Skills development guides and articles for researchers
These are guides, articles and blogs from mainly external sources on various topics which may help you to develop skills or improve your practice. The University of Bath is not responsible for the content of external guides. If you know of a guide that may be useful to researchers that we could add to this list, please let us know.
If you want help with something specific and can't find a relevant article here, why not try asking a question on the academia Stack Exchange, which is a free question and answer site for academics and those enrolled in higher education.
- Creativity
- Data analysis and statistics
- Ethics
- Impact
- Leadership and working with others
- Managing yourself and maintaining motivation
- Networking and social media
- PhD
- Presentations
- Public engagement
- Publishing
- Reading and writing
Creativity
- The creative researcher: tools and techniques to unleash your creativity [pdf, 998KB] - Vitae skills guide for researchers
Data analysis and statistics
- Basic statistics course materials in moodle from Biology and Biochemistry three day course - accessible to any University of Bath staff or students
- Chemobiodraw - presentations on the use of Chembiodraw software at the University of Bath. There are two versions: a general presentation [pdf, 7.88MB ] and a presentation for biologists [pdf, 5.31MB]
- Matlab and Simulink: three presentations on using Matlab at the University of Bath: 1. Technical computing with Matlab [pdf, 1.98MB ], 2. Design and Verify Control Systems using Simulink [pdf, 2.82MB] & 3. Introduction to Simulink & Stateflow [pdf,1.26MB]
- Online statistical resource including presentations, videos and handouts on a range of statistical methods - 'DeSTRESS' project led by Nottingham Trent University
- Quantitative approaches to research in social sciences - Online training from the University of Surrey
- SPSS - an Introduction - Online training from the University of Surrey
- SPSS - online training workshops and videos - from the Central Michigan University
Ethics
- On being a scientist - a guide to responsible conduct in research - download a free pdf from the National Academies Press
- Various guides on the University of Bath Ethics A-Z
Impact
- BBSRC Guide to the Media [pdf, 775KB]
- Knowledge Translation: A 'Research Matters' Toolkit for researchers [pdf, 11.72MB]
- The engaging researcher: Inspiring people to engage with your research [pdf, 1.7MB] - Vitae skills guide for researchers
Leadership and working with others
- The Leading Researcher: Explore and develop your leadership potential [pdf, 1.49MB] - Vitae skills guide for researchers
- Vitae Leadership Development for Principal Investigators
- Care and maintenance of your advisor - nature article for research students by Maria Gardiner and Hugh Kearns
Managing yourself and maintaining motivation
- Getting things done: becoming a more effective researcher - a Prezi presentation by Inger Mewburn
- The balanced researcher: Strategies for busy researchers [pdf, 2.2MB] - Vitae skills guide for researchers
- Time management - a moodle course for researchers at Bath
- Waiting for the motivation fairy - Nature article for researchers - tips on getting motivated by Maria Gardiner and Hugh Kearns
Networking and social media
- A-Z of social media for academics - an online resource from Prof. Andy Miah at the University of the West of Scotland
- Bath researcher's guide to twitter - a guide for Bath based researchers from Policy Sciences at Bath (campus access only)
- Conferences - tips and tricks for surviving confrerences, by Lawrie Phipps
- Confident Networking - a presentation by Dr Sara Shinton, who provides careers advice, information and professional development training to scientists, academic researchers, research students and academic staff
- Courting Connections - nature article by Peter J. networking on how to start networking as an early career researcher
- Digital Researcher: researchers - A Prezi presentation by Dr Paul Spencer & Dr Tristram Hooley on the use of social media in the context of researchers & their skills development
- Digital Researcher: academics - A Prezi presentation by Dr Paul Spencer & John Igoe on the use of social media in the context of academic research
- Handbook of Social Media for Researchers and Supervisors: Digital technologies for research dialogues from Vitae and the Open University
- Using social media: for self marketing and job research: a vimeo presentation from the University of Oxford
- Using Twitter in university research, teaching and impact activities - A guide for academics and researchers from LSE [pdf, 1.24MB]
- Social Media: a guide for researchers from the Research Information Network (RIN)
- The shy connector - a slideshare presentation by Sacha Chua about networking for introverts
- Writing for the web for researchers - A recording of a presentation on 25 April 2012 by Richard Prowse. The session covers: effective communication of your research, how people read on-line material; what to think about when writing for the web; social media and blogging; a question and answer session (poor sound quality).
PhD
- Doctoral question bank - audio recordings of answers to typical queries from doctoral students - (Bath staff and students only) you will need to log in using BUCS username and password
- PGR Tips: a monthly email from Vitae, which offers tips and advice to help you through your doctorate. Recent issues have covered tips on writing grant applications, being assertive and the value of your doctorate in the recession.
- PhD Viva notes [pdf, 11KB] - advice from Dr Tim Mays on what to expect at your PhD viva
- What’s up doc? blog for postgraduate researchers
Presentations
- Academic Conferences - tips and advice - a blog by Sarah Burton
- Designing conference posters - a useful blog post from Colin Purrington
- Tips for preparing a poster presentation by Dr Trevor Day
Public engagement
- The engaging researcher - Vitae skills guide
- Public engagement - a list of online resources and opportunities from Vitae
- What's in it for me? The benefits of public engagement - guide from the Research Councils UK
Publishing
- Publishing Your Research 101 video series - from scientific publisher ACS Publications - tips for authors and reviewers on topics such as submitting your manuscript and suggesting reviewers.
- Author guides from Taylor and Francis author services - a series of online guides on topics from choosing a journal, preparing your article, submission and review
Reading and writing
- Writing Commons - a an Open Text for academic writing (composition, expository writing, argument, research writing), professional and technical writing - it includes over 300 articles on the writing process.
- English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Toolkit: a set of versatile online learning resources in study skills and EAP for international students. It contains over 100 interactive learning resources or 80 hours of activity-based learning
- Writing 'getting unstuck' - a Prezi presentation by Inger Mewburn
- Speed-reading - online speed-reading exercises from the Speed Reading Center
- Surviving your thesis and Top ten tips for a trouble free thesis - a blog from James Hayton at Physicsworld.com
- Turbo-charge your writing - Nature article for researchers by Maria Gardiner and Hugh Kearns
