Postgraduate Essentials: Strategies for a Successful Start to your PhD

Postgraduate Essentials: Strategies for a Successful Start to your PhD

Postgraduate Essentials is an online interactive course aimed at equipping PhD students with the academic skills and management tools essential for the first year of candidature and beyond.

Postgraduate students will be able to access this course from work or home, 24 hours/7 days a week. This award winning course provides PhD students with practical information and skills for their research studies, and opportunities to network with other students and university advisers.

The course contains 6 modules, each live for 2 weeks plus an orientation week.

By completing the Postgraduate Essentials course PhD students can expect to:

• Understand the key stages and distinct challenges involved in postgraduate research.
• Develop knowledge of time and task management issues, tools and resources.
• Reflect on and clarify the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and students at the postgraduate level.
• Explore the main browsers, search engines, bibliographic software, online databases, indexes and catalogues that they will use for conducting and recording literature searches.
• Understand the requirements and elements of a literature review and a confirmation report.
• Consider factors which contribute to the effective presentation of academic research.

The interactive course will address the learning needs of students from diverse backgrounds, and offers peer networking and support, as well as interaction with University advisers.

For more information, please contact Dr Sylvia Schaffarczyk, Academic eProjects Coordinator, Melbourne School of Graduate Research, on 8344 8664, or sylvias@unimelb.edu.au.

Keywords: academic skills, postgraduate research skills, PhD, PhD candidature

Postgraduate Essentials at the University of Melbourne is a joint initiative of the Melbourne School of Graduate Research, the Academic Skills Unit and Information Services.

It was developed by Teresa Tjia, Dr Jeanette Fyffe, Sabina Robertson, Dr Wendy Larcombe, Dr Anthony McCosker, and Claire Brooks (Educational Designer).

The courseware was designed by the Educational Technology Services, University of Melbourne.

More information: http://www.gradresearch.unimelb.edu.au/programs/pge/

Minimum system requirements: Online