University focused (HDR student) Workshops

3 Minutes to Wow: Turning Research into a Story

Timing: flexible (30-90 mins)

Condensing a PhD into three minutes isn’t about dumbing it down – it’s about sharpening it up. This session offers behind-the-scenes insights, rookie tips, and creative strategies that helped me win CQU’s 2024 3MT and take my research to the international stage. I’ll also share how the video became a surprisingly powerful tool during my own data collection process.

Code with Purpose: Real Data, Real Research, Real Fast (Masterclass format)

Timing: 2 or 3 days

This 2–3 day hands-on workshop is designed for HDR students (both Masters and Doctoral level) using a thematic analysis approach in their research. Across the sessions, students work through the full process: from organising your data and developing codes, to building themes and presenting their findings.

HDR students will learn practical strategies for working with tools like NVivo, explore different approaches to thematic analysis (including reflexive TA), and get the chance to apply everything directly to their own project. Whether just beginning or knee-deep in transcripts, this workshop will help students code with confidence and clarity.

Show Your Working: The Honest PhD Survival Masterclass

Timing: can vary from a few hours to 2 days

This honest, hands-on workshop is designed for HDR students (both Masters and Doctoral level) at any stage of the research degree…from the foggy early days to the weird waiting after submission. Across the sessions, HDR students work through the whole journey: from mapping the milestones and planning the giant thing, to managing supervisors, holding boundaries, handling feedback and rejection, and crossing the finish line.

HDR students will learn practical, classroom-tested strategies for breaking an overwhelming thesis into sub-tasks they can actually start, leading supervision meetings with confidence, protecting their best hours and their weekends, and turning daunting examiner feedback into a finite, trackable list. Drawing on the no-toxic-positivity approach of my short book Show Your Working, every session pairs a teacher’s scaffold with real talk about what it actually feels like, and ends with one small, genuinely achievable next step. Whether just beginning or knee-deep in revisions, this workshop will help students move forward with clarity, momentum and a lot less guilt.