While GCAC’s workshops are designed with graduate students in mind, all members of the University of Toronto community are welcome to attend as many workshops as they wish. We offer two types of workshops: live online or in-person (synchronous) workshops and pre-recorded, on-demand (asynchronous) workshops. Registration for both types of workshops is required.

Synchronous workshops begin 10 minutes after the listed start time to give students travelling across campus a chance to get situated. They are not recorded.

Please click the title of each workshop to read the workshop description and registration details. Once you register, you will receive details on how to join each synchronous or asynchronous workshop you have chosen. If you are are not able to register online, please contact sgs.gcacreg@utoronto.ca to be registered manually.

GCAC’s weekly Listserv messages provide an easy way to keep track of what upcoming synchronous workshops we are offering each week.

Winter 2025 Workshops

Click each workshop’s title to register.

Chronological workshop calendar

Preparing Your 3MT Presentation: Online and In-Person

Tue Jan 14: Preparing Your 3MT Presentation (Online 5.30pm – 7pm)
Presented by Dr. Cristina D’Amico

Fri Jan 17: Preparing Your 3MT Presentation (In-Person 2pm – 3.30pm)
Presented by Dr. Cristina D’Amico

February In-Person Workshop

Fri Feb 7: Cultivating the Skills of Constructive Disagreement (In-Person 1pm – 2.30pm)
Presented by Dr. Jane Freeman

Getting Through Graduate Work: Monday Series (Online 4pm – 5.30pm)

Mon Jan 20: Writing a Thesis or Grant Proposal
Presented by Dr. Jane Freeman

Mon Jan 27: Writing a Literature Review that Demonstrates the Need for your Research
Presented by Dr. Jane Freeman

Mon Feb 3: Framing your Research Conceptually and Theoretically
Presented by Dr. Jordana Lobo-Pires

Mon Feb 10: AI and the Modern Scholar: Generative AI and Academic Writing
Presented by Dr. Jane Freeman

Mon Mar 3: Writing Field Notes for Qualitative Research
Presented by Bradley Dunseith

Mon Mar 10: Conducting Interviews in Social Science Research
Presented by Bradley Dunseith

Mon Mar 17: Preparing for Archival Research
Presented by Dr. Matt Jones

Mon Mar 24: Preparing for Your Dissertation Defense
Presented by Dr. Jordana Lobo-Pires

Improving Your Graduate Writing Series (Online 4pm – 5.30pm)

Thurs Jan 23: Establishing Structural Coherence
Presented by Dr. Rachael Cayley

Thurs Jan 30: Crafting Effective Sentences
Presented by Dr. Rachael Cayley

Thurs Feb 6: Creating Movement
Presented by Dr. Rachael Cayley

Thurs Feb 13: Building a Revision Process
Presented by Dr. Rachael Cayley

Getting Through Graduate Work: Wednesday Series (Online 4pm – 5.30pm)

Wed Jan 29: Finding Additional Granting Sources
Presented by Dr. Jay Olson

Wed Feb 5: Writing an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) Plan of Study
Presented by Dr. Jane Freeman

Wed Feb 12: Identifying and Contacting Potential Cross-disciplinary Collaborators
Presented by Dr. Samantha Jackson

Wed Mar 5: Choosing a Conference and Applying to Present
Presented by Dr. Matt Jones

Wed Mar 12: Improving Your Slide Design
Presented by Dr. Matt Jones

Wed Mar 19: Designing and Presenting an Effective Poster Presentation
Presented by Dr. Samantha Jackson

Wed Mar 26: Formulating a Compelling Teaching Philosophy
Presented by Dr. Samantha Jackson

Asynchronous Workshops

WORKSHOPS ON-DEMAND (Pre-Recorded Videos)

Click the title of each on-demand workshop to be taken directly to its registration page, where descriptions are also available.

ADVANCED GRAMMAR
Identifying Verb Tenses by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka
Choosing Verb Tenses by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka
Using Reporting Verbs by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka
Identifying & Combining Clauses and Sentences by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka
Using Infinitives by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka
Using Gerunds by Dr. Adeiza Isiaka
Definite and Indefinite Articles – The Basic Rules by Dr. Katie Fry
Using Articles with Generalizations by Dr. Katie Fry
Using Articles with Countable and Uncountable Nouns by Dr. Katie Fry
Using Quantifiers by Dr. Katie Fry
Using a Corpus to Check Grammar by Dr. Katie Fry

USING CORPORA TO IMPROVE YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING
Part One: Introduction to Using Corpora to Improve Your Academic Writing by Dr. Katie Fry
Part Two: Consulting the Contemporary Corpus American English (COCA) to Improve Your Academic Writing by Dr. Katie Fry
Part Three: Building Your Own Corpus to Improve Your Academic Writing by Dr. Katie Fry

CULTIVATING GRADUATE COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Preparing to Write a Grant Proposal by Dr. Jane Freeman
Writing Effective Literature Reviews by Dr. Jane Freeman
Developing Effective Note-Taking Strategies by Dr. Jane Freeman and Jeff Newman
Quoting and Paraphrasing: Working with Sources in the Social Sciences and Humanities by Dr. Peter Grav
Designing Graphics for Publication by Dr. Vaughn Mangal
Communicating Effectively via Email by Dr. Tristan Loria
Enhancing Knowledge Uptake by Dr. Tristan Loria
Becoming Familiar with the American Granting System by Dr. Tristan Loria
Writing for Stakeholders in more than one Discipline by Dr. Tristan Loria
Community Engagement: How to Effectively Communicate Research to the Public by Dr. Giulia Rossi
Writing a Personal Statement for PhD Applications by Stephanie Redekop
Giving Feedback on Student Writing (for TAs) by Stephanie Redekop
Managing the Increased Attentional Demands of Graduate School by Will Staples
Building Community in the Online Environment by Dr. Cristina D’Amico

IMPROVING YOUR ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
Strategies for Developing Your 3MT Presentation by Dr. Cristina D’Amico
Strategies for Organizing Your Oral Presentation by Dr. Cristina D’Amico
Connecting with your Audience Online by Dr. Cristina D’Amico
Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations by Dr. Cristina D’Amico
Four PowerPoint Techniques for Academic Presentations by Dr. Matt Jones
Focus and Listening in Online Meetings by Dr. Matt Jones

IMPROVING ACADEMIC READING, WRITING AND SPEAKING IN ENGLISH
Making Requests Appropriately by Clare Nippard
Disagreeing Respectfully by Clare Nippard
Writing Emails with Your Audience in Mind by Clare Nippard
Building Your Academic Vocabulary by Lina Balsamo
Academic Idioms Part 1 by Lina Balsamo
Academic Idioms Part 2 by Lina Balsamo
Improving Your Graduate-Level Reading Skills by Dr. Katie Fry

IMPROVING ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING IN THE SCIENCES
Creating and Designing Poster Presentations for Scientific Conferences by Dr. Vaughn Mangal
Creating Effective Figures by Dr. Peter Sabatini
Writing CIHR Proposals by Dr. Peter Sabatini
Citation and Working with Sources in the Physical and Life Sciences by Dr. Peter Grav
Science Dissemination by Will Staples

WRITING IMRD (INTRODUCTION – METHODS – RESULTS – DISCUSSION) RESEARCH ARTICLES (for students in Divisions 2, 3 and 4)
Writing Titles and Abstracts by Dr. Peter Grav
The “I” in IMRD: Writing Effective Research Article Introductions by Dr. Peter Grav
The “M” in IMRD: Crafting Your Methods Section by Dr. Peter Grav
The “RD” in IMRD: Strategies for Successful Results and Discussion Sections by Dr. Peter Grav