Scheduled RDP workshops and events
The Researcher Development Programme provides year-round training and development opportunities to help you successfully complete your research degree, and prepare for your future
RDP workshops open for booking at the start of each academic term, and close to bookings one working day before each session. Visit the all workshops pages for the full list of workshops taking place this year, and details of how the programme works, including our approach to accessibility.
Registrations are now managed through Eventbrite, enabling a smoother booking process. For online workshops, the Zoom link will be included on your Eventbrite booking page and in email reminders.
If you have any questions about our workshops or any issues with booking a place, email us at researcher-development@sussex.ac.uk.
Working with your supervisor
Theme: Induction
Date: Thursday 2 October
Time: 10.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: The supervisory relationship is crucial to the success of your research degree. In this interactive two-hour workshop you’ll discover practical tips and techniques for communicating with your supervisor, consider common problems, and develop strategies for overcoming them.
PGR Essentials: Introduction to the Library
Theme: Induction
Date: Thursday 2 October 2025
Time: 2.00-3.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: This workshop will introduce you to the Library's collections and research discovery tools. With guidance from the Research and Open Scholarship Team, the session will highlight key Library resources and services for PGRs.
PGR Essentials: Introduction to open research
Theme: Induction
Date: Monday 6 October 2025
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: This workshop will introduce open research, considering the benefits for researchers, institutions and wider society. It will provide opportunities for you to consider how open research methods could be embedded into your research, and highlight sources of support and further information.
PGR Essentials: Introduction to ethics
Theme: Induction
Date: Tuesday 7 October 2025
Time: 10.00-11.00am (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: This workshop will look at the key principles of undertaking ethical research, and explain how to go about obtaining ethical approval from the University. There will also be opportunities to consider some case studies, ask questions about your own work, and gain insights on how to embed good ethical practices into your research.
PGR Essentials: Introduction to the Library
Theme: Induction
Date: Tuesday 7 October 2025
Time: 2.00-3.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: This workshop will introduce you to the Library's collections and research discovery tools. With guidance from the Research and Open Scholarship Team, the session will highlight key Library resources and services for PGRs.
Managing your research data: Introduction to data management plans
Theme: Core
Date: Wednesday 8 October 2025
Time: 10.00-11.30am (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: This workshop shows you how to write a Data Management Plan (DMP), covering how research data is collected, organised, stored, secured, backed up, preserved, and shared. A DMP helps you anticipate challenges, streamline your workflow, and make the research process more effective and efficient.
PGR Essentials: Introduction to ethics
Theme: Induction
Date: Thursday 9 October 2025
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: This workshop will look at the key principles of undertaking ethical research, and explain how to go about obtaining ethical approval from the University. There will also be opportunities to consider some case studies, ask questions about your own work, and gain insights on how to embed good ethical practices in your research.
Working with your supervisor
Theme: Induction
Date: Thursday 9 October 2025
Time: 12.30-2.30pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: The supervisory relationship is crucial to the success of your research degree. In this interactive two-hour workshop you’ll discover practical tips and techniques for communicating with your supervisor, consider common problems, and develop strategies for overcoming them.
Becoming a postgraduate researcher: skills, strategies and support
Theme: Induction
Date: Friday 10 October 2025
Time: 10.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: Pursuing a research degree isn’t just about knowledge – you need to manage yourself, too. Make a successful start to your postgraduate degree with this practical workshop, designed to prepare you for the journey ahead.
Making progress in your research degree
Theme: Induction
Date: Monday 13 October 2025
Time: 10.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: This workshop helps you progress in your research degree, and is for anyone from year two onwards. You’ll clarify your current stage, identify success factors, learn productivity tools, build support networks, and create a clear plan to move confidently toward completion.
PGR Essentials: Introduction to open research
Theme: Induction
Date: Wednesday 15 October 2025
Time: 10.30-11.30am (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: This workshop will introduce open research, considering the benefits for researchers, institutions and wider society. It will provide opportunities for you to consider how open research methods could be embedded into your research and highlight sources of support and further information.
Becoming a postgraduate researcher: skills, strategies and support
Theme: Induction
Date: Wednesday 15 October 2025
Time: 1.00-4.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: Pursuing a research degree isn’t just about knowledge – you need to manage yourself, too. Make a successful start to your postgraduate degree with this practical workshop, designed to prepare you for the journey ahead.
Data management plan writing sessions
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 16 October 2025
Time: 2.00-3.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: Data management plans (DMPs) are vital to help you efficiently manage your data during your research. It’s also a requirement to write a DMP to take to your progress review. These sessions are designed to give you time to work on your DMP with Library staff on hand to give advice. You are welcome to join the session whatever stage your DMP is at – we can help you to get started or you can bring a draft DMP for discussion.
One-day academic writing retreat for PGRs and ECRs
Theme: Core
Date: Friday 17 October 2025
Time: 09.30am-4.30pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: Are you struggling to get started with your academic writing? Or have you hit a block? If so, this intensive one-day writing retreat can help you get back on track and make significant progress with your chapter, article or book. You get the time and space to focus. With guidance from an experienced facilitator, you’ll set realistic goals and achieve them in a supportive environment.
Planning, structuring and writing your thesis (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences)
Theme: Core
Date: Monday 20 October 2025
Time: 10.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: This session provides advice and guidance on a variety of approaches to writing a thesis. As well as content on planning and structures, there will be space to write and to reflect together as part of a supportive writers' network. This practical workshop is suitable for PGRs who are at any stage, but some of the guidance will be geared towards those in the latter stages of thesis construction.
Managing your research data: Supporting qualitative data sharing
Theme: Core
Date: Monday 20 October 2025
Time: 2.00-3.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: Qualitative data has rich potential for re-use in future research, but it can be challenging to navigate routes for data sharing. This session will support attendees with data management planning that will help embed consideration of data sharing principles throughout the research process.
Planning for the final year of your research degree
Theme: Induction
Date: Tuesday 21 October 2025
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: There's so much to fit into your final year and careful planning is essential. With clear guidance, individual exercises and group discussion, this practical workshop helps you prepare for the last stages of your research degree, including submission, the viva, and what happens next.
PGR Essentials: Looking after yourself during your research degree
Theme: Induction
Date: Tuesday 21 October 2025
Time: 3.00-5.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: Doing a research degree poses some unique challenges that can affect your mental health and wellbeing. In this workshop, we will explore these challenges and the factors that influence wellbeing and mental health during the research degree - like isolation or the relationship with supervisors - in a supportive environment.
Online research profiles: increasing your visibility, impact and engagement
Theme: Induction
Date: Wednesday 22 October 2025
Time: 10.00-11.00am (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: Your online researcher profile is a key tool for increasing the visbility of your research, connecting with collaborators and demonstrating research impact. This workshop introduces the main platforms for creating and managing your online researcher profile and, focusing on the University's Elements tool, will demonstrate how to build your Elements profile to present your research, professional and teaching activities effectively.
Undertaking a literature review
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 23 October 2025
Time: 10.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: The literature review forms a substantial part of your postgraduate thesis and is also an ongoing process. Through clear examples, individual exercises and group discussion, this workshop will get you started with your review or help you reflect on your current draft. We will go through the whole process, and consider what makes a good review.
Undertaking a literature review
Theme: Core
Date: Tuesday 28 October 2025
Time: 10.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: The literature review forms a substantial part of your postgraduate thesis and is also an ongoing process. Through clear examples, individual exercises and group discussion, this workshop will get you started with your review or help you reflect on your current draft. We will go through the whole process, and consider what makes a good review.
PGR Essentials: Looking after yourself during your research degree
Theme: Induction
Date: Wednesday 29 October 2025
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: Doing a research degree poses some unique challenges that can affect your mental health and wellbeing. In this workshop, we will explore these challenges and the factors that influence wellbeing and mental health during the research degree (like isolation or the relation with supervisors) in a supportive environment.
Keeping up with the literature: tools and techniques for researchers
Theme: Learn
Date: Thursday 30 October 2025
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: Keeping up with newly published research is essential and can be an overwhelming task. This workshop introduces practical tools and techniques for discovering newly published literature in your field, including database alerts, academic networks, and publisher notifications. You will learn how to integrate literature tracking into your research workflow and identify sources of support.
Preparing for your viva in the Sciences
Theme: Core
Date: Monday 3 November 2025
Time: 10.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: The viva can be a daunting event for postgraduate researchers. This workshop will de-mystify the viva process, rules and requirements, and provide you with useful guidance about how you can prepare for the big day throughout your PGR journey.
Open research: principles, practices and purpose
Theme: Core
Date: Tuesday 4 November 2025
Time: 10.30am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: What is open research and why does it matter? This workshop will introduce the concept of open research, and explore opportunities for implementing open research principles into your own practice. It will cover open access publishing, open data, open source software, open peer review, and tools and techniques to help you discover open access materials.
Bringing creativity, reflexivity and voice into your writing
Theme: Learn
Date: Wednesday 5 November 2025
Time: 10.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: This three-hour academic writing workshop is geared towards any postgraduate researcher who is actively engaged in writing at any stage of their studies. The key aim is to discuss and pilot ways of bringing greater creativity and reflexivity into your writing, leading to a richer, improved thesis.
Planning, structuring and writing your thesis (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences)
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 6 November 2025
Time: 1.00-4.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: This session provides advice and guidance on a variety of approaches to writing a thesis. As well as content on planning and structures, there will be space to write and to reflect together as part of a supportive writers' network. This practical workshop is suitable for PGRs who are at any stage, but some of the guidance will be geared towards those in the latter stages of thesis construction.
Managing your research data: Keeping your data organised and secure
Theme: Induction
Date: Friday 7 November 2025
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: How safe is your research data? What would happen if you lost it all? This session will help you consider how to keep your research data organised and secure.
One-day academic writing retreat for PGRs and ECRs
Theme: Core
Date: Monday 10 November 2025
Time: 09.30am-4.30pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: Are you struggling to get started with your academic writing? Or have you hit a block? If so, this intensive one-day writing retreat can help you get back on track and make significant progress with your chapter, article or book. You get the time and space to focus. With guidance from an experienced facilitator, you’ll set realistic goals and achieve them in a supportive environment.
Developing effective literature searching skills
Theme: Core
Date: Tuesday 11 November 2025
Time: 11.30am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: This workshop introduces core techniques for literature searching. We'll start by exploring connections between research outputs and authors to uncover new sources. Building on this, we’ll demonstrate how to carry out structured, systematic searches, getting you familiar with the advanced techniques that can be applied across different academic databases.
How to edit your academic writing
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 13 November 2025
Time: 1.00-4.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: Are you close to a full draft of your book, article or thesis chapter? Does it resemble a baggy monster that needs taming? If so, this workshop is for you. Through activities and tutorials, you’ll learn techniques for getting your writing into shape. After the workshop, you will have a polished chunk of writing and a clear strategy for tackling the rest of your publication.
Getting started with preregistration and Registered Reports
Theme: Learn
Date: Monday 17 November 2025
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: Preregistering your research or publishing a Registered Report enhances the transparency and credibility of the research process. This introductory workshop will clarify the differences between preregistration and Registered Reports, provide practical advice on using preregistration tools, and explore effective implementation strategies.
Managing references using Zotero
Theme: Core
Date: Tuesday 18 November 2025
Time: 1.00-2.30pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: This session covers the key features of Zotero, a free and user-friendly reference management tool. You’ll learn how to add sources to your personal library, generate citations, and organise your references. We’ll also highight additional features for note-taking, annotation and keeping your library backed up and accessible across devices.
Data management plan writing sessions
Theme: Core
Date: Wednesday 19 November 2025
Time: 12.00-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: Data management plans (DMPs) are vital to help you efficiently manage your data during your research. It’s also a requirement to write a DMP to take to your progress review. These sessions are designed to give you time to work on your DMP with Library staff on hand to give advice. You are welcome to join the session whatever stage your DMP is at – we can help you to get started or you can bring a draft DMP for discussion.
Preparing for your viva (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences)
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 20 November 2025
Time: 10.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: The viva can be a daunting event for postgraduate researchers. This workshop will de-mystify the viva process, rules and requirements, and provide you with useful guidance about how you can prepare for the big day throughout your PGR journey.
Online research profiles: increasing your visibility, impact and engagement
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 20 November 2025
Time: 2.00-3.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: Your online researcher profile is a key tool for increasing the visibility of your research, connecting with collaborators and demonstrating research impact. This workshop introduces the main platforms for creating and managing your online researcher profile and, focusing on the University's Elements tool, will demonstrate how to build your Elements profile to present your research, professional and teaching activities effectively.
Preparing for your viva (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences)
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 20 November 2025
Time: 10.00am-1.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Teaching Room
Description: The viva can be a daunting event for postgraduate researchers. This workshop will de-mystify the viva process, rules and requirements, and provide you with useful guidance about how you can prepare for the big day throughout your PGR journey.
Developing effective literature searching skills
Theme: Core
Date: Tuesday 25 November 2025
Time: 1.00-2.30pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: This workshop introduces core techniques for literature searching. We'll start by exploring connections between research outputs and authors to uncover new sources. Building on this, we’ll demonstrate how to carry out structured, systematic searches, getting you familiar with the advanced techniques that can be applied across different academic databases.
Open research: principles, practices and purpose
Theme: Core
Date: Wednesday 26 November 2025
Time: 10.00-11.30am (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: What is open research and why does it matter? This workshop will introduce the concept of open research, and explore opportunities for implementing open research principles into your own practice. It will cover open access publishing, open data, open source software, open peer review, and tools and techniques to help you discover open access materials.
Keeping up with the literature: tools and techniques for researchers
Theme: Learn
Date: Thursday 27 November 2025
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Online via Zoom
Description: Keeping up with newly published research is essential and can be an overwhelming task. This workshop introduces practical tools and techniques for discovering newly published literature in your field, including database alerts, academic networks, and publisher notifications. You will learn how to integrate literature tracking into your research workflow and identify sources of support.
7 steps to reproducible research
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 27 November 2025
Time: 2.00-4.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: Reproducibility is important to the future of research, and is all about working collaboratively and openly with others. In this workshop we will introduce concepts and tools that researchers are developing and using which aim to make their research more reproducible – so that others can examine their processes, and build on top of findings more easily.
Tools for Open Research: Open Science Framework
Theme: Learn
Date: Wednesday 10 December 2025
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: The Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free, open-source project management and collaboration tool that supports researchers throughout the entire research lifecycle - from planning, to conducting, to sharing, and discovering research. This workshop introduces the key features of OSF and demonstrates how it can be used to enhance transparency, collaboration, and reproducibility in academic research.
Data management plan writing sessions
Theme: Core
Date: Thursday 11 December 2025
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm (UK)
Location: Library Seminar Room
Description: Data management plans (DMPs) are vital to help you efficiently manage your data during your research. It’s also a requirement to write a DMP to take to your progress review. These sessions are designed to give you time to work on your DMP with Library staff on hand to give advice. You are welcome to join the session whatever stage your DMP is at – we can help you to get started or you can bring a draft DMP for discussion.