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GEN-8001 Take control of your PhD journey (2 ECTS)

GEN-8001 Take control of your PhD journey (2 ECTS)

Illustration image for the course, country road in autumn.
Take control of your PhD Journey

Writing a PhD benefits from the acquisition of competencies outside of the specific study, such as being aware of current academic norms, knowing how to retrieve, evaluate, and manage sources, being up to date about open access publishing, and handling scientific research data in line with best practice. Take control of your PhD Journey: From (p)reflection to publishing is a biannual seminar series designed for PhD candidates in their first year, coming from all fields of study.

The seminar series is offered through a collaboration between the University Library, High North Academy and the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education and has subject code GEN-8001. It provides the participant with 2 ECTS points. For more details, application deadlines, requirements and assessment, go here.


Content of the seminars

The seminar series consists of five seminars, organised as interactive sessions combining theory, plenary discussions, group activities, and individual practice.


1. Academic integrity and the transparency of science

This seminar provides a basis for the entire seminar series. The aim is to understand the importance of academic integrity for the different stages of the research process and for science in general. With transparency as a guiding principle, the focus is on the whys and hows of using/creating sources correctly, both research papers and research data. 
PowerPoint presentation February 2022


2. Literature search

This seminar focuses on doing complex and more systematic literature searches and how to use scientific databases in an efficient and effective way. A large component of the seminar is to address the various purposes of literature searches.
Participants can choose between 3 seminars: i) Humanities, Social Sciences, ii) Medicine and Health Sciences, and iii) Technology and Natural Sciences. 
PowerPoint presentations March 2022: i) Humanities and Social Sciences, ii) Medicine and Health Sciences, iii) Technology and Natural Sciences.


3. Open Access publishing

This seminar discusses what open access means, the choices researchers have to face when selecting publication venues, and how those choices affect both the scientific and the general community. Participants learn how to evaluate open access publication channels, and receive information about the UiT Publication Fund. We also discuss how researchers can make their publications
available in open repositories. This practice is called self-archiving and it is mandated by an increasing number of funders and institutions.
PowerPoint presentation March 2022


4. Research data management

This seminar is an introduction to best practices for research data management. This includes how to write a solid data management plan, how to structure, document, and preserve the data during the project, and, finally, how to archive and share the data in suitable repositories. Participants also receive information about the UiT institutional archive, UiT Open Research Data, as well as the UiT principles and guidelines for research data management.
In the second half of the seminar, we split in two groups. Participants can choose between i) a group focusing on data containing sensitive information, and ii) a group focusing on data without sensitive information. 
PowerPoint presentations March 2022: Part 1: Introduction, Part 2: Data with sensitive information, Part 2: Data without sensitive information.


5. Reference management

This seminar introduces reference management and how reference management tools can be used in the various phases of the research process. The seminar will go in more detail into EndNote.
Part 1 is an introduction to EndNote, where focus lies on the basic functionalities of the software, such as creating an EndNote library and entering references into a Word document. Part 2 is an advanced course of EndNote, focusing on sharing, organizing and publishing references. Participants may participate in one or both parts.
PowerPoint presentations March 2022: Part 1: Basic, Part 2: Advanced.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge

  • Explain correct use of sources in an academic publication and questionable research practices.
  • Explain the purpose of literature search for the research process.
  • Explain the purpose and advantages of open science, for research and society in general.
  • Explain the main sections of a data management plan.

Skills

  • Cite academic work, including published research data, in line with existing norms and conventions.
  • Select and use scientific databases for advanced literature searches.
  • Build advanced searches, using operators (AND, OR, NOT) and search history.
  • Evaluate and select suitable publication channels for own research.
  • Find and use repositories for archiving text (publications/manuscripts) and research data.
  • Structure and document research data in line with good academic practice.

Competence

  • Carry out research with academic integrity.
  • Disseminate academic work in line with current publication trends and requirements.
  • Communicate with peers and the larger scholarly community about the concept of transparency of science.
  • Use the research support services at the University Library.


Reading list

Spring 2022

Contact information

If you have questions or comments, please send an email to helene.n.andreassen@uit.no

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