Common Quandaries Workshops and Related Events
The "Common Quandaries" graduate student workshop and event series offers introductions to a variety of skills, tools, and concepts to researchers on campus.
Interested in an event but can't attend? Hoping to a see a past event run again in the future? Want to request an event specifically for your program or unit? Please contact us with your questions at lib-rc@umd.edu! Also be sure to check out our growing video resources and our archive of past events!
To register for a workshop, please click on the workshop you are interested in attending in the calendar below:
Calendar of Events
Workshops
All About Conferencing and Publishing: A Graduate Student Panel
Come learn about the ins and outs of publishing and conferencing as a graduate student. Panelists will discuss the beginning, middle, and end of the process, address your questions and offer best practices!
Materials:
Highlights
Creating Your Academic Presence Online
This workshop will help you to think about how to approach social media as a professional, how you might engage in the professional online conversations in your field, and best practices for sharing your own work or others'. Bring your laptops to set up accounts or get feedback on the digital presence you've already established!
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Getting Stated with Poster Design
Are you interested in participating in poster sessions at conferences or other events but don’t know how to get started? Want to learn how you might easily include some graphic design into how you communicate about your scholarship? Then come join us to get started with poster design!
Graduate School Writing Center Research Write-In
On the first Friday of every month, join the Graduate School Writing Center for a twist on the Weekly Write-in: the Research Write-In. We’ll be joined by a librarian from the Research Commons who will offer an opening lesson about effective search strategies, and then be available throughout the session to support you with your research questions and challenges. As usual, there will be a Fellow from the Graduate School Writing Center available for writing consultations.
Materials:
Forthcoming
How to Write a Literature Review
New to research at the graduate level or just need a refresher? Not sure how to move from research to writing? Join us for this workshop, offered in conjunction with librarians from the Research Commons, focusing on entering an academic conversation through research and writing. The workshop will cover graduate-specific library privileges, effective research and citation practices, writing from sources, and a general introduction to the literature review process.
LaTeX for Beginners
Are you ready to prepare clean technical publications without relying on Word? This workshop will introduce participants to the basics of LaTeX (pronounced Lay-tech or Lah-tech), a free document preparation system that is used across a number of technical fields. The LaTeX system is a combination of word processing and coding that results in beautifully formatted technical publications, allowing you to spend your time on your research instead of fighting word processing software.
Materials:
Forthcoming
Managing Data from Your Research
During this workshop we will give you an introduction to the research data life cycle, how data management applies to your research and tips on how to better prepare yourself to meet the challenges required from funding agencies for things like grant writing and research institutions.
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Workshop Slides
Organizing Your Research and Using Citation Managers
Learn strategies for organizing your research, hear the experiences of other graduate students, consider the benefits of cloud storage apps, and get introduced to citation managers like EndNote Web, Mendeley, and Zotero.
Speed Geeking, Or How I Learned to Love Talking about my Research Outside of the Discipline
Are you building an academic or professional network? Do you find yourself at conferences and not quite prepared to talk about yourself and your research? Come get some practice with us at Speed Geeking!
Materials:
Workshop Handouts
Work/Life Balance in Grad School
Struggling to find a work/life balance as a graduate student? Interested in hearing strategies and resources from professionals and other graduate students? Come to our panel to ask questions, learn about campus resources and tips on how to balance the rigor of graduate student life and the realities of personal life.