26 March 2025

CaRST eNewsletter

A Message from the CaRST Team

Thanks to all of you who joined us at our recent CaRST Information Session. For those who were unable to attend, you can find a recording of a past session on the CaRST MyUni site.

One question that often comes up in the information session is what happens at milestone reviews (e.g. CCSP, Major and Annual Reviews). Your self-recorded activities are considered provisionally approved until each milestone review and the CaRST team performs regular audits of CaRST records at each review stage. During an audit, we might find that one or more activity has been recorded incorrectly. When this happens, the CaRST team will mark the entry as ‘Not approved’ and then contact you via email to let you know what’s needed to have the activity and credits restored to your record (it’s okay – mistakes happen!). If the activity isn’t eligible for credit, we’ll let you know that too.

For more information, we invite you all to check out the recently updated CaRST Handbook. The Handbook provides comprehensive information about the CaRST program, its requirements, and importantly, its flexibility. Remember, while CaRST is a formal degree requirement, its aim is to help you develop your skills as a researcher and to help improve your future career prospects.

Career Control for Researchers program - apply now!

Do you want to know what your career options are, how to make career choices that are right for you and create strategies for pursuing them? Career Control for Researchers will give you the tools, guidance and confidence to take charge of your career direction, determine your own priorities and accelerate your progress. CaRST is pleased to sponsor participation in this program for a limited number of eligible applicants.

What?

• 8-week program delivered online (1 - 1.5 hours per week)
• Live, web-based discussions with career specialists
• Self-paced modules
• Eligible for 13 CaRST credits in Domain B

Who?

• In your second year or beyond?
• Interested in exploring your career options?
• Committed to taking control of your career plan?

If you answered yes to all of the above then we welcome your application!

What did students think?

"I would also highly recommend it to other PhD students. I learned a lot, the goal-setting skills and modules are essential and well-structured"

"The program offered the right information to help me collect my thoughts about my career planning and aspirations, as well as to begin to get my career on track"

"The program helped me set a career path based on my personality, needs and interests. In addition, I have identified what skills I need to further develop in order to achieve my goals"

To register your interest in the program, please complete and submit the online Expression of Interest form by 2^nd April 2025. You will be advised by 9^th April 2025 if you are successful in gaining a place in the program.

Training & Development Events

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

Working with your Supervisor

When: Each Faculty has their own session

• ABLE: 17 March 2025, 10:30am - 12:30pm (complete)
• 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.

EndNote for Reference Management - Intro

When: 1 April 2025, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Credits: 1 credit, Domain A
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

This session is designed to provide you with the essential skills for using EndNote effectively in your research and writing. It provides guidance on how to build and organise your EndNote library, export citations in bulk from some popular databases into EndNote (useful for systematic reviews), and using EndNote with Word to insert in-text citations and create a reference list in your document. Register here.

AI Research Productivity Workshop

When: 3 April 2025, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Credits: 2 credits, Domain A
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

Transform your academic workflow in our 2-hour AI Research Productivity workshop. Learn practical strategies to leverage AI tools for literature analysis, research tasks and daily workflows. Dr Jason Downs will guide you through hands-on exercises using your own research materials, ensuring you leave with implementable skills to dramatically boost your efficiency. Gain templates and frameworks for immediate application. Register here.

Improve your Confidence with Improv

When: 15 April 2025, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Credits: 2 credits, Domain B
Delivery mode: In-person

Is there a performer inside you, dying to get out? Want to improve your public speaking skills or feel more comfortable when put on the spot? If you answered yes, or you just want to have a truckload of fun, improvisation is for you! This workshop presented by On The Fly Impro is a fun way to help you to build confidence and improve your communication skills. This workshop is based on theatre games and requires physical activity. Register here.

EndNote for Reference Management - Advanced

When: 24 April 2025, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Credits: 1 credit, Domain A
Delivery mode: Zoom webinar

This session is designed to ensure you get the most out of EndNote by providing guidance on some of the more advanced features of EndNote. You will learn how to customise and manage your EndNote library, add and alter referencing styles, edit and modify your Word document using Cite While you Write and save and backup your Endnote library. Basic knowledge of and experience using EndNote is assumed for those booking this course. Register here.

Other Training & Events

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 10:30am-11:30am. Register here.

Data Entry and Processing in SPSS

This hands-on training is designed to familiarize you with the interface and basic data processing functionalities in SPSS. We will examine several “must know” syntax commands that can help streamline data entry and processing. In addition, we will explore how to obtain descriptive statistics in SPSS and perform visualization. This workshop is recommended for researchers and postgraduate students who are new to SPSS or Statistics; or those simply looking for a refresher course before taking a deep dive into using SPSS, either to apply it to their research or to add it to their arsenal of eResearch skills. You can record this session for 6 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 8-9 April 2025 9:30am-12:30pm. Register here.

Introduction to Strategic Journal Publishing

Are you looking at where to publish your next paper? Join your liaison librarians for an engaging introduction to strategically selecting journals for your publications. We will provide guidance on finding journals in different disciplines and assessing journal quality (including rankings and impact factor) using tools such as Journal Citation Reports (JCR), Scopus and Scimago (SJR). Learn how to evaluate predatory journals, assess open access opportunities, and select the best option to maximise the impact of your research! You can record this session for 1 credit in Domain D for CaRST. 8 April 2025 11:00am-12:00pm. Register here.

Data Manipulation and Visualisation in R

Do you have a good knowledge of the basic concepts and techniques in R and want to level up? In this workshop, you will learn how to use popular packages to manipulate, explore and get insights from your data, and how to visualise the results. Please note: this course is a pre-requisite for the additional R courses listed below. You can record this session for 6 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 16-17 April 2025 1:30pm-4:30pm. Register here.

Understanding Predatory Publishing

Lurking within the vast research landscape are what are known as predatory publishers – publishers (or conference organisers) who engage in unprofessional or unethical practices. They will often target researchers with direct invitations to contribute. Identifying predatory publishers is important as publishing your work with them can damage your research impact and professional reputation. This workshop will help you to understand how to assess a journal or conference to identify whether it is legitimate, or might be predatory. You can record this session for 1 credit in Domain D for CaRST. 17 April 2025 11:00am-12:00pm. Register here.

Exploring Chi-square and correlation in R

In this hands-on training, we will traverse into the realm of inferential statistics in R, beginning with correlation and reliability. We will present a brief conceptual overview and the R procedures for computing reliability and correlation (Pearson’s r, Spearman’s Rho and Kendall’s tau) in real world datasets. Please note: Data Manipulation and Visualisation in R is a prerequisite for this course. You can record this session for 3 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 24 April 2025 9:30am-12:30pm. Register here.

Traversing t tests in R

This workshop aims to familiarise you with basic statistical concepts in R from reading in and manipulating data, checking assumptions, statistical tests and visualisations. This is not an advanced statistics course, but is instead designed to gently introduce statistical comparisons and hypothesis testing in R. Please note: Data Manipulation and Visualisation in R is a prerequisite for this course. You can record this session for 3 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 29 April 2025 9:30am-12:30pm. Register here.

Introduction to Systematic Searching for SET

This workshop will provide an introduction to systematic searching and literature reviews for SET disciplines, focusing on how approaches to searching and reviewing research can be modified for non-health areas. You can record this session for 1 credit in Domain A for CaRST. 29 April 2025 11:00am-12:00pm. Register here.

Exploring ANOVAs in R

This workshop covers one and two-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) and their non-parametric counterparts in R. We will be using a real-world dataset to better understand the tests, what assumptions need to be checked and other associated concepts. Please note: Data Manipulation and Visualisation in R is a prerequisite for this course. You can record this session for 3 credits in Domain A for CaRST. 1 May 2025 9:30am-12:30pm. 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.

Self-recording activities that are automatically added by the system leads to duplicate entries, which will overestimate your overall CaRST credits. Be sure to check your record first to make sure activities have not already been credited.

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.