26 February 2025

CaRST eNewsletter

Training & Development Events

Before registering for CaRST events, please review our no-show policy.

CaRST MyUni Update: new module added

The recent Navigating AI in Higher Degree Research webinar has been added to the CaRST MyUni site. If you missed the live presentation earlier this month, you can earn 2 credits in Domain A for watching the webinar recording and passing a brief assessment quiz. Don't miss this excellent opportunity to familiarise yourself with the benefits, risks and responsibilities associated with generative AI use as an HDR student. For more information on the use of AI tools in research – and another 1.5 credits in Domain A – be sure to check out the Integrity in Research Writing course on MyUni. Enrol here.

Handling Difficult Conversations Well

When: 27 February 2025, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Credits: 2 credits, Domain D
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

It sometimes seems that life is full of difficult conversations! They’re the ones that we put off, avoid or stumble our way through. But it is possible to handle them with greater certainty and confidence – and still get a good result with less emotional turmoil. In this session we will look at how these conversations arise, how they differ from “normal” conversations and how you can use collaborative communication skills to build relationships, reduce conflict, increase learning and improve outcomes. Register here.

Intellectual Property 101

When: 3 March 2025, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Credits: 1 credit, Domain C
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

Are you new to the world of intellectual property? Have you heard the term IP and wondered what it is all about? This presentation will give you an overview of what IP is and how it is protected. This presentation will cover what is intellectual property, what types of intellectual property can be protected and how patents are used to protect an invention. It will also discuss what inventors need to consider when patenting their inventions and commercial considerations to obtain best value from patents. Register here.

Setting up your university researcher profile

When: 6 March 2025, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Credits: 1 credit, Domain B
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

This session will provide an overview of why having a researcher profile is important, and how this contributes to developing your personal brand. It will cover where to find the relevant systems, how they link together, managing a personal brand and profile, and where to find more help and training when it is needed. Register here.

CaRST Information Session

When: 11 March 2025, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Credits: 1 credit, Domain C
Delivery mode: In-person

Career and Research Skills Training (CaRST) is a compulsory component of the PhD and Masters of Philosophy degrees. The CaRST Information Session provides an opportunity to learn about the program requirements, procedures and how to ensure you make the most of the program. The session will provide information on the following: CaRST requirements, eligible activities, using CaRST Online and milestone reviews. Register here.

IT Tools for Researchers

When: 12 March 2025, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Credits: 1 credit, Domain A
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

The University provides many IT systems and tools to help HDRs make the most of their research. This session will provide information on the following: University policies, including your record keeping responsibilities; digital tools, services and software accessible to HDRs; data storage, security and classification; and the Research Data Planner, which must be completed as part of the CCSP milestone. Register here.

Tiny Habits for HDR Success

When: 13 March 2025, 9:30am - 12:30pm
Credits: 3 credits, Domain B
Delivery mode: In-person

A practical and engaging workshop to learn and practice a toolkit for building better habits to thrive in research and life at any stage of candidature. This interactive workshop will teach you the nuts & bolts of the Tiny Habits® method and how to design for daily success, with habits that stick! Participants will discover the power of tiny habits and gain practical tools and strategies to create and sustain positive changes in their life. Whether the aim is to feel more productive, take control of your writing habits or improve your wellbeing, this interactive workshop offers you a gateway to a happier and more successful HDR experience in 2025. Register here.

Working with your Supervisor

When: Each Faculty has their own session

• ABLE: 17 March 2025, 10:30am - 12:30pm
• SET: 31 March 2025, 11:00am - 1:00pm
• HMS: 2 April 2025, 10:30am - 12:30pm

Credits: 2 credits, Domain D
Delivery mode: In-person

The relationship you have with your supervisor is crucial in determining your PhD experience. They are your primary source of guidance as you undertake an individual research project and even the best student/supervisor relationships can experience periods of strain through the ups and downs of research. Undertaking a PhD is also very different from other types of study so it can be difficult to know what to expect from the supervisory relationship. In this workshop you will learn what you can do to establish a positive working relationship with your supervisor and ultimately get the most out of your HDR experience. Please register for your Faculty's session. Register here.

Media Training for Researchers

When: 20 March 2025, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Credits: 2 credits, Domain D
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

Dealing with the media can be a challenge. In this workshop, Dr Joe Milton from the Australian Science Media Centre will explore how researchers can get the most out of working with the mainstream media. He will focus on making tricky research accessible, avoiding jargon, the changing media landscape, and how and why news stories are structured. Joe will also be providing his top tips on planning and preparing for media interviews, and how to communicate your message to a broad lay audience. Please note: this workshop was formerly titled 'Media Training for Scientists'. If you have already received credit for attending this course previously, you cannot receive additional credit. Register here.

How to Plan your PhD

When: 26 March 2025, 10:00am - 12:30pm
Credits: 2.5 credits, Domain C
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

A PhD is a major undertaking, yet many people spend more time planning a weekend away than they do planning the next three years of their life. This generally leads to missing deadlines, running overtime, regular crises and lots of stress. If you want to finish on time and enjoy the process along the way, then it is important to have a good plan. You need some very specific skills and tools to plan a PhD. This workshop will introduce you to the PhD Planning Toolkit. Register here.

Other Training & Events

HDR Peer Mentoring Program

The HDR Peer Mentoring Program is back! Whether you’re a first-year seeking guidance or an experienced student ready to mentor, this is your chance to grow, connect, and thrive. This program is designed to foster a supportive environment where HDR students can learn from each other's experiences, share insights, and develop skills together. As a mentee, you will receive benefits from the mentor's advice, encouragement, and expertise, which can help you navigate academic, personal, or professional challenges. Participants will earn 6 CaRST credits in Domain B upon successful completion of the program. Applications open through COB on 28 February 2025. Mentees apply here. Mentors apply here.

Introduction to Searching for Systematic Reviews (HMS)

Are you starting a systematic review? Do you need help with selecting databases and building your search strategies? Join us at this introductory presentation for an overview of the systematic review process. This presentation will focus on the literature searching component of your review. Learn expert tips and tricks from your health librarians to get you started with your review, including: why to systematically search; identifying existing reviews; developing and registering your protocol; selecting appropriate databases; constructing a search strategy; and exporting results and using systematic review management software. You can record this session for 1 credit in Domain A for CaRST. 27 February 2025 2:00pm-3:00pm. Register here.

Defence Trailblazer Commercialisation Bootcamps

The Defence Trailblazer Commercialisation Bootcamps are designed for researchers and innovators with minimal commercialisation experience. The bootcamps provide participants with entrepreneurship insights and access to experienced professionals and defence industry experts. These 2-day intensive workshops aim to support innovators in understanding the defence market, developing value propositions for the Australian Defence Force, refining business models, and planning early-stage commercialisation approaches. The workshops will be delivered online on 8-9 April 2025. Apply here.

LEI Workshop: Create impactful surveys with Qualtrics

Are people skipping through your survey and entering random values? Do the people who volunteer to complete your survey represent the population you are targeting? Is it possible the phrasing of your questions may be skewing your results? This workshop delves into effective survey design to help you collect clear, reliable data. You'll explore best practices for question design, ethical considerations, and survey distribution strategies. This workshop also shows you how to use Qualtrics, a powerful survey tool, with support for complex branching, validation, survey distribution and data analysis. You can record this session for 1.5 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 4 March 2025 10:30am-12:00pm. Register here.

Learn to Program: Python

Python has deservedly become a popular language for scientific computing and among researchers, but getting started can be challenging, especially if you have never programmed before. That's where this introductory live coding workshop comes in, where we will use Jupyter notebooks to write programs and produce results. You can record this session for 6 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 4-5 March 2025 9:30am-12:30pm. Register here.

Unix Shell and Command Line Basics

The Unix environment is incredibly powerful but quite daunting to the newcomer. Command line confidence unlocks powerful computing resources beyond the desktop, including virtual machines and High Performance Computing. This training will help demystify Unix as you get to work running programs and writing scripts on the command line. You can record this session for 3 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 11 March 2025 9:30am-12:30pm. Register here.

Advanced troubleshooting & translating searches for systematic reviews (HMS)

Are you conducting systematic database searches for your evidence synthesis project? This presentation will focus on tips for advanced troubleshooting, and for converting your initial systematic search strategy so that it will work in a variety of databases. This is an advanced-level course and is suitable for anyone who has attended the previous ‘Introduction to Searching for Systematic Reviews’ webinar, or for those who have a basic understanding of systematic database searching techniques using logic grids, and who require more advanced support. You can record this session for 1 credit in Domain A for CaRST. 13 March 2025 11:00am-12:00pm. Register here.

Data Capture and Surveys with REDCap

Would you like to enable secure and reliable data collection forms and manage online surveys? Would your study benefit from web-based data entry? This beginner-level live workshop will introduce you to REDCap, a rapidly evolving web tool developed by researchers for researchers. You can record this session for 3 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 13 March 2025 9:30am-12:30pm. Register here.

Publishing open access via Read and Publish

University of Adelaide researchers now have access to 19 Read & Publish agreements. The agreements provide researchers with the opportunity to publish their research open access without needing to pay individual article processing charges. This session will cover the benefits of publishing via Read & Publish, what publishers are included and the steps involved in publishing. You can record this session for 0.5 credits in Domain D for CaRST. 18 March 2025 11:00am-11:30pm. Register here.

Getting started with HPC using Slurm

High-performance computing allows you to accomplish your analysis faster by using many parallel CPUs and huge amounts of memory simultaneously. This online training provides a hands-on introduction to running software on HPC infrastructure using Slurm. You can record this session for 6 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 20-21 March 2025 9:30am-12:30pm. Register here. Note: This course assumes basic familiarity with the Bash command line environment found on GNU/Linux and other Unix-like environments. To come up to speed, consider taking the Unix Shell and Command Line Basics course.

Grey Literature for Systematic Reviews

This workshop will provide an introduction to finding grey literature for systematic reviews, with a focus on specific tools and approaches that can be utilised to find appropriate material. You can record this session for 1 credit in Domain A for CaRST. 25 March 2025 11:00am-12:00pm. Register here.

Introduction to LabArchives Electronic Research Notebook

LabArchives is an electronic research notebook that can be useful when needing to store, organise and collaborate around digital material and research data. With LabArchives, you can: organise your data in a customisable folder structure, integrated with other kinds of material, including MS Office files, forms, graphs and visualisations; share your data and work with internal and external collaborators, either at a whole notebook, folder or file level; use built-in tools to create rich text data, add sketches and annotations and upload MS Office documents; Keep track of versions and updates to your files and data; and supervise students’ research and sign off on page content. This webinar is for new users getting started, or current users seeking a refresher on how to create notebooks, add and manage data, sharing and access controls, collaboration tools, and export options. You can record this session for 1 credit in Domain C for CaRST. 27 March 2025 11:00am-12:00pm. Register here.

Career Services Events in March

Career Access Mentoring for Students: Career Services runs a Career Access Mentoring program which focuses on increasing your career readiness. There will be one intake in 2025. Registrations open 1 March. More information is available here.

Career Expo: Held over two days, Career Expo brings graduate employers to campus for students to discover opportunities, explore career pathways and connect with industry. 12-13 March from 11:00am-3:00pm. More information is available here.

About CaRST

Located within the Adelaide Graduate Research School, CaRST is a specialised training and development program for HDR students at the University of Adelaide. For further information on CaRST visit the CaRST website.