ICTA-UAB has developed a total of 7 workshops aimed at improving PhD students’ productivity, communication and transferable skills. These courses complement UAB´s PhD program of compulsory courses. The workshops are funded by the María de Maeztu program.

If you have any questions or would like more information you can contact Pere González pr.mdm.icta@uab.cat or Maria Pastor maria.pastor@uab.cat.

**Subscribe to the calendar** To make sure that you have up-to-date information about the workshops and other activities, please subscribe to the Google calendar.

Google Calendar for the 2016/17 cohort (students that started their PhD in the 2016/17 academic year) (Google Calendar | iCal)

Google Calendar for the 2017/18 cohort (students that started their PhD in the 2017/18 academic year) (Google Calendar | iCal)

Google Calendar for the 2018/19 cohort (students that started their PhD in the 2018/19 academic year) (Google Calendar | iCal)

FIRST YEAR COURSES

1. Core Communication Skills and Time & Task Management for Scientists (CMM)
1. Next edition: TBA.

2. Introduction to R - statistical computing (R-intro)
1. Next edition: 28-29-30 October 2019.
2. To register, fill in this form.
3. Registration deadline: Monday, 14 October 2019.

3. Research Design (ResDes)
1. Next edition: 25-26 September 2019.
2. To register, fill in this form.
3. Registration deadline: Wednesday, 11 September 2019.

SECOND YEAR COURSES

4. Advanced statistical computing using R (R-adv)
1. Next edition: Spring 2020.

5. Oral Presentations and Posters (OPP)
1. Next edition: Spring 2020.

6. Scientific Writing – The Why and How of Good Scientific Writing (ScWr)
1. Next edition: 8-9 October 2019.
2. To register, fill in this form.
3. Registration deadline: Tuesday, 24 September 2019.

THIRD YEAR COURSES

7. Career Development: Beyond the Bench (CarDev)
1. Next edition: 16-17 September 2019.
2. To register, fill in this form.
3. Registration deadline: Tuesday, 2 September 2019.

(CMM) Core Communication Skills and Time & Task Management for Scientists

Workshop goals

To provide training on important background skills for scientists, helping them to communicate effectively with peers, and to manage their time and workload effectively.

To help establish a cohesive group identity among the participants, as a basis for collaboration during the course of their PhD.

Topics for this workshop

• Cohort building
• Key concepts for effective communication
• Task prioritisation
• Planning your working day
• How to set meaningful goals
• Digital helpers for time and project management
• Collaborative learning and instruction on conducting peer-mentoring activities.

(R-intro) Introduction to R and RStudio - Statistical programming with R --

Workshop goals

To give students a basic grounding in R as an essential tool for managing and analysing research data.

Topics for this workshop

Module 1 Introduction to programming in R and RStudio

• Download, Installation and Maintenance of R, RStudio and additional packages
• Introduction to the R Software and the RStudio Graphical user Interface (GUI)
• Operation of the Workspace and Scripts

Module 2 Introduction to the Object Oriented Programming (OOP)

• Data Import and Pre-processing
• Basic Data Processing for Statistical Purposes
• Introduction to the graphical package “ggplot2”

Module 3 Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)

• Advances features of graphical package “ggplot2”
• EDA for Statistical Purposes
• Assumptions of Linear Models: Normality, Heterogeneity, Independence

Module 4 Statistical Data Analysis

• Introduction to Linear Models
• Examples and details of (ANOVA, ANCOVA, Linear Regression)
• Student work on (their own) projects
• Presentation of results and final discussion

(ResDes) Research Design

Workshop goals

To train students in sound research design, especially for social science research, in asking good research questions, and selecting appropriate methods for research. To train students in gathering the necessary knowledge to understand what it means to do research with qualitative and quantitative data, how these approaches differ from one another, and how they complement each other in advancing knowledge.

Topics for this workshop

• Introduction to advanced scientific inquiry
• Qualitative vs quantitative vs. spatial research
• Problematising one's research and asking research questions
• Developing theory and literature reviews
• Operationalising one's research
• Research ethics/integrity

(R-adv) Advanced Course of R and Rstudio

Workshop goals

To provide students with advanced modelling tools in R  

Topics for this workshop

Module 1: Programming in R and RStudio

Module 2: Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)

• Loading and Pre-processing of Datasets
• Statistical Exploration of Data

Module 3: Univariate Statistical Analysis (USA)

• Linear Models: (1) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA); (2) Linear Regression (bivariate ); (3)Multiple Linear Regression and ANCOVA
• Generalized Linear Models: (1) Logistic Regression; (2) Poisson Regression
• Additive and Generalized Additive Models: (1) Bivariate Regression; (2) Multiple Regression

Module 4: Multivariate Statistical Analysis (MSA)

• Statistical Exploration of Data: (1) Biological / Species Data; (2) Environmental Data; (3) Transformations
• Unconstrained Ordination: (1) Principal Component Analysis (PCA); (2) Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (nMDS)
• Constrained Ordination: (1) Redundancy Analysis (RA); (2) Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA)

(OPP) Oral and Poster Presentations

Workshop goals

To introduce and explore key concepts in designing and delivering scientific posters and presentations, and to draft a poster and oral presentation on the participants’ work, and practice presenting them, in preparation for the upcoming ICTA’s Student Symposium.

Topics for this workshop

• Relating to my audience and telling a story
• Defining content and structure
• Key concepts in visual communication
• Focus on creating posters
• Focus on creating slide presentations
• Presenting your work – concepts and practice

(ScWr) Scientific Writing – The Why and How of Good Scientific Writing

Workshop goals

To help publishing scientists develop a more impartial, analytical view of scientific writing, to better understand their readership, and to make them more efficient writers and editors. To develop a deeper understanding of the structure of scientific papers, with a renewed focus on the purpose of each section and the connections between them.

Topics for this workshop

• Anatomy of a paper – structure and connectivity
• The reader
• Embryology of a paper – planning and structuring your paper
• Scientific writing in English – words, sentences, and paragraphs
• Tools for scientific editing

(CarDev) Career Development: Beyond the Bench

Workshop goals

To give participants a competitive edge in the job market by developing the intellectual framework they need to make informed career choices, and to provide practical help for the application and selection process, both within and outside academia.

Topics for this workshop:

• Skills, interests and values: why are you doing science and what for?
• Identifying opportunities: mapping the job market for academics
• Developing your competence profile: finding out and expressing what you’re good at
• Decision making theory: how to make the right choices for the right reasons
• Creating a competitive CV: how to get on the shortlist
• The job interview: a clear framework to finding the right match
• Taking action: tools and tips to kick off your career.