UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

Academics across the world face increasing pressure to publish. Research shows that writing retreats have helped by creating dedicated writing time and building collegiality. A new form of ‘structured’ writing retreat was created to increase its impact by taking a community of practice approach. This paper reports on an evaluation, funded by the British Academy, in which participants were interviewed one year after structured retreat. They reported many changes in their approaches to writing and in their sense of themselves as writers and some of these changes were sustained on return to campus. This paper argues that structured retreat increases learning through participation and helps academics to mainstream writing in their lives and careers. We conclude by suggesting that, since publishing is a mainstream academic activity, it makes sense to mainstream this intervention in academic careers.

more information can be found here

min. 6, max. 8 participants

 11 June 2024, 9:30 - 15:00 CEST

This course will introduce you to data analysis and visualization in R and RStudio. You will learn to import data into R, prepare data for analysis and visualize the data. We will work with a specific set of packages designed for data science, called the Tidyverse.
In the first part of the course we will discuss the basics and practice with visualization and analysis tools. In the second part of the course, you will apply the learned methods to your own data.

What you need to participate in the course:
Bring a laptop on which you have installed R and RStudio:
• First download and install R: https://cran.uni-muenster.de/bin/windows/base/
• Then, download Rstudio Desktop: https://posit.co/downloads/
Also bring a dataset from your own research, which we will use in the workshop. If you don’t have any data yet, a dataset will be provided.

More information can be found here. 

register until 04 June: click here.

04 July 2024

For most people, doing a PhD is the first major research project that they have to master on their own. There is a multitude of challenges along the way (i.e. getting smart ideas, getting along with supervisors, mastering the basics of scientific work …). A good time- and project-management is essential in order to set one’s focus right and use one’s time and energy in a productive and efficient way.
This workshop provides you with basic strategies and tools for an effective and efficient time- and project-management. You will get specific ideas for improving your own approach to-wards organizing yourself and your work. The workshop takes the idea seriously, that be-coming a better, smarter, more focused time-manager is an evolution not a revolution. You already have a lot of the ideas and skills that you need. This workshop helps you to under-stand them in a deeper way and to commit yourself to really using them.

max. 12 participants

Target group: This is a beginners' workshop specifically targeted at people with no or very limited experience with issues pertaining to discrimination, diversity and inclusion. The workshop is therefore not targeted at people that already had an opportunity to engage with these topics. The workshop is specifically aimed at those people that – like the trainer himself – belong to socio-demographic groups that, historically, have been the main beneficiaries of social, institutionalized and structural forms of discrimination.

Objectives: This workshop aims to support participants in becoming more aware of existing forms discrimination, to appreciate diversity and to nurture an inclusive professional environment. In doing so, it encourages participants to become proactive “agents for change” within academic contexts and, also, beyond these.

Description: On the first day, participants identify situations characterized by structural discrimination, understand why such situations have emerged, think critically about the specific role they could play in valuing diversity and, finally, to explore how they could contribute to nurturing a more inclusive environment. On the second day, participants meet the trainer in a series of one-to-one sessions where they have the opportunity to discuss their specific situation, explore eventual challenges investigating possible ways forward to support an inclusive professional environment.

More information can be found here. 

max. 12 participants

22  & 23 July 2024, 1.5 days
1st day: 9:30 - 17:00 CEST
2nd day: 9:30 - 12:30 CEST

Participants should bring a poster to present to the group

1 st day: Summary of general presentation skills:

• Knowing your audience
• Importance of a strong introduction / conclusion
• Body language
• Dealing with stage fright
• Handling questions
• Specific tips for poster presentations

2 nd day: Practice of poster presentations with trainer / peer feedback

max. 10 participants

Learning to write and respond to reviewers' comments are vital skills for early-career research-ers to master if they wish to become established scientists. However, these skills are often neglected, forcing researchers to learn them by trial and error. By learning to address review-ers' comments, researchers not only increase their chances of getting their work published but also learn to think critically about their own research. This workshop is especially recom-mended for GSGS members in the second half of their project but others are welcome to ap-ply. "One of the best two workshops I ever attended" (quote from a GSGS member). This work-shop guides you through the peer review process using a practical approach that explores the roles of the author, the reviewer and the editor. Following the workshop, as an author you will be able to engage the interest of the journal editor with a cover letter. You will also be skilled in responding comprehensively and courteously to reviewers' comments. As a future reviewer, you will know how to critically evaluate a research article and to phrase criticism in a constructive review that benefits the scientific process.

max. 10 participants