Developing Postgraduate Skills
PGT Essentials is a programme of online workshops designed to support your development as a Postgraduate Taught Student, collaborating with experts from across the University to help you thrive academically and prepare for your next career step.
Our monthly academic workshops are run in collaboration with the Academic Skills Centre. Each workshop features an academic expert talking about a key skill for postgraduate success, such as critical thinking, research skills, time-management, dissertations, and academic writing. They'll offer tips and tricks for developing and honing this skill, and how to demonstrate it in your assignments, as well as offering further resources to support you. We'll finish with a Q&A on the session theme, where you can get your questions answered.
We also know how important your postgraduate course might be for your career. PGT Essentials also offers workshops across the academic year with the Careers Network's resident PGT Career Advisor. In Semester One, learn about PhD study, whether it is the correct next step for you, and how you could apply for and fund your potential doctoral studies. In the summer, learn how to market your dissertation to a range of employers, emphasising the value of your PGT programme to competitive fields.
If you intend to make the most of your time as a UoB postgraduate, these sessions are not to be missed!
You can sign up to all of the Semester Two (23-24) PGT Essentials sessions below:
Wednesday 21 February, 2-3:30pm, online with the Academic Skills Centre.
Engaging with academic feedback is an important part of improving your postgraduate work and developing your skills; this workshop will help you to interpret your assignment feedback and apply it to future work and learning. We'll look in-depth at the language used in feedback, what it means in practical terms, and how best you can use it to your advantage.
Wednesday 13 March, 2-3:30pm, online with the Academic Skills Centre.
Research skills are an important part of postgraduate study, whether you're tackling Semester Two assignments or the start of your dissertation. Critical thinking, problem solving, taking initiative, and effective database searching are all crucial for effectively conducting research. What is the best way to begin your research by finding the information you need, and how do you make the most of library resources?
Wednesday 24 April, 12-1:30pm, online with the Academic Skills Centre.
Research skills are an important part of postgraduate study, whether you're tackling Semester Two assignments or the start of your dissertation. But managing your research project for the first time can be overwhelming and unfamiliar - how can you plan your time most effectively? What is a research question? What does a supervisor expect from you? Where do you start?
Read on to find out about summertime PGT Essentials sessions offering support with dissertations!
Keep an eye on this page for registration links coming soon:
PGT Essentials: Research Skills and Tools for your Dissertation (Online)
Wednesday 26 June, 2-3:30pm, online with the Academic Skills Centre.
If you need a bit of support and advice about using different tools and software to help you research and write your PGT dissertation, then this is the workshop for you. Our ASC experts will look at a variety of digital tools you can use to make writing your PGT dissertation a much easier task.
PGT Essentials: Dissertation Writing – Secondary Research (Online)
Wednesday 10 July, 2-3:30pm, online with the Academic Skills Centre.
If your PGT dissertation is based on secondary research and you need a bit of support and advice for writing and structuring it, then this is the workshop for you. Our ASC expert will look at different approaches you can take to improve your writing, structure your work, and write more critically.
PGT Essentials: Dissertation Writing – Primary Research (Online)
Wednesday 24 July, 2-3:30pm, online with the Academic Skills Centre.
If your PGT dissertation is based on primary research and you need a bit of support and advice for writing and structuring it, then this is the workshop for you. Our ASC expert will look at different approaches you can take to improve your writing, discuss your research, and write more critically.
PGT Essentials: Editing and Proofreading your Dissertation (Online)
Date TBC – Early August.
If you've recently finished a full or partial draft of your dissertation, you might be feeling a bit lost or overwhelmed as to how to approach editing. You might be a perfectionist, looking to refine and polish your writing. Or, you might be looking ahead to an expected stage of rewriting before handing in.
Whatever stage you're at, if you're looking to learn more about the best methods for editing and proofreading, then this is the workshop for you.
Get Your Diss Done: Co-working sessions to motivate you to complete your dissertation (In-Person)
‘Get Your Diss Done’ is a series of in-person co-working sessions designed to give you added company and motivation to complete your dissertation over the summer months.
The schedule for ‘Get Your Diss Done’ will be as follows:
- Tuesday 7 July, 10-4pm, venue TBC
- Thursday 18 July, 10-4pm, venue TBC
- Wednesday 31 July, 10-4pm, venue TBC
- Monday 12 August, 10-4pm, venue TBC