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Digital Research Skills Certificate Program

The non-credit Certificate in Digital Research Skills for graduate students formally recognizes graduate students who have taken DRS workshops designed to develop their digital research skills.

January-April 2025

Workshops are open to all graduate students and postdocs, regardless of whether or not they are pursuing the Digital Research Skills certificate.

Introduction to R for Data Analysis+

This workshop provides an introduction to R and R Studio for people with little to no previous programming experience. R is an open source programming language commonly used in the sciences and social sciences. Attendees will learn about R fundamentals, including variables, functions, conditionals and loops. We will cover basic statistical tests and practical strategies for automating routine data analysis tasks to create more efficient, reproducible workflows. 

Instructor: Caitlin Bakker

Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2025, 10am-11:30am

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3814400

 

Research Data Management and Data Management Plans*

This workshop will provide a brief overview of key components of Research Data Management (RDM) and provide an introduction to Data Management Plans (DMP). Attendees will have learn about the sections of a DMP, various tools and resources for making a DMP, and the benefits of creating a DMP.

Instructor: Kaetlyn Phillips

Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 10:30am-11:30am

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3863162
 

Research Data Management and Data Deposit+

In this session attendees will be introduced to the data repositories and data deposit. The session will cover what to consider when choosing a repository such as reputation, sustainability, usability, visibility, and researchers’ rights. Attendees will also be introduced Canadian repositories including Borealis and FRDR and directories of repositories such as re3data and OpenDOAR. Common requirements for preparing your data for deposit, such as preparing a ReadMe file, will be discussed.

Instructor: Kaetlyn Phillips

Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025, 10:30am-11:30am

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3863164

 

DRS: AI²: Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity+

In this workshop, we will cover how AI, in particular Generative AI, works and what its limitations are. We will then go over uses of Generative AI, some helpful research tools, and how to ensure your AI use remains academically honest.

Instructor: Veronica Ramshaw

Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025, 11:00am-noon

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3865985

 

Introduction to R for Data Visualization+

Data visualization can be one of the most effective ways to communicate findings to a broad audience. This workshop will introduce learners to R packages designed to create publication-ready visualizations for both categorical and continuous data. Through hands-on activities, participants will learn how to go from data set to customized visualizations using open source tools. Previous participation in the "Introduction to R for Data Analysis" workshop will be helpful, but is not required. 

Instructor: Caitlin Bakker

Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025, 10am-11:30am

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3814401

 

Research Data Management: File Organization and Data Storage+

This workshop will cover two key practical components of Research Data Management. First, we will look over practical ways to create a file organization system for your projects and how to name your files. Second, we will look at developing a data storage and backup plan and practical considerations for saving your data.

Instructor: Kaetlyn Phillips

Date: Wednesday, January 29, 2025, 10:30am-11:30am

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3863167

 

Copyright and Your Academic Work*

Writing a thesis, dissertation or project report? In this session, you will learn your rights as an author, how to identify third-party copyright-protected content, how to obtain copyright permissions, and about openly licensed materials.

Instructor: Christina Winter

Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 11am-noon

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3863209
 

Managing your References with a Citation Manager+

This session will introduce and compare two popular (and free to sign-up for) citation management tools: Mendeley and Zotero. Citation managers can help you organize references and PDFs, and allow you to generate bibliographies using 1000s of available styles, including APA. This session will cover the layout of both tools; teach you how to import and export references into a citation manager; how to use Mendeley Cite (a Microsoft Word plug-in); and how to use a citation manager to share libraries of citations with collaborators.

Instructor: Christopher Read

Date: Thursday, February 13, 2025, noon-1pm

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3863177
 

Advanced Searching and Library Research*

In this session, graduate students will explore how academic information searching differs from the searches that they conduct for other purposes. After attending this workshop, participants will be able to: describe different types of information searches; match information needs to the most appropriate search strategies, employ a variety of advanced search techniques.

Instructor: Cara Bradley

Date: Tuesday, March 4, 2pm-3pm

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3863181
             

Conducting a Literature Review*

As a graduate student, you are expected to place your work in the context of past and present research on your topic. Adopting a systematic approach to this task early in your project will save you time and stress. After attending this session, participants will be able to: describe different types of literature review and determine when each is appropriate; understand how and where to search for literature; organize findings and update searches as necessary.

Instructor: Cara Bradley

Date: Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 1:30pm-3pm

Registration link: https://uregina.libcal.com/event/3863186

 

Note:

* are sessions that are required workshops for certificate completion

+ are elective workshops (3 electives required for certificate completion)