Study and digital skills workshops

Designing presentations in PowerPoint and Google Slides

Tuesday 5 May 2026 10am - 12pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

How can you create presentation slides that are memorable and impactful while also being accessible? PowerPoint and Google Slides include many under-exploited features that can help you create more effective presentations (as well as other resources). This session explores the principles of designing presentations, including templates, animation, accessibility principles, and working with media. We'll also look at presentation features in these tools that can help you as you convey your material to an audience.

Presentations Practical Guide

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Creating Interactive Graphs in RStudio

Tuesday 5 May 2026 2pm - 3pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

This session will cover how to make interactive graphs in RStudio. You will learn how to go beyond simple bar or scatter graphs, and make them more interesting, such as animating a graph, building 3D graphs, and creating a moving gif of your graph. Suitable for people who have used RStudio previously and would like to create interactive graphs from their data in the future.

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PGT Dissertation Writing 2: Methods and Results

Wednesday 6 May 2026 10.30am - 12pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Postgraduates

This workshop is for postgraduate taught students only. It will look at the purpose of methodology and results sections, and then go on to examine how they can be structured and the sort of information they typically contain. We will give a brief summary of the most popular software used to help you analyse your data and present it in your report. This workshop will also focus on the skills and language needed to write these sections of a dissertation.

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The Distractibles Meetup Online

Wednesday 6 May 2026 12.30pm - 1.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Students/staff

Finding it hard to focus and plagued by distractions? Join The Distractibles Meetup online on the first Wednesday of each month, 12:30pm to 1:30pm. We are a support group of staff and students with small group chat and an ideas bank of things to try. Whether you're neurodivergent or just easily distracted, our peer-support group might be just the thing for you. The Distractibles.

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DIGITAL WEDNESDAYS: Framing your research question

Wednesday 6 May 2026 2pm - 4pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

In this session, focused primarily on postgraduate research but applicable to any research project, we'll consider how to come up with a workable research question with regard to available literature: is there enough information to provide a suitable background? What limits will you need to set? We'll explore how to scope a range of different sources, including academic, government and organisational literature.

Searching for information: Framing your research

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Create a Graphic in Adobe Illustrator

Thursday 7 May 2026 10am - 12pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: LFA/103 Creativity Lab (Harry Fairhurst Building, Campus West)
Open to: Everyone

Interested to try out a graphic designer tool for the first time?

Using the Creativity Lab's access to Adobe Illustrator, this practical session will guide you through creating your own graphic design. We will focus on the most useful tools and hacks to create a logo or clipart illustration, with a useful step-by-step written handbook that we will share with you during the session. No prior knowledge is required. We will also share information on other alternate tools that can be used.

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Digital cutting with Cricut

Thursday 7 May 2026 1pm - 2pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: LFA/132 YorCreate (Harry Fairhurst Building, Campus West)
Open to: Everyone

Digital cutters allow you to create digital designs on a computer and then have the machine cut out that design on your material of choice, like card, vinyl, and iron-on transfers. These creations can then be added to other things, for example adding a vinyl transfer to a mug or an iron-on transfer to material like a t-shirt.

In YorCreate we have a Cricut Maker 3 which you can use once you've had a YorCreate induction (though you don't need to have had an induction to come along to this session). In this session we'll look at some approaches you could try, and offer a demonstration of how the cutter works.

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Getting Started with SPSS

Thursday 7 May 2026 2pm - 4pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: LFA/144 Academic Skills workshop room (Harry Fairhurst Building, Campus West)
Open to: Everyone

This session is for people who have never used SPSS before or who want a refresher. You will learn how to get data in, quick ways of cleaning your data, running basic statistics and how to create graphs in SPSS.

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Effective Revision and Managing Exam Stress and Anxiety

Monday 11 May 2026 1pm - 2.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

Strategies for effective revision and skills that will work for you. We will cover revision hints and tips, exam technique, useful resources and time management. In this workshop we also share tips and techniques for managing stress and anxiety in the lead up to exams, and on exam day itself.

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Editing content for Social Media

Tuesday 12 May 2026 10am - 12pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

Need to edit media content for social media? In this practical workshop, we’ll demonstrate tools and tips for editing some video and image content, thinking about what works best for social media. There will be advice on how to record content in the right size and scale, and how to plan your content to clearly portray your message. We’ll explore:

• Basics of social media
• Different platforms, types of post and choosing what works best
• Tips for capturing and filming content
• Key techniques of video and image editing
• Demonstrations of free-to-use editing tools
• Ensuring your posts are accessible

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Getting Started with STATA

Tuesday 12 May 2026 2pm - 3.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: LFA/144 Academic Skills workshop room (Harry Fairhurst Building, Campus West)
Open to: Everyone

This workshop will cover how to import, manage and plot data using the STATA software and its coding language. In this introduction you will practice getting data into STATA, as well as cleaning, summarising and plotting the data. No prior knowledge of computer coding is needed to attend this session.

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Editing and Proofreading

Wednesday 13 May 2026 10.30am - 12pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

If you find it difficult to edit or proofread your own work effectively, this is the session for you. During this workshop, you will learn a number of different strategies and techniques to help you redraft your written work and also identify and correct errors. Find related online resources here: https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing

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The Distractibles Meetup

Wednesday 13 May 2026 12.30pm - 1.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: LFA/144 Academic Skills workshop room (Harry Fairhurst Building, Campus West)
Open to: Students/staff

Finding it hard to focus and plagued by distractions? Join The Distractibles Meetup on Wednesdays, 12.30pm to 1.30pm in the Library, LFA/144. We are a support group of staff and students with small group chat and accessibility ideas to try. Whether you're neurodivergent or just easily distracted, our peer-support group might be just the thing for you. The Distractibles

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DIGITAL WEDNESDAYS: An intro to NVivo

Wednesday 13 May 2026 2pm - 4pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

NVivo is a qualitative data analysis (QDA) software package. It has been designed for qualitative researchers working with very rich text-based and/or multimedia information, where deep levels of analysis on small or large volumes of data are required.

In this introductory session we will cover the basics of importing files into NVivo, data coding and classification principles, and basic data analysis and visualisation.

Data: Qualitative data analysis

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University Accessibility Awareness Day

Thursday 14 May 2026 9.30am - 4.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: Spring Lane Building (Campus West)
Open to: Students/staff

The university will hold its first University Accessibility Awareness Day on 14th May. There is a packed and varied programme of in person, hybrid and online events, offering a mix of staff and student led events, as well as external speakers. Sessions will appeal to academics, researchers, students and all other staff so please explore the programme and come along! UAAD26

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Editing and Publishing your Podcast

Thursday 14 May 2026 1pm - 2.30pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

Are you starting a podcast and want to know how to get your podcast idea out there? This session focuses how to edit podcast recordings, and getting them ready to post publicly online. We'll look at using free editing tools like Audacity to learn the key editing skills. Then there will be a demonstration of how to host your files online, plus lots of useful tips and advice for picking up new listeners.

This session will be recorded and sent out afterwards to everyone signed up.

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Academic Grammar and Vocabulary

Monday 18 May 2026 1pm - 2.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

A range of grammatical structures that are commonly found in academic texts will be introduced, focusing on their function and form so that you can start using these structures in your own writing. We will also focus on academic words that occur frequently together in academic texts, such as ‘conduct research’, and how the use of these phrases (collocations) can make your academic writing sound more natural. Please find related online resources here: https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing

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Microsoft Word for dissertations and theses

Tuesday 19 May 2026 10am - 12pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

When producing a long piece of academic writing such as a dissertation or thesis, you will save time and effort if you take advantage of the most appropriate features in Microsoft Word. In this session we'll explore approaches to using Word that are particularly important when you need to produce material as efficiently as possible to match academic guidelines. We'll explore the power of using styles to make it easier to add outline headings, tables of contents and to make your document accessible. We'll also look at making the most of the tools available, such as adding automatic page numbers, tables of contents, and captions.

Creating documents

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PGT Dissertation Writing 3: Discussion and Conclusion

Wednesday 20 May 2026 10.30am - 12pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Postgraduates

This workshop is aimed at postgraduate taught students. It will look at the purpose/function of the discussion and conclusion sections of a dissertation and then go on to examine how they can be structured and the sort of information they typically contain. It will also focus on the academic skills and language needed to write these sections.

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The Distractibles Meetup

Wednesday 20 May 2026 12.30pm - 1.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: LFA/144 Academic Skills workshop room (Harry Fairhurst Building, Campus West)
Open to: Students/staff

Finding it hard to focus and plagued by distractions? Join The Distractibles Meetup on Wednesdays, 12.30pm to 1.30pm in the Library, LFA/144. We are a support group of staff and students with small group chat and accessibility ideas to try. Whether you're neurodivergent or just easily distracted, our peer-support group might be just the thing for you. The Distractibles

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Reading More Effectively: Comparing Traditional and AI Strategies

Friday 22 May 2026 11am - 12.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

Can generative AI enhance our reading efficiency? This workshop will compare traditional academic reading strategies with techniques for utilising generative AI tools to support with reading.

Artificial Intelligence can significantly enhance our reading efficiency. This workshop will explore techniques for utilising a Large Language Model to perform simple tasks on our behalf, greatly improving reading speed and saving valuable time.

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Applying Critical Thinking to Writing

Wednesday 27 May 2026 10.30am - 12pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

This workshop helps students strengthen their academic writing by applying critical thinking skills at every stage of the process. Participants will learn how to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, identify logical connections, and construct well‑reasoned arguments. Through practical examples and guided activities, the session supports students in developing clearer, more analytical writing that demonstrates depth, independence, and academic rigour.

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The Distractibles Meetup

Wednesday 27 May 2026 12.30pm - 1.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: LFA/144 Academic Skills workshop room (Harry Fairhurst Building, Campus West)
Open to: Students/staff

Finding it hard to focus and plagued by distractions? Join The Distractibles Meetup on Wednesdays, 12.30pm to 1.30pm in the Library, LFA/144. We are a support group of staff and students with small group chat and accessibility ideas to try. Whether you're neurodivergent or just easily distracted, our peer-support group might be just the thing for you. The Distractibles

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Power of Punctuation

Monday 1 June 2026 1pm - 2.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

What are the most frequently used punctuation marks in academic writing and how can they be used effectively to convey the exact meaning you want to communicate? We will explore the answers to these questions in this sessions. Find related online resources here:https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing

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The Distractibles Meetup Online

Wednesday 3 June 2026 12.30pm - 1.30pm

Organiser: Academic Skills
Location: online
Open to: Students/staff

Finding it hard to focus and plagued by distractions? Join The Distractibles Meetup online on the first Wednesday of each month, 12:30pm to 1:30pm. We are a support group of staff and students with small group chat and an ideas bank of things to try. Whether you're neurodivergent or just easily distracted, our peer-support group might be just the thing for you. The Distractibles.

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Learn to code: Introduction to coding

Thursday 11 June 2026 10am - 12pm

Organiser: Digital Skills & Creativity Lab
Location: online
Open to: Everyone

Want to know more about what computer coding is, how it works, and how you can start learning to code?

This introductory workshop is for anyone who is new to writing computer programs or learning coding languages. The workshop will look at useful coding concepts and some basics of the coding language Python to demonstrate these, and will cover:

• How computers work and how this applies to coding
• What are coding languages?
• Key concepts in coding, such as variables, loops, and data types
• How to get started with learning coding.

Coding Practical Guide

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