.

By reviewing and evaluating work produced thus far, and locating remaining gaps, you will formulate a plan for completion. Attention will be given to strategies for good time management and the identification of effective working practices. This component of the workshop will draw to a close by exploring how to make the most of your supervisors in the final stage of the PhD, as well as considering sources of additional support. The session will then address the subject of editing your PhD. This will also include preparing for the viva and, in so doing, will draw upon advice offered by examiners. It will conclude by reflecting upon the range of skills and capabilities gained from the PhD process, and preparing for post-PhD life.

A1 – B1 – B2 – C2

Facilitator: Claire Pike

Date: 22nd January 2026, 14:00-14:50       

EndNote is a reference management tool designed to help you collect, organise, and cite your sources efficiently. This introductory workshop will walk you through its key features, including building a searchable reference library, importing references, and generating citations and bibliographies in a variety of styles.

Facilitator: Claire Pike

Date: 05th November 2025, 10:00-10:50

 This session provides an introduction to literature searching, covering how to plan an effective search strategy, apply Boolean operators, and use advanced search techniques. You’ll also explore subject-specific databases and learn how to make the most of Google Scholar for supplementary research.

Facilitator: Claire Pike

Date: 20th November 2025, 10:00-10:30

The workshop covers the fundamentals of reference management software, including what it is, how it works, and why it is beneficial. Additionally, it introduces various reference management software options, such as EndNote and RefWorks, helping you choose the best one for your needs.

Facilitators:  Stephen Mcdonald   

Date: 18th February 2026, 14:00-15:00

Facilitator: Dr Neil Raven  

Date: TBC

The research process – whether it is for a master’s dissertation or a PhD – can be very challenging. Consequently, approaches that are able to support this process are much valued. Reflective practice is one such approach. It can encourage the development of analytical skills and critical thinking, help generate new insights and understanding, and afford a mechanism for capturing the decision-making process. Reflective writing can also represent a data source in itself.  

 Having introduced the concept of reflective practice and what it offers to the researcher, this session considers the various methods that can be used to facilitate such practice, including journal keeping and reflective discussion. It then considers the components of a reflective cycle – from description to interpretation and critical analysis, and on to the identification of points of learning and the drawing up of a set of actions or responses. Examples of how this process can be applied to the work of the researcher are also explored, with participants encouraged to draw upon their own study experiences. The concept of reflexivity, concerned with locating the researcher in the research process, will also be explored. The session will conclude with some recommendations on effective reflective practice and by encouraging participants to reflect upon the approach that best suits them.  

A2 – A3

Facilitator: Stephen McDonald

Date: 5th November 2025, 14:00-15:00

This session introduces a range of article, journal and author level bibliometric and altmetric indicators, including their benefits and, crucially, their limitations. It provides an overview of sources used to find metrics including, Scopus, Web of Science, and Scholar.  

Facilitator: Dr Neil Raven   

Date: TBC

This session will examine the types of focus group used and their relative strengths and weaknesses. Drawing on examples of research projects, it will also consider when to use focus groups and the factors determining the number to conduct, including a comparison with other forms of qualitative research (interviews and observation, etc.).

The session will explore the key phases involved in conducting successful focus group research. This will cover preparation work, group selection, the development of a schedule of questions and the use of other data generating activities, before exploring the process of conducting the focus group. The workshop will conclude by exploring how other qualitative methods, as well as quantitative ones, can be used to complement the insights provided by focus groups, and the role that pilot studies can play in the testing of method and design.

A1 – B2 – D1 – D2

Facilitator: Dr Joanna Young    

Date:  23rd April 2026, 13:30-16:30   

Time management and motivation is not about working more, it’s about working smarter. This workshop is designed for researchers who are interested in developing their time management skills to optimise their working hours. With research activities, literature, publishing, tutoring, and writing to consider, it can be challenging for researchers to fit everything in. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to techniques to optimise their time and discuss working patterns with others. Participants will evaluate what they currently spend their time on, what they would like to prioritise, how to measure their progress and how to keep motivated by considering what works best for them.

A2 – B2 – B3 – C3

Facilitator: Dr Neil Raven

Date: TBC

This is a two part training session. The morning session will focus on questionnaires and interviews, with the afternoon session exploring focus groups, observation and photography. Consideration will be given to the origins and characteristics of each of these research instruments, as well as their comparative strengths and limitations when it comes to being ‘deployed in the real world’. Interactive in nature, this workshop will also provide participants with opportunities to assess the suitability of each of these methods to their own research, and, for those who have already employed these methods, to share their experiences of applying them in the field.

By the end of this workshop, participants will:

• Appreciate the role of questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observation and photography as qualitative research instruments

• Recognise the relative strengths and weaknesses of each

• Have considered which would be best applied to their research, or how they could be deployed in combination

• Have gained insights from those who have applied these instruments in the real world.

Participants may attend one or both of the sessions.

  A2 – A3

Facilitator: Dr Neil Raven 

Date: TBC               

‘Conventional’ approaches to qualitative research have certain limitations. They tend to capture data at a particular moment in time. Whilst still new to a number of subject areas, qualitative longitudinal research offers an approach that has the potential to overcome this drawback. Having provided an introduction and explanation of what QLR encompasses, attention will turn to its potential advantages and strengths, as well as its limitations and the challenges associated with its application. Some examples of QRL’s use in ‘the field’ will be given, with participants working in small groups to explore how it might be applied to a current area of concern to researchers. Concluding with participants considering how QLR could be deployed in their research.

A1 – B1 – B2 – C2

Facilitator: Dr Neil Raven 

Date: TBC     

Questionnaires – whether administered electronically or by more traditional means – are a widely used research method, including in the collection of qualitative data. This workshop considers the questionnaire, its context, and the kinds of data the questionnaire can capture. It will then explore the questionnaire structure: its layout and appearance; the ordering and types of question posed; as well as approaches to maximising response rates and ensuring validity in the data collected. In addition, consideration will be given to sampling techniques and guidance of questionnaire deployment.
Drawing on examples of questionnaires used in the field, participants will work on developing their own questionnaires (either from scratch or from designs they already have). Questionnaires should be accessible to the recipients it aims to collect data from, and capable of generating the desired quality of response. As such, this workshop will review features that can maximise the potential of a questionnaire.

A1 – A2 – A3 – B1 – C2

Facilitator: Dr Neil Raven

Date: TBC                 

For those using qualitative methods in their research, this interactive workshop considers the application of these methods to the research question, alongside the process of data collection and data analysis.

The workshop will consider the characteristics of qualitative data and its value to academic enquiry. A series of case studies will feature, providing participants with an opportunity to explore the most appropriate methods and research design to apply in each case. It will consider methods designed to ensure the generation of high quality data, exploring the various phases associated with data analysis, namely: transcription and data preparation; organisation and interpretation; plus the identification of themes and categories. Consideration will be given to expressing trends and tendencies, as well as recognising the concepts of saturation and triangulation. Participants can then apply their learning to an excerpt from an interview transcript.

A1 – A2 – C2