Communicating your research to non-specialists in a concise and engaging way is a premier skill for researchers: not everyone does it well, yet everyone has the capacity to do so.

This intensive workshop brings together the crucial factors for success, and will help you to prepare if you're thinking about entering the Three Minute Thesis competition*. Take-away tools will support you in the early stages of choosing what to include (and what to leave out); constructing an engaging and meaningful narrative; and how to convey appropriate detail of your research (and its impact) in accessible language includes opportunities for experimentation in putting these skills into practice alongside the theory.

Learning outcomes

Engaging with this workshop will enable you to:

• Start constructing a concise and engaging narrative of your research
• Identify and express the 'so what?' of your research
• Select accessible language for articulating complex ideas
• Practice communicating your research to non-specialists

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers in the mid-late stage of their research degree and from all disciplines.

About the facilitators

This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Sarah Robins-Hobden, chartered psychologist.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

There are a number of different ways to display your data or ideas visually and it depends on who you are aiming to engage and what you want to tell them. Building excellent graphics and summary figures takes time, practice and a willingness to learn the appropriate software. This workshop will provide an overview of information visualisation and further resources for participants to explore in their own time.

Data and information visualisation is a vast and rapidly growing field. This workshop covers the principles of visualising data, examples of excellent visualisations and poor visualisations and case studies including examples from the instructor’s own publications and experience.

Learning outcomes

After this workshop participants will have:

• been introduced to the principles of good information visualisation
• an overview of various types of visualisations and considered how they can represent their own work visually

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers in the mid-late stage of their research degree and from all disciplines, and ECRs from all disciplines, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows at grades 6-8.

About the facilitators

This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Joanna Young from the Scientific Editing Company.

This workshop will introduce you to open publishing for your research outputs and explain the options available to you as the author.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop you will have:

• An awareness of recent developments and debates within open publishing
• An understanding of the different options to make your work openly available
• Considered the benefits of making your research outputs openly available
• Identified resources to aid the discovery of openly published material

Target audience

Researchers from all career stages and from all disciplines.

About the facilitators

The Library Research Support team support researchers at all levels across the University.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

Choosing the right journal, the right publisher or the right publishing format for your research output can be daunting. If you’re new to publishing and not quite sure where to start, this workshop can help you sort out what's appropriate and what's not.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop you will have:

• Discovered how the Think, Check, Submit resources can help you decide whether a particular journal or book publisher is reputable or not
• An understanding of the different options to make your work openly available
• Discovered how responsible use of publication metrics can help inform your publishing decision
• Know where to find support and advice

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines, and ECRs from all disciplines, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows at grades 6-8.

About the facilitators

The Library Research Support team support researchers at all levels across the University.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

Podcasting is one of the fastest-growing means of communication for universities, be it a recorded series of lectures, a snapshot of research, or an advertisement to attract new students and/ or funding. There is no doubt podcasts are one of the most accessible windows through which to view your university, and your podcasts should reflect the quality of your institution.

This interactive workshop helps you build the skills to present a podcast in either a talk or interview format.

Learning outcomes

It will help you:

• communicate effectively in your podcasts
• pitch your podcasts correctly to the intended audience
• choose the best format for your podcast

The session will be complemented by online resources on the technical aspects of recording, editing, and distributing your podcast.

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines, and ECRs from all disciplines, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows at grades 6-8.

About the facilitators

The workshop is designed and delivered by the Educational Enhancement team.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

Posters offer an excellent opportunity for researchers to make their project visible to a larger audience, measure a project’s current progress, practice presenting their work and grow their network. Posters are a more informal style of presentation and this can facilitate discussion and learning, leading to new collaborations and relationships.

This specialised course focusses on creating and presenting impactful research posters. Emphasising design, clear communication, structure and good information visualisation principles, the content is delivered through a mixture of presentations from the instructor, group discussion and pracitcal exercises. Participants will learn how to effectively communicate their research in poster format, consider the time required to make a poster and start their own design.

Learning outcomes

After this workshop participants will have:

• an overview of the structure of a research poster and tips on how to design their own poster
• an understanding of how posters can be used for networking
• been introduced to and analysed various examples of research posters

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers in the mid-late stage of their research degree and from all disciplines.

Workshop feedback

• "Having a go at presenting our own poster was useful to condense your thoughts but also to build confidence"

About the facilitators

This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Joanna Young from the Scientific Editing Company.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

Conflict, great or small, may arise in different ways during the course of your research - usually when a need isn’t being met, or a disagreement arises during a project. Developing the way you understand and address conflict and potential conflict situations will improve your communication skills, reduce stress, and enable you to resolve issues effectively, while at the same time enhancing your working relationships.

In this workshop you will choose from a range of techniques for handling conflict in situations that are relevant and meaningful to you.

This workshop is conducted in a safe and confidential environment where various issues related to conflict can be discussed.

Learning outcomes

Engaging with this workshop will enable you to:

• Identify common scenarios, influencing factors, and resulting consequences of conflict
• Examine your motivations, approaches, and behaviours in conflict situations
• Evaluate and adapt some conflict resolution approaches and techniques to work for you
• Implement aspects of the techniques into actionable steps towards improving your communications and professional relationships

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines, and ECRs from all disciplines, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows at grades 6-8.

About the facilitators

This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Sarah Robins-Hobden, chartered psychologist.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

Manuscripts must be clear and concise and written in a manner that is appropriate for that particular style of document. This workshop covers how to structure an original research paper, designing and planning your article, how to articulate your argument, what to highlight, good practice and what to avoid. The session will cover language, style and tone, using selected examples from the existing literature.

It includes a set of resources that participants can explore in their own time and consists of short lectures, discussions, individual exercises and anecdotes from the instructor's own experience of writing and publishing articles.

Learning outcomes

After this workshop participants will have:

• an understanding of what is expected of them regarding writing style and structure
• analysed and discussed examples of clear, concise scientific writing
• been given a range of resources to explore in their own time

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines, and ECRs from all disciplines, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows at grades 6-8.

About the facilitator

This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Joanna Young from the Scientific Editing Company.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.

This online workshop is tailored for researchers aiming to build a robust online presence and enhance their career opportunities through social media. This workshop will explore different types of content that researchers can experiment with.

This isn’t a platform-specific “how to” session, though we will touch upon a selection of mainstream social media tools for building your online profile, including LinkedIn. No prior experience is required so the course is suitable for beginners, however you may wish to set up a LinkedIn account prior to the session or be logged in if you already have one.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this workshop researchers will have:

• considered the various ways to use social media to their advantage
• an awareness of the legal considerations and privacy issues
• started to design a social media strategy that they can implement in their own time.

Target audience

Postgraduate researchers at all stages and from all disciplines, and ECRs from all disciplines, broadly encompassing research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and research fellows at grades 6-8.

About the facilitators

This workshop is designed and delivered by Dr Joanna Young from the Scientific Editing Company.

Booking information

For online workshops, the link to join the session will be shared to your Sussex email address one working day before the event.