Theme: CUL Research Skills
17 matching courses
Reading and note-making may seem like basic academic skills, but these are skills on which researchers often feel they could improve. This session begins by addressing common concerns about reading and note-making then discusses some possible steps you might want to take or techniques to try out in different situations. We also cover techniques to help develop speedier reading, note organising, and the use of relevant AI tools. Good note-making is a useful habit to develop as it not only helps to keep your research organised, but good notes also help you become a better writer.
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
- Apply strategic reading approaches to your own work
- Explain the difference between note-taking and note-making
- Identify strategic reading and note-making approaches that fit your needs
- Understand the link between reading, note making and academic writing
This is an interactive online session for anyone engaging in research in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM).
Making notes on the academic literature you read helps you remember what you have read, clarify your own thoughts, and get started with writing. It also makes your life much easier when you come to adding references to your thesis or publication! This session will explore methods, tools, and strategies for making effective and efficient notes for your research.
By the end of the session, you will be able to:
- Understand various note making methods
- Select an appropriate note making method for your reading needs and personal preferences
- Create notes which demonstrate critical reading and support academic writing
This session is online and will take one hour including activities.
You've passed your viva. If your examiners requested any corrections, those have been submitted and approved.
You now need to deposit a physical copy and an electronic copy of your thesis to the Library. In this session, we will focus on depositing the electronic copy of your thesis, for inclusion in Apollo, the University's Repository.
We will cover:
- What to include in your electronic copy
- What not to include in your electronic copy
- The access levels that are available and guidance on which to choose
- Third party copyright considerations
- Sensitive information considerations
- Funder requirements
We will finish with a live demonstration of depositing a thesis using Symplectic Elements.
Date | Availability | |
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Thu 8 May 2025 | 11:00 | [Places] |
Getting to grips with a new area of research or finding secondary literature to answer a research question can be a daunting task. This session is here to guide you, to enhance your literature search by introducing key resources and strategies that you can use for finding materials, illustrating a range of techniques for searching, and discussing how to stay up to date with research in your field. In the session, as well as looking at the Cambridge University Libraries' online catalogue iDiscover, we also introduce some of the databases that can be most useful to researches in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences carrying out literature searches.
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 databases 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
This online session is aimed to introduce researchers to research data management.
We will go through the 4 key areas of research management: 1. Organising 2. Storage and Backup 3. Sharing 4. Archiving.
We will also cover topics such as working with sensitive data and have an introduction to Data Management plans. The session is tailored to those working in AHSS and there will be Q&A at the end for any specific questions.
This session will cover aspects of Research Data Management:
- where to store data safely and securely
- how to organise data
- how to share data openly when appropriate
- what support is available at Cambridge
Publishing in journal articles is a key element of a successful researcher career, and something you should expect to do over the course of your PhD, but knowing where to start can be a daunting prospect. When do you know when you're ready to publish in a journal? How can you even be sure whether this is the right outlet for your work? What does the publication process entail and what do you need to know about peer review? This session is designed to take you through the entire process from initial idea right up to sharing your finished publication.
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
- Have an overview of the publication process from start to finish
- Think about what type of academic publication is right for your research and how to pick the right journal
- Be aware of the dangers posed by predatory publishers
- Understand the peer review process and how to respond to reviewers' comments
Publishing in journal articles is a key element of a successful researcher career, and something you should expect to do over the course of your PhD, but knowing where to start can be a daunting prospect. When do you know when you're ready to publish in a journal? What is the typical structure, form and content of a standard scientific research article? How can you even be sure whether this is the right outlet for your work? What does the publication process entail and what do you need to know about peer review? This session is designed to take you through the entire process from initial idea right up to sharing your finished publication.
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
- Have an overview of the publication process from start to finish
- Think about what type of academic publication is right for your research and how to pick the right journal
- Understand the typical structure, form and content of a standard scientific journal article
- Be aware of the dangers posed by predatory publishers
- Understand the peer review process and how to respond to reviewers' comments
Most people have online profiles and, as a researchers, your online presence offers many rich opportunities. It is helpful to be aware of tools and tips that can help you boost your visibility online, as well as common mistakes to avoid.
In this course, you will:
- begin to develop your online research profile by making yourself visible to others in a way(s) that suits you.
- learn what an ORCID is and how to obtain one.
- learn what your Symplectic Elements account is for and begin to make it work for you
- review your current visibility and consider the next steps
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
This online course follows the whole process of public a monograph or other academic book, from making the initial decisions, to what to do once you have the finished book in your hands.
You’ll learn:
- key considerations when turning your thesis into a monograph
- how to choose the best publisher for you
- how Open Access monographs work
- how to write a great proposal
- what to expect from the peer review and publishing process
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
Copyright law is a complex field with direct relevance for researchers who need to protect their own intellectual work and use work written by others, and most importantly must avoid accidentally infringing copyright. This course provides you with basic knowledge you can apply to your research practice.
The course covers:
- fundamentals of copyright and why it’s important
- what to do if you want to use someone else’s work
- how to protect and share your own work
- how licenses can be used to make it easier to reuse works
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
The module covers the key things you need to know when depositing your electronic thesis to Apollo
- How to ensure you meet all the requirements for submission
- How to decide on the access level for your thesis
- A demonstration of successfully depositing your work using Symplectic Elements.
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
Note making (as opposed to note taking) is an active practice of recording relevant parts of reading for your research as well as your reflections and critiques of those studies. Note making, therefore, is a pre-writing exercise that helps you to organise your thoughts prior to writing. In this module, we will cover:
- The difference between note taking and note making
- Seven tips for good note making
- Strategies for structuring your notes and asking critical questions
- Different styles of note making
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
Data, Metrics, Key Performance Indicators... these terms are everywhere these days, as we increasingly seek hard data to monitor and improve the quality of many of the things we do. Research metrics can be very useful, but they also come with important caveats, so we need to be responsible in how we use these tools.
In this module, you will learn:
- the meaning of common metrics such as Journal Impact Factor and H-index
- what are the main limitations of metrics
- a better, responsible approach to using metrics
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
Have you ever searched for articles on a topic and returned thousands of results... or none? Are you always defaulting to Google Scholar and wondering if there’s a better way of doing things? Are you starting to look into a new topic and feel overwhelmed and unsure where to start? Then this online course is for you.
We will look at the three stages of a successful literature search:
- planning a strategy and identifying the right key words
- searching using the right tools and maintaining accurate records
- evaluating results and refining search parameters
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
As a researcher, you will collect a lot of data. Whether that data takes the form of spreadsheets, recordings, images, bibliographies, or something entirely different, it's crucial that you manage it well throughout your projects. Doing so will help you to work more efficiently, avoid data disasters, and build your professional reputation.
In this course, you'll learn:
- how to store and backup up data
- how to organise data
- what to do with protected data (personal or commercially sensitive)
- why sharing data is important and how to do it
- how to write Data Management Plans
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
This online module covers the basic skills you need if you are preparing to publish in academic journals.
It will help you to:
- plan a publication strategy and choose the right journals for you
- avoid the snares of predatory publishers
- navigate the peer review process
- understand Open Access publishing and what it means for your publications
You will receive the URL for the course in the confirmation email after booking.
Fair attribution for technicians through either co-authorship or direct acknowledgement in research publications is a key component of the ‘visibility’ and ‘recognition’ areas of the Technician Commitment, of which the University of Cambridge was a founding signatory in 2017.
However, there is currently no policy or standard practice for acknowledging the role of technicians, equipment and facilities in the University or the wider sector. Technicians experience a great disparity in their recognition and visibility in scholarly outputs.
This interactive workshop will introduce you to the scholarly communications process as well as tools such as CRediT and ORCID, and facilitate conversation amongst peers.