Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA)
Needles Hall, second floor, room 2201
How our participants have benefited from GRADventure workshops
Over 120 events and workshops are offered each year through GRADventure with over 6800 participants! Here are some of the benefits that students have gained from attended these workshops and events:
"[Speak like a Scholar gave] us a chance to practice presentation and improve our confidence." -Speak like a Scholar participant
"It is a great opportunity to network with other faculty members and students we wouldn't have otherwise met." -3MT participant
"It was very helpful to learn about how to manage my rights as an author, and to think about it more than I have in the past." -Research Matters participant
"It allows us to reflect on our own strategies and approaches to thesis writing." -Thesis Fundamentals participant
"It was great coming together with fellow PhD students, it was definitely worth stepping out of the lab ... overall, very insightful." -Non-Academic Career Conference participant
Benefits of a graduate professional skills program
In a recent study, the Conference Board of Canada summarized what we know about supplementary professional development initiatives such as GRADventure, which offer voluntary workshops to graduate students. The report highlights that such programs:
- Are the most common type of professional skills development programming offered to PhD students
- Are most effective when they are centralized under the management of a single organizational unit, such as Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs
- Benefit graduate students because they require a small time commitment and because they offer students flexibility to pick and choose the skills development modules that meet their needs
- Are valued by students; student feedback shows that this kind of programming gives students more confidence in pursuing jobs outside of academia
- Benefit students who are concerned their supervisor may not support their participation in professional development activities because workshops are held outside the academic department