While GCAC’s workshops are designed with graduate students in mind, all members of the University of Toronto community are welcome to attend as many workshops as they wish. We offer two types of workshops: live online or in-person (synchronous) workshops and pre-recorded, on-demand (asynchronous) workshops. Registration for both types of workshops is required.

Please click the title of each workshop to read the workshop description and registration details. Once you register, you will receive details on how to join each synchronous or asynchronous workshop you have chosen. If you are are not able to register online, please contact sgs.gcacreg@utoronto.ca to be registered manually.

GCAC’s weekly Listserv messages provide an easy way to keep track of what upcoming synchronous workshops we are offering each week.

Fall 2024 Workshops

Click each workshop’s title to register.

Chronological workshop calendar

Grant-Writing Series (4pm – 5.30pm ET)

Mon Sep 9: Writing CIHR Proposals
by Dr. Jane Freeman

Wed Sep 11: Writing SSHRC Proposals
by Dr. Jane Freeman

Academic Writing and Speaking in English Series (Mondays 4pm – 5.30pm ET)

Sep 16: Improving Listening Comprehension in English
by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka

Sep 23: Strategies for Clarifying English Pronunciation
by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka

Sep 30: Critical Reading for Writing and Research
by Rana Haidar

Oct 7: Using Online Language Tools for Academic Writing
by Elena Danilina

Developing and Pitching a Research Project Series (Tuesdays 4pm – 5.30pm ET)

Sep 17: Writing a Thesis or Grant Proposal
by Dr. Jane Freeman

Sep 24: Writing a Literature Review that Demonstrates the Need for your Research
by Dr. Jane Freeman

Oct 1: Diagramming Strategies for Clarifying Your Thinking Before You Write
by Dr. Jane Freeman

Getting Through Graduate Work: Thursday Series (4pm – 5.30pm ET)

Sep 19: AI and the Modern Scholar: ChatGPT for Academic Writing
by Dr. Jane Freeman

Sep 26: An Introduction to Copilot and its Uses in Academic Writing
by Dr. Jane Freeman and Noah Khan

Oct 3: Developing Effective Note-Taking Strategies
by Dr. Jane Freeman

Oct 10: Writing Field Notes for Qualitative Research
by Bradley Dunseith

Oct 24: Preparing for Archival Research
by Dr. Matt Jones

Oct 31: Conducting Interviews in Social Science Research
by Bradley Dunseith

Getting Through Graduate Work: Tuesday Series (4pm – 5.30pm ET)

Oct 8: Telling a Clear Research Story in Academic Writing: Targeting Different Audiences
by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka

Oct 15: Formulating Focused Research Questions
by Dr. Jordana Lobo-Pires

Oct 22: Framing your Research Conceptually and Theoretically
by Dr. Jordana Lobo-Pires

Getting Through Graduate Work: Wednesday Series (4pm – 5.30pm ET)

Oct 16: Writing a Literature Review that Demonstrates the Need for your Research
by Dr. Jane Freeman – note: this workshop has the same content as Sep 24

Oct 23: AI and the Modern Scholar: ChatGPT for Academic Writing
by Dr. Jane Freeman – note: this workshop has the same content as Sep 19

Oral Presentation Skills Series (Wednesdays 4pm – 5.30pm ET)

Oct 30: Improving Your Slide Design Part 1: Using PowerPoint Effectively
by Dr. Matt Jones

Nov 6: Improving Your Slide Design Part 2: Using Canva Effectively
by Dr. Matt Jones

Nov 13: Preparing for Your Dissertation Defense
by Dr. Jordana Lobo-Pires

Getting Through Graduate Work: Monday Series (4pm – 5.30pm ET)

Oct 21: Finding Additional Granting Sources
by Dr. Jay Olson

Oct 28: Writing an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) Plan of Study
by Dr. Fiona Coll

Nov 4: Building a Better Relationship with Your Writing
by Dr. Fiona Coll

Nov 11: Balancing Multiple Writing Projects
by Dr. Fiona Coll

Nov 18: Responding to Feedback on Your Writing
by Rana Haidar

Asynchronous Workshops

WORKSHOPS ON-DEMAND (Pre-Recorded Videos)

Click the title of each on-demand workshop to be taken directly to its registration page, where descriptions are also available.

USING CORPORA TO IMPROVE YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING (NEWLY ADDED)
Part One: Introduction to Using Corpora to Improve Your Academic Writing by Dr. Katie Fry
Part Two: Consulting the Contemporary Corpus American English (COCA) to Improve Your Academic Writing by Dr. Katie Fry
Part Three: Building Your Own Corpus to Improve Your Academic Writing by Dr. Katie Fry

CULTIVATING GRADUATE COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Preparing to Write a Grant Proposal by Dr. Jane Freeman
Writing Effective Literature Reviews by Dr. Jane Freeman
Developing Effective Note-Taking Strategies by Dr. Jane Freeman and Jeff Newman
Quoting and Paraphrasing: Working with Sources in the Social Sciences and Humanities by Dr. Peter Grav
Designing Graphics for Publication by Dr. Vaughn Mangal
Communicating Effectively via Email by Dr. Tristan Loria
Enhancing Knowledge Uptake by Dr. Tristan Loria
Becoming Familiar with the American Granting System by Dr. Tristan Loria
Writing for Stakeholders in more than one Discipline by Dr. Tristan Loria
Community Engagement: How to Effectively Communicate Research to the Public by Dr. Giulia Rossi
Writing a Personal Statement for PhD Applications by Stephanie Redekop
Giving Feedback on Student Writing (for TAs) by Stephanie Redekop
Managing the Increased Attentional Demands of Graduate School by Will Staples
Building Community in the Online Environment by Dr. Cristina D’Amico

IMPROVING YOUR ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
Strategies for Developing Your 3MT Presentation by Dr. Cristina D’Amico
Strategies for Organizing Your Oral Presentation by Dr. Cristina D’Amico
Connecting with your Audience Online by Dr. Cristina D’Amico
Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations by Dr. Cristina D’Amico
Four PowerPoint Techniques for Academic Presentations by Dr. Matt Jones
Focus and Listening in Online Meetings by Dr. Matt Jones

IMPROVING ACADEMIC READING, WRITING AND SPEAKING IN ENGLISH
Making Requests Appropriately by Clare Nippard
Disagreeing Respectfully by Clare Nippard
Writing Emails with Your Audience in Mind by Clare Nippard
Building Your Academic Vocabulary by Lina Balsamo
Academic Idioms Part 1 by Lina Balsamo
Academic Idioms Part 2 by Lina Balsamo
Improving Your Graduate-Level Reading Skills by Dr. Katie Fry

IMPROVING ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING IN THE SCIENCES
Creating and Designing Poster Presentations for Scientific Conferences by Dr. Vaughn Mangal
Creating Effective Figures by Dr. Peter Sabatini
Writing CIHR Proposals by Dr. Peter Sabatini
Citation and Working with Sources in the Physical and Life Sciences by Dr. Peter Grav
Science Dissemination by Will Staples

WRITING IMRD (INTRODUCTION – METHODS – RESULTS – DISCUSSION) RESEARCH ARTICLES (for students in Divisions 2, 3 and 4)
Writing Titles and Abstracts by Dr. Peter Grav
The “I” in IMRD: Writing Effective Research Article Introductions by Dr. Peter Grav
The “M” in IMRD: Crafting Your Methods Section by Dr. Peter Grav
The “RD” in IMRD: Strategies for Successful Results and Discussion Sections by Dr. Peter Grav