Essential Workshops
During your studies, you should attend the DRDP training identified as ‘essential workshops‘. These cover core skills for your development as a researcher, preparation for key stages of the doctoral process and your Annual Performance Review (APR) alongside important information relating to the requirements of your PhD.
Essential Workshops for New Doctoral Researchers
New students should book and attend four essential workshops – Your Research at Westminster, Introduction to the DRDP, The Ethical Researcher and Starting out as a Researcher in…
YOUR RESEARCH AT WESTMINSTER
29th January 2025, 10.00am-5.00pm
This first university workshop will start to get you thinking about the kind of researcher you are. Are you goal oriented? What form of learning best suits you? How do you relate to others involved in your research? This will help you begin to answer these questions and will suggest active and productive strategies to make sure that your style as a researcher works for you.
It will also consider the activities which frame your research, but are crucial to its success, such as time management, academic writing and reading skills, networking (this is your opportunity to work with your peers from across the university), working with your supervisor, planning for the first 90 days of your doctoral degree, and much more!
Please view the following documents and slides before the workshop:
INTRODUCTION TO THE DRDP and THE ETHICAL RESEARCHER
Semester 2 – 30th January 2025, Regent Street
MORNING SESSION: INTRODUCTION TO THE DRDP
30th January 2025, 10.00am-12.30pm
This workshop will introduce doctoral researchers to the importance of the UoW Doctoral Researcher Training Programme (DRDP). It will address some of the key issues in relation to the world of doctoral training and highlight why ‘training’ forms part of the contemporary PhD journey. Addressing everything from how to navigate the DRDP Website, what the workshops cover, to booking for them and the function of the Skills Assessment Form, this workshop will be discursive and informal.
With over 60 workshops on offer, it is useful to plan ahead in terms of which ones to prioritise, and how to approach different ways of thinking around gaining new skills and knowledge – these are all issues covered at the session. We will address any questions about the different workshops and also help to clarify the distinction between the workshops offered by the Graduate School and the discipline specific ones organised by the individual schools. Open to all new students, this workshop will also be a way to meet PhD students and researchers from other disciplines as well as a way to make new friends! Doctoral researchers are strongly encouraged to attend this workshop in their first term.
AFTERNOON SESSION: THE ETHICAL RESEARCHER
30th January 2025, 2.00pm-4.00pm
All research involves important but sometimes complex engagements with other people – colleagues, supervisors, participants, interviewees, and so on. Primarily for new students and second in a two-workshop series (following Your Research at Westminster), The Ethical Researcher covers all the ways in which research demands ethical and responsible behaviours. It covers the university’s ethical approval processes, question of intellectual property, responsibility toward research participants and the secure handling of data. Discussion focuses on a series of scenarios and case studies and is always lively!
*Before attending The Ethical Researcher , please view the recordings below which provide important background to the case studies we will be exploring at the workshop. They provide key information and guidance which will inform your work as an ethical researcher at the University of Westminster.
2. An Introduction to Intellectual Property: Oxentia.for.Westminster.Intellectual.Property.Sep.2020
3. Data Protection for Research
4. Making an Ethics Application in the VRE:
Ethics Application Part A
Ethics Application Part B
6. The case studies we will be exploring in the session: Ethical Researcher Case Studies
For those doctoral researchers undertaking qualitative research in the Humanities, you will find this AHRC funded Report very useful:
Rethinking Research Ethics in the Humanities: Principles and Recommendations
Kasstan, Jonathan R., Pearson, Geoff and Brooks, Victoria 2023. Rethinking Research Ethics in the Humanities: Principles and Recommendations. University of Westminster. https://doi.org/10.34737/w36yq
There is a host of useful information relating to Ethics, Data and the Research Environment available on the university website if you wish to explore further.
STARTING OUT AS A RESEARCHER
Beginning your research will involve different questions and activities depending on the nature of your work and the disciplinary area or areas you are working within. The two-day workshops below will cover questions of research skills and methods, time planning, ethics and communication strategies. If your work is interdisciplinary, it may be useful to attend more than one workshop (in the VRE Calendar, every DRDP workshop scheduled for the academic year can be viewed in date order).
This workshop is open to all but is primarily directed at new doctoral students.
Click on the appropriate link below to book a place. Dates will be confirmed as soon as possible.
Starting Out as A Researcher in Social Sciences, Humanities and Architecture (SHAPE)
Semester Two
22nd January 2025, 10.00am-2.00pm Book in Inkpath
23rd January 2025, 1.00pm-4.00pm Book in Inkpath
Starting Out as A Researcher in Life Sciences
Semester Two
Day One – TBC January 2025
Day Two – TBC January 2025
Starting Out as A Researcher in STEMM (Computer Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences)
Semester Two
Day One – TBC January 2025
Day Two – TBC January 2025
Starting Out as A Researcher in Business
Semester Two
21st January 2025, 1.00pm-5.00pm Book in Inkpath
23rd January 2025,1.00pm-5.00pm Book in Inkpath
Starting Out as A Researcher in Arts
Semester Two
TBC January 2025
Starting Out as A Researcher in Media and Communication
Semester Two
TBC January 2025
Further Essential Workshops – to attend during your Doctoral Studies
COMMUNICATING AND DISSEMINATING YOUR RESEARCH
Expectations around the communication of research vary from discipline to discipline. The following workshops consider the particular strategies and methods for clear and successful communication of research findings appropriate to specific disciplinary areas. These will cover, for example, the delivery of conference papers, the use of social media, and public engagement. For those whose work is interdisciplinary, it may be useful to attend more than one workshop.
Dates to follow shortly.
Communicating and Disseminating Your Research in Social Sciences, Humanities and Architecture (SHAPE)
19th February 2025, 10.00am-2.00pm Book in Inkpath
Communicating and Disseminating Your Research in STEMM Subjects
TBC February 2025
Communicating and Disseminating Your Research in Business
18th February 2025, 1.00pm-5.00pm Book in Inkpath
Communicating and Disseminating Your Research in Arts, Media and Communication
TBC January 2025
PREPARING FOR ANNUAL PROGRESS REVIEWS (APRS)
You progress through your degree will be assessed each year (or every other year if you are part time) through the Annual Progress Review. Preparing for this can be daunting, so each workshop below is designed to take the mystery out of the process. Each workshop will explain how the APRs work in specific disciplinary areas and give you the information you need to approach your next APR with confidence.
Dates to follow shortly
Preparing for APRs in Social Sciences, Humanities and Architecture (SHAPE)
19th March 2025, 10.00am-1.00pm Book in Inkpath
Preparing for APRs in the STEMM Subjects
TBC March 2025
Preparing for APRs in Business
18th March 2025, 1.00pm-5.00pm Book in Inkpath
Preparing for APRs in Arts, Media and Communication
Arts – TBC March 2025
Media and Communication – TBC April 2025
WORKING WITH OTHERS
All research involves working with others, whether that means thinking about what our reader needs when we are writing, engaging in discussion with supervisors and with others in our field, or joining with others to turn ideas into funding proposals or entrepreneurial schemes. This workshop will give you the opportunity to think about how best to work with others through your degree and beyond.
Dates to follow shortly
Working with Others in Social Sciences, Humanities and Architecture (SHAPE)
1st May 2025, 10.00am-2.00pm Book in Inkpath
Working with Others in STEMM Subjects
DATE TBC 2025
Working with Others in Business
29th April 2025, 10.00am-12.00pm Book in Inkpath
Working with Others in Arts, Media and Communication
DATE TBC 2025
FINALISING YOUR THESIS: PREPARING FOR SUBMISSION
Getting towards the end of your doctorate is an exciting time, but it can also be daunting. This workshop will give you all the information you need in order to stay calm. It focuses on two aspects of completion: the writing process and the submission process. The writing process will cover aspects of thesis format, style and contents, including the relationship between research and writing. The submission process will cover such aspects as responsibilities; timely completion; the timetable to completion; support for submission; the administrative processes; and application for thesis examination arrangements.
Click on the appropriate link below to book a place.
Finalising Your Thesis in Social Sciences, Humanities and Architecture (SHAPE)
29th May 2025, 10.00am-12.00pm Book in Inkpath
Finalising Your Thesis in STEMM Subjects
TBC May 2025
Finalising Your Thesis in Business
29th May 2025, 10.00am-2.00pm Book in Inkpath
Finalising Your Thesis in Arts, Media and Communication
TBC May 2025
GETTING READY FOR YOUR FINAL VIVA
This session runs twice a year, so you can choose which date is best for you.
15th October 2024
OR
28th February 2025, 1.00pm-2.30pm, Online
This session helps you to prepare for the culmination of your doctoral studies – the viva voce exam. You will learn about the process in the months leading up to the viva, from the appointment of your examiners to how to submit your thesis. We discuss how you can prepare for the exam itself and what to expect on the day, including practical advice on what and what not to do. We also talk about possible outcomes and what happens next.
Full-time study mode: you may choose to attend Getting Ready for the Viva in your third year of study, too.
Part-time study mode: you are registered for a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 96 months. You may therefore attend this briefing in your fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth year depending on your progress.