Starting to write in the first year of your PhD: getting ahead with your writing

This workshop deals with writing in the 1st year of the doctorate. It focuses on starting to write critically and systematically about the literature, developing a literature review, a methodology and a set of research questions/hypotheses, and understanding the purpose of a doctoral thesis. Developing your own academic style is also covered. The workshop approaches research writing as a process, one that poses challenges to doctoral researchers: managing an emerging and changing program of research; the volume of material and the size of the project; and obstacles which get in the way of writing effectively. 

The workshop can be generic to all disciplines but real examples are drawn on throughout. Participants are provided with a set of analytical tools aimed at analysing their own discipline’s standards and writing tasks suitable to all fields of study. The workshop can either be cross-disciplinary or have a STEM, Arts and Humanities or Social Sciences focus.

This is a workshop style event, requiring participants to work individually and in small groups, as well as to occasionally contribute to whole group discussions. Workshops are interactive and based on experiential and reflective learning models. The content is evidence based, drawing on linguistics, sociology and education research. All activities are practical and directly relevant to writing a doctorate in the early stages of study.