Spring 2019 Writing and Research Workshops
The Graduate Writing Center offers a wide variety of writing workshops, ranging from general to more specialized topics, such as academic genres, writing in certain disciplinary areas, or writing English as a Second Language. We also provide information on workshops and services from selected campus offices that provide assistance with research, data management, and data analysis. Special thanks to our campus programming partners: the UCLA Library, Writing Programs, the Institute for Digital Research and Education, Counseling and Psychological Services, and the Career Center.
General Workshops
Creating Effective Figures and Visual Aids for Conference Presentations and Publications
Gaurav Kandlikar, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate Writing Center Consultant
This workshop focuses on strategies for designing effective figures and visual materials for conference presentations, publications, and other contexts. The workshop will also introduce different software packages that can be used to create high-quality figures, and offer further resources for learning these programs.
Tuesday, May 7th, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )
Public Speaking in Academia
Allison Collins, Comparative Literature, Writing Consultant
This workshop introduces the genres of public speaking in academia, ranging from teaching lectures to conference papers to job talks. The workshop includes suggested strategies as well as hands-on practice.
Thursday, May 16th, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Conference Room A/B, Career Center (3rd floor)
Getting Started on the Dissertation: How to Get Going and Keep Going
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Director
This workshop gives an overview of organization, time management, writing process issues and writing strategies. Recommended for people in the early stages of the dissertation, but useful for all stages.
Thursday, May 30th, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Conference Room 1, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )
Social Sciences Writing Workshops
Strategies for Writing the Social Sciences Dissertation Proposal
Adrienne Lynett, Graduate Writing Center Program Manager
Amber Villalobos, Sociology, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop will give an overview of the main components of a dissertation proposal in the social sciences and cover strategies for writing the research questions, literature review, and methods sections, as well as some tips for getting through this sometimes daunting process. (These strategies should be adapted to your department's and advisor's expectations about the structure and content of your proposal.) If you have preliminary drafts of an abstract or research questions, please bring them.
Tuesday, April 16th, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Bunche 6275 (History Department Conference Room)
Science and Engineering Writing Workshops
Expanding Your Audience: How to Publish Outside Academia (STEM Focus)
Macrina Cooper-White, Psychology, Writing Consultant
Maureen Sampson, Molecular Toxicology, Writing Consultant
Where can your writing and research interests go beyond a field-specific journal article or academic conference presentation? Writing for non-academic outlets offers graduate students the opportunity to spread knowledge about new scientific discoveries and innovations beyond the lab. This workshop will help students improve their science communication skills, providing guidance on how to translate complex scientific ideas for different audiences. We will discuss the use of plain language and clear, focused writing to help make your science more accessible. These techniques will improve readability and are appropriate whether the audience is STEM or the general public.
Thursday, May 9th, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Conference Room A/B, Career Center (3rd floor)
Applying for the NIH Training Fellowship
Karen Cheng, NIH NRSA Recipient, Writing Consultant
This workshop will cover the application process and required components of an NIH NRSA application. We will discuss preparation, documents required, and writing strategies for the F31, but the F30 and F32 are very similar. We will also address how to find appropriate materials/resources for a complete application.
Thursday, May 23rd, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )
ESL Workshops
Self-Editing Strategies for Non-Native Speakers of English
Adrienne Lynett, Graduate Writing Center Program Manager
This workshop will provide concrete strategies and online tools to enable non-native speakers of English to make appropriate vocabulary choices and approach issues like article and preposition usage in their own writing projects.
Thursday, April 11th, 5:10-6:50 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )
Grants/Fellowships Workshops
Introduction to Grant Writing in the Nonprofit Sector
Will Clark, English, Writing Consultant, Former Nonprofit Grant Writer for Foundation and state of California grants
The grant writing workshop will cover best practices and strategies for securing funds in the nonprofit sector. Topics of discussion will include methods by which to determine funding opportunities, strategies for building long-term relationships with funders, practices for reporting on successes and opportunities during a funding period, budgeting, and more. The goals of this workshop are to introduce graduate students to the nonprofit funding environment and to translate skills learned in graduate school into non-academic contexts.
Tuesday, April 23rd, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Center for the Health Sciences (CHS) 43-105 (4 th floor, corridor 3)
Writing the Fulbright U.S. Fellowship Application
Jay Johnson, Fulbright Recipient, Writing Consultant
Shannon Yu, Graduate Division Fellowship Services
This workshop will cover strategies for writing the Fulbright U.S. fellowship application. We will discuss the structure and content of key documents using examples. We will address writing tips for fellowship applications as well as specific advice for this Fulbright fellowship.
Tuesday, May 21st, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Bunche 6275 (History Department Conference Room)
Applying for the NIH Training Fellowship
Karen Cheng, NIH NRSA Recipient, Writing Consultant
This workshop will cover the application process and required components of an NIH NRSA application. We will discuss preparation, documents required, and writing strategies for the F31, but the F30 and F32 are very similar. We will also address how to find appropriate materials/resources for a complete application.
Thursday, May 23rd, 5:10-6:50 PM
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )
Statistical Software Workshops and Consultation
Current and former workshops may be found here.
For walk-in consulting information, Stat books for loan, and the most up-to-date listing of seminars, please see the Statistical Consulting Services web page of the Institute for Digital Research and Education.
Research Workshops at the Library
To see the most complete, current schedule of UCLA Library advanced research workshops, consult the UCLA Library research workshop page.
Click the link below for more information about the research and teaching support offered by the UCLA Library: http://www.library.ucla.edu/support
Research Guides
Online research guides link to key resources and reference books for certain courses and disciplines. Subject guides, course guides, and general research guides are available.
Research Appointments
Graduate students are encouraged to contact the Library's subject specialists for more specialized and personalized assistance with research, library resources, and subject databases; find a complete list of all subject specialists here.
Copyright Questions
Contact the Library's copyright experts for assistance with copyright, publishing, intellectual property, and other related issues at copyright@library.ucla.edu.