Workshops

Shut Up and Write is an event for researchers to come together for a fixed amount of time and write. The aim is not to put pressure on you to be productive, rather, to help you carve out some dedicated time to write and to present a chance to connect with other researchers. It is a great way make progress on those thesis chapters, journal articles, or grant applications.

Whilst two hours doesn't sound like much, it is amazing what you can get done if you really focus. There will be short, scheduled breaks in between writing sessions of 30 minutes, to help keep you motivated and on-task. During the breaks there will also be time to reflect on some of the challenges we are facing as a research community and how we might support one another.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via the 24-hour Library Chat service. Alternatively, you can email us for advice or to book one-to-one appointments at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

Find out more about the workshops and online resources offered by My Research Essentials on the library webpage. Online resources related to this workshop include:

• Start to finish: writing
• Start to finish: dissertations
• My Research Essentials Medium: writing strategies
• My Learning Essentials: writing online resources

Research Data Conversations is part of a series of My Research Essentials and Data Stewardship Community events exploring themes within research data and data stewardship.

The classification of research data can be a complex subject as there may be multiple factors that impact how you need to manage data throughout the life-cycle of a research project.

Join Laura Hynds (Head of Security & Privacy Framework Ops) and Mary McDerby (Information Governance Officer) from the Information Governance Office as they outline the University's proposed new Protected Tier for data classification.

They'll explain the new category and its characteristics and how researchers in the University may use it.

This will be an interactive discussion where we are looking for input from researchers to help build our communications for a wider roll out.

Time: 12:00 - 13:00 - Wednesday 28 January

Location: Online via Teams.

In this workshop you will explore three of the most common challenges identified by PhD candidates: managing your relationship with your supervisor; time management and procrastination; and dealing with setbacks during research.

You will explore the context around these issues and how they affect the research process, before working with other postgraduate researchers to help develop the necessary skills and approaches for dealing with them.

Finally, you will be introduced to established models and strategies for working effectively with your supervisory team, beating the procrastination cycle and maintaining resilience in the face of setbacks.

Further support

Can't make this session? Talk to us online via Library Chat now, or send us an email: tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

In this interactive workshop you will reflect upon and discuss ways to improve your public speaking skills, helping you to present your work more effectively. Using some improvisation techniques we will look at ways we can become more relaxed about public speaking, and practice responding to unexpected questions with confidence, which will support you when at academic conferences or presenting your research to peers. We will provide you with practical exercises to help you build confidence in communicating with a variety of audiences.

Shut Up and Write is an event for researchers to come together for a fixed amount of time and write. The aim is not to put pressure on you to be productive, rather, to help you carve out some dedicated time to write and to present a chance to connect with other researchers. It is a great way make progress on those thesis chapters, journal articles, or grant applications.

Whilst two hours doesn't sound like much, it is amazing what you can get done if you really focus. There will be short, scheduled breaks in between writing sessions of 30 minutes, to help keep you motivated and on-task. During the breaks there will also be time to reflect on some of the challenges we are facing as a research community and how we might support one another.

How to book on

This event will take place online via Teams. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link to join.

Find out more about the workshops and online resources offered by My Research Essentials on the library webpage. Online resources related to this workshop include:

• Library support for writing

• Library support for Dissertations

• My Research Essentials Medium: writing strategies

• My Learning Essentials: writing online resources

This hands-on session will introduce you to EndNote desktop reference management software, a tool to help with collecting, managing and organising your references and creating citations and bibliographies in different formats. You will reflect throughout on how reference management software can fit into your existing research workflows.

In the session you will gain practical experience of managing an EndNote Library including using the Cite While You Write function to insert and format in-text citations and bibliographies within Microsoft Word documents, and an introduction to using EndNote with Overleaf.

How to book on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now, or send us an email: tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

Research Data Conversations is part of a new series of My Research Essentials and Data Stewardship Community events exploring themes within research data and data stewardship.

The sessions will have a collaborative and conversational format and explore themes that promote open and FAIR data practices, and the promotion and development of new and emerging ideas in research data management.

In this session, we will be joined by Zuzanna Zagrodzka, Research Associate (Metascience) in the Department of Computer Science and Open Research Fellow in the Office for Open Research, University of Manchester.

Zuzanna is an advocate for open research, focusing her research on exploring perceptions of bias, replication, reusability of data and transparency in ecology and evolutionary biology. In addition, she has extensive experience as a Research Technician through involvement in various projects, developing skills in fieldwork, laboratory procedures, and data analysis.

Zuzanna will lead a talk and discussion on Supporting Research and Researchers through the deployment of Digital Notebooks: A framework for implementation and impact - a funded research project at the University of Manchester, supported by the UK's Metascience Unit, which has recently supported user testing of electronic research notebooks at the University as an early phase of the project. Zuzanna will share her insight and findings to date.

In addition, she will also introduce her Open Research Fellowship project Research Technical Professionals (RTPs) as Catalysts for Open Research which seeks to understand RTPs current engagement with and contribution to open research practices, as well as potential structural or cultural barriers that might be limiting participation.

Time: 12.00 - 13.30 with lunch (vegetarian / vegan pizza) provided at 13.00

Venue: Main Library, Ground Floor Seminar Room

The University of Manchester Research Data Management (RDM) Policy specifies that DMPs are mandatory for every research study, whether it is funded or not.

If you have any questions about writing your DMP, then this session is for you.

The workshop starts with an introduction and a brief overview of the DMP, including why each section is important, and then allows plenty of time for the question and answer session for you to ask any DMP related questions on your mind.

If this sounds like something that would be useful to you, book onto a session today and start getting your questions ready.

This event will take place online via Teams. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link to join.

Researchers collect, receive and manage research data in many forms.

Managing your data can be complex, but a little planning at the beginning can save you time, raise your research profile and help you work more effectively.

This session aims to provide you with confidence in data and information management and introduce you to resources and services to help with Research Data Management.

How to book on

This event will take place online via Teams. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link to join.

Further support

Talk to us online via the 24-hour Library Chat service. Alternatively, you can email us for advice or to book one-to-one appointments at uml.teachingandlearning@manchester.ac.uk.

Find out more about the workshops and online resources offered by My Research Essentials on the library webpage. Online resources related to this workshop include:

• Research data management
• Research data explained

Open Access (OA) is an essential consideration for all Manchester researchers and PGRs. This 30 minute workshop will explain OA and why you should be thinking about openness when undertaking and seeking to publish your research.

This workshop will provide you with the following:

• Understanding of the benefits of OA for you as an individual researcher, and for the wider world.
• Awareness of the different ways of publishing OA research.
• Ability to choose the most appropriate OA method for your work.
• Knowing how to ensure compliance with institutional and funder OA requirements.
• Understanding how the Library can help you.

How to book on

This event will take place online via Teams. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link to join.

Further support

Talk to us online via the 24-hour Library Chat service. Alternatively, you can email us for advice or to book one-to-one appointments at uml.teachingandlearning@manchester.ac.uk.

Find out more about the workshops and online resources offered by My Research Essentials on the library webpage. Online resources related to this workshop include:

• Raising awareness of your research

The aim of this one-day writing retreat is to provide a quiet space where staff and researchers can make progress with their writing. It is a great way to carve out dedicated time to get on with those journal articles, thesis chapters, HEA Fellowships or grant applications.

The majority of the day will be spent in concentrated writing sessions where there should be no talking, no internet, no research - just writing! There will be short, scheduled breaks (with free tea, coffee and snacks) in between these blocks of concentrated writing time, to help keep you motivated and on-task.

Don't forget your laptop!

Programme for the day:

9.00-9.20 Tea, coffee and registration

9.20-9.50 Set your writing goals for the day, and learn some useful writing strategies

9.50-12.00 Concentrated writing time

12.00-13.00 Lunch and optional wellbeing activity

13.00-13.10 Reflect on your progress so far, re-evaluate your goals

13.10-15.20 Concentrated writing time

15.20-15.35 Coffee break

15.35-16.50 Concentrated writing time

16.50-17.00 Reflection

An ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a free, unique, persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from other researchers.

It links you to your scholarly works, grants and affiliations throughout your career, regardless of name changes or organisational moves, makes your research more discoverable, and reduces admin.

In this workshop you will:

• Learn more about the benefits of ORCIDs
• Find out how to create your ORCID
• Discover how to manage your ORCID account.

How to book on

This event will take place online via Teams. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link to join.

Further support

Talk to us online via the 24-hour Library Chat service. Alternatively, you can email us for advice or to book one-to-one appointments at uml.teachingandlearning@manchester.ac.uk.

Find out more about the workshops and online resources offered by My Research Essentials on the library webpage. Online resources related to this workshop include:

• Raising awareness of your research

Sharing research data has numerous benefits including facilitating new collaborations and allowing new research questions to be answered. Data sharing is also mandated by many research, funders and publishers.

This session aims to provide you with confidence in sharing your data and introducing you to using our institutional research repository, Figshare, to make data discoverable and increase research impact.

How to book on

This event will take place online via Teams. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link to join.

Further support

Can't make this session? Talk to us online via Library Chat now, or send us an email: uml.teachingandlearning@manchester.ac.uk.

Help and support with using Teams is provided by IT Services. Find out more about Teams and other Office 365 applications on the IT Services website: https://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/students/office365/

This workshop will equip you with the skills to spot so-called 'Predatory Publishers', and feel confident in the credibility of the journals you will be submitting to.

By the end of the session you will be able to:

• Feel confident in your ability to identify credible journals
• Understand the motivations behind 'Predatory Publishing'
• Understand the consequences of submitting your work to non-reputable journals
• Spot the common characteristics of non-reputable publishers
• Use established tools and processes to check the credibility of a journal

As part of this workshop we will be running an activity where a personal device (mobile phone, laptop, tablet etc.) would be useful but is not essential.

This session will take place on campus.

This workshop will help you to raise your research profile by getting noticed promoting yourself and your research online.

We will explore useful strategies for managing your online research presence by considering the following questions:

• Which online tools and platforms are the most useful to me?

• How can I find the time to use social media tools to promote my research?

• How can I maximise access to my research?

• How do I know if my online presence strategies are effective?

How to book on

This event will take place online via Teams. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link to join.

Further support

Talk to us online via the 24-hour Library Chat service. Alternatively, you can email us for advice or to book one-to-one appointments at uml.teachingandlearning@manchester.ac.uk.

Find out more about the workshops and online resources offered by My Research Essentials on the library webpage. Online resources related to this workshop include:

• Raising awareness of your research

Open Research is a broad and evolving field encompassing various practices, all of which contribute to a more transparent, responsible, and ethical research culture. In this interactive workshop, we will explore some of the research practices that enable Open Research, under the University's Open Research Skills Framework.

We will discuss what these practices entail within different research disciplines, the tools and systems that enable open and transparent research, and how a more open research culture can benefit researchers, the sector, and society in general. We will reflect on how Open Research can be applied to your own research, and signpost to the University's Open Research communities, activities, support and training, via the University of Manchester Office for Open Research.

This session will take place on campus.

Researchers collect, receive, and manage data in many ways. Making sure this data is well-managed and reusable can be complex, but the FAIR Principles are here to help. The concepts underlying the FAIR principles are grounded in good scientific practice and aim to guide people to maximise the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse of digital assets. Making your data FAIR can help you work more effectively, raise your research profile, and engage with open research initiatives.

This workshop is for people in academia with little or no experience of FAIR. This course aims to be succinct in introducing FAIR, its concepts and terminology, and supplements all material with introducing and signposting to useful FAIR resources.

Participant information

This session will take place on Teams. We will send you the Teams link for the workshop a day before the workshop is to take place, booking onto this workshop is essential.

Please note: This event is bookable by all staff and PGRs, simply follow the 'Book on this event' button below to register.

Research Data Conversations is part of a series of My Research Essentials and Data Stewardship Community events exploring themes within research data and data stewardship.

In this session we will be joined by Dr Victoria Yorke-Edwards (Senior Research Data Steward, Centre for Advanced Research Computing, UCL) and Dr Christopher T. Tibbs (Research Data Steward, Research Software and Analytics Group, University of Exeter).

Victoria and Chris will lead a discussion on their roles as research data stewards at UCL and Exeter, their personal journeys to entering the profession, in addition to a broader conversation about the professional data steward landscape and data stewardship infrastructure in the UK today.

Time: 10-11am Thursday 30 April

Location: Online via Teams.

Do you have an interest in managing, organising, and analysing research data? Are you interested in Open Research and making data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR)? If so, then the world of research data stewardship could be for you.

In this session you will:

• have the opportunity to discover and learn about research data stewardship and the work of research data stewards; an emerging profession in higher education and an increasingly key role in managing data for research projects at research-intensive universities.
• learn about the concept of research data stewardship and how it is applied to embed research data management (RDM), FAIR, and open data practices into the research project lifecycle.
• learn about the different roles and responsibilities of research data stewards working today, both in the UK and internationally, exploring the wide variety of tasks and challenges they experience in making open, reusable, and responsible research a reality.
• be shown how you can join in and participate in the research data stewardship community here at the University of Manchester and find opportunities and resources to develop your data steward skills and knowledge further.

How to book on

This event will take place online via Teams. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link to join.

Research Data Conversations is part of a new series of My Research Essentials and Data Stewardship Community events exploring themes within research data and data stewardship.

The sessions will have a collaborative and conversational format and explore themes that promote open and FAIR data practices, and the promotion and development of new and emerging ideas in research data management.

In this last session for the current academic year we will be joined by Phil Reed, Research Community and Training Manager at the eScience Lab and Open Research Fellow at the Office for Open Research, University of Manchester.

Phil will lead a discussion focusing on his Open Research Fellowship project Continuing digital Research Technical Professional (dRTP) Career Development at the University of Manchester, Nationally, and Beyond, in addition to his roles working with European and global partners such as ELIXIR to further facilitate and encourage FAIR data and reproducible research practices.

Time: 12.00 - 13.30 with lunch (vegetarian / vegan pizza) provided at 13.00

Date: Tuesday 12 May 2026

Venue: Main Library, Ground Floor Seminar Room