PGT Essentials
The Academic Skills Centre are delivering a series of online workshops specifically for postgraduate taught students. Booking links are below. All online sessions will be recorded.
Getting started with your dissertation
How do I get started with my dissertation? Where do I begin with searching the literature? How can I engage with my subject critically, and how do I communicate this in my writing? Three advisors from the Academic Skills Centre will give you some top tips for acing the final hurdle of your postgraduate degree and tackle your dissertation questions.
- Wednesday 29 April 2026, 13:30-15:00 (UK time)
- Online
- Book a place
Summer dissertation series
PGT Dissertation Conversations: Share, Think and Solve
A student-focused session, where everyone brings a question or issue related to their dissertation to put to other PGT students. You’ll be given time to share your thoughts and engage in focused discussion, shaped by thoughtful prompts and different perspectives.
- Tuesday 9 June 2026, 11:00-12:30 (UK time)
- Main Library, Fourth floor Training Room
- Book a place
Reference management tools for your dissertation
We will look at how Cite Them Right Online and EndNote can help you reference clearly and correctly, and also keep track of your references for you, followed by a Q&A where you can ask any questions related to how these tools can help you complete your dissertation.
- Wednesday 24 June 2026, 14:00-15:30 (UK time)
- Online
- Book a place
PGT Dissertation Conversations: Share, Think and Solve
A student-focused session, where everyone brings a question or issue related to their dissertation to put to other PGT students. You’ll be given time to share your thoughts and engage in focused discussion, shaped by thoughtful prompts and different perspectives.
- Tuesday 25 June 2026, 11:00-12:30 (UK time)
- Online
- Book a place
Research and Writing for Systematic Reviews
This session will explore how to approach a systematic review, focusing on searching the literature and writing up your findings. We’ll look at the role databases play in systematic searching, subject heading vs. freetext searching, and aligning search strategies across multiple databases, outlining how to write up a systematic review.
- Wednesday 1 July 2026, 14:00-15:30 (UK time)
- Online
- Book a place
Dissertation writing: primary research
If your postgraduate 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. We’ll cover introductions and conclusions, reviewing the literature, communicating methods and results, and making sure your discussion is analytical and critical.
- Wednesday 8 July 2026, 14:00-15:30 (UK time)
- Online
- Book a place
Dissertation writing: secondary research
If your postgraduate dissertation is chapter-based and uses secondary research, then this workshop will provide support and advice to help you with writing it up. We’ll cover introductions and conclusions, reviewing the literature, structuring your writing and the all-important finishing touches.
- Wednesday 22 July 2026, 14:00-15:30 (UK time)
- Online
- Book a place
Communicating your research: formatting, visuals and data presentation
We’ll cover managing long documents with ease, including managing sections and page numbering, using the Styles in Word, and creating automated tables of contents. We'll also look at how to effectively present your data using graphs, charts, and figures.
- Wednesday 29 July 2026, 14:00-15:30 (UK time)
- Online
- Book a place
Editing and proofreading your dissertation
If you've recently finished a full or partial draft of your dissertation, then this workshop will provide guidance on how to approach editing and proofreading. We'll cover some practical methods that you'll be able to apply straightaway, so come prepared with some writing to work on.
- Wednesday 19 August 2026, 14:00-15:30 (UK time)
- Online
- Book a place