Events across campus

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Your one-stop shop for all events and workshops for graduate students across campus.

Our event listings are updated termly with additional events added as they are scheduled.

Major recurring events

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Academic Career Conference

This full-day conference will help you prepare for the academic work search, including document and interview preparation, and getting insights from current faculty members. 

Host: Centre for Career Development
Timing: Annually in October
Audience: PhD students and postdocs

Student writing at a table with a notebook and a laptop

Dissertation Boost Camp

Dissertation Boot Camp is designed to help you get a jump start on meeting your writing goals. The program combines dedicated writing time, goal-setting and writing strategy sessions, and one-on-one meetings with our writing specialists. Online, intensive, and sustained (weekly) options are available.

HostWriting and Communication Centre
Timing: Annually in the fall or winter term
Audience: PhD students

Group of students writing and working together

Rock Your Thesis: Get Ready to Write

This three-part program will guide you through the first phases of writing a thesis or dissertation. The series covers topics such as planning and project management, structuring your thesis or dissertation, writing a literature review, using strategies for finding and recording research sources, and revision. Each of the three Rock Your Thesis sessions balances talks from support staff across campus with hands-on activities to guide you through your own planning, drafting, and revising process.

Host: Writing and Communication Centre
Timing: Annually in the winter term
Audience: PhD students

Man presenting to an audience

Design and Deliver Grad Studio

Whether you are giving a conference presentation, a job talk, or defending your dissertation, as a graduate student you need to be able to speak with authority and knowledge about your research area, respond to questions, and engage in scholarly debate. Design and Deliver Grad Studio is a self-directed comprehensive workshop designed to help master's and PhD students develop their voices as independent scholars and give effective academic presentations with confidence. 

Host: Writing and Communication Centre
Timing: Annually in the spring term
Audience: Master's and PhD students

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Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Network (GPDN) Annual Conference

The Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Network (GPDN) Annual Conference focuses on current topics related to professional and career development for graduate students and postdocs, and brings together professionals and faculty members to foster networking, share innovative practices, and promote the latest advancements in our fields.

Host: Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Network
Timing: Annually in the fall term
Audience: Graduate students and postdocs

October 2025

Date 

Event title 

Event host 

Location 

Oct 1

How to Find a Job

Centre for Career Development

Online
Oct 1 Discovering Your Purpose

Organizational and Human Development

Online
Oct 1 Keeping Well at Work - Deep Health: Setting a Foundation Organizational and Human Development EC1 1004
Oct 1 Exploring Careers in Mental Health Centre for Career Development AL 208
Oct 1 Effective Question Strategies Centre for Teaching Excellence MC 2036
Oct 2 Promoting Inclusive Language in Canadian Workplaces

Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-racism

Online
Oct 7 An Introduction to Career Planning for Grad Students and Postdocs Centre for Career Development Online
Oct 7 Collecting and Using Feedback on Your Teaching Centre for Teaching Excellence Online  
Oct 7 Writing or Grad and Professional School Applications Centre for Career Development Online
Oct 7 Leading with Curiosity Student Success Office Online
Oct 7

Résumé Tips: Thinking Like an Employer

Centre for Career Development

Online
Oct 8 How to Make Cover Letters Less Painful

Centre for Career Development

Online
Oct 8 Conflict and Self Organizational and Human Development EC1 1004
Oct 9 Interactive Lectures Centre for Teaching Excellence MC 2036
Oct 9 Further Education Fair

Centre for Career Development

Student Life Centre
Oct 10 Foundations of Collaborative Leadership Student Success Office Online
Oct 16 Exploring Further Education Organizational and Human Development Online
Oct 16 Leading with Curiosity Student Success Office Online
Oct 17 Teaching with Confidence Centre for Teaching Excellence Online
Oct 20 Collaborative Team Building Student Success Office Online
Oct 20 Building Rapport with Students Centre for Teaching Excellence Online
Oct 21 Academic CVs

Centre for Career Development

TBD
Oct 21 Skills Identification and Articulation Centre for Career Development Online
Oct 22 Preparing for Interviews Centre for Career Development Online
Oct 24 No Fear, Just AI: Learn & Lead with LinkedIn Learning Organizational and Human Development Online
Oct 27 Reflecting on Diversity in the Classroom Centre for Teaching Excellence MC 2036
Oct 28 University of Waterloo's Volunteer Fair Centre for Career Development SLC Great Hall
Oct 29  GRADnavigate: Demystifying Comprehensive and Qualifying Exams

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs

Online
Oct 30 Foundations of Collaborative Leadership Student Success Office Online
Oct 30 Understanding Conflict Organizational and Human Development In-person

Novemeber 2025

Date 

Event title 

Event host 

Location 

Nov 3 Foundations of Collaborative Leadership Student Success Office Online
Nov 4

Academic Interviews

Centre for Career Development

Online
Nov 4 Digging into LinkedIn Centre for Career Development Online
Nov 5 Collaborative Team Building Student Success Office Online
Nov 5 Resume Tips: Thinking Like an Employer Centre for Career Development Online
Nov 6 How to Find a Job Centre for Career Development Online
Nov 7 Leading with Curiosity Student Success Office Online
Nov 10 Foundations of Giving and Receiving Feedback Organizational and Human Development Online
Nov 11/12 Facilitating with Confidence Organizational and Human Development Online
Nov 12 Harm Reductive Communication and Conflict Resolution Student Success Office Online
Nov 13 Foundations of Collaborative Leadership Student Success Office Online
Nov 14 Collaborative Team Building Student Success Office Online
Nov 18 Preparing for Interviews Centre for Career Development Online
Nov 20 Digging into LinkedIn Centre for Career Development Online
Nov 20 Foundations of Collaborative Leadership Student Success Office Online
Nov 20 The Science of Strengths: A VIA Discovery Workshop

Organizational and Human Development

Online
Nov 21 Publishing in Academic Journals Writing and Communication Centre Online
Nov 21 Harm Reductive Communication and Conflict Resolution Student Success Office Online

Nov 25     

GRADnavigate: Accessing AccessAbility Services

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs

Online 

Nov 28 Harm Reductive Communication and Conflict Resolution Student Success Office Online

Asynchronous events

Centre for Career Development workshops

Are you unable to attend one of Centre for Career Development's live workshops or missed a particular workshop you're interested in? The Centre for Career Development has alternative online workshops that you can take at any time at your own pace. In these workshops, you will find a short video, activities, and links to additional resources and information for next steps.

Note: UWaterloo log-in is required to access these workshops.

Career development workshops:

Academic career development workshops:

Centre for Teaching Excellence workshops

Self-directed workshops:

Recorded workshops: 

Mitacs workshops

Mitacs offers a series of courses on topics relevant to graduate students. Each course bundle involves a self-paced asynchronous component, and a synchronous virtual session (dates for which can be found in the calendar above). Completion of both components will earn you an official certificate of completion from Mitacs for that course. 

To access Mitacs online courses, you will need to create an account on EDGE, the Mitacs online learning management system. To get started: 

  1. Visit the Mitacs EDGE login page.
  2. Create a new account. Please do not attempt to use your existing login credentials with previous Mitacs platforms, they will not work.
  3. Confirm your account by following the prompt in the verification email that is sent to you. This will redirect you to back to the login page, where you can now sign in. 
  4. Select your Learner Affiliationusing the drop-down list. Select "General Learner."
  5. Fill out the personal information page to complete your registration. 

Once you have created an EDGE account, you may enrol in the following self-paced, asynchronous online courses:

Mitacs offers both synchronous and asynchronous courses through the EDGE platform. Asynchronous courses are listed as an "Online Course", while synchronous sessions are listed as an "Instructor-Led Course". As all synchronous sessions are currently being offered online, they are open to graduate students from across Canada.

Student Success Office workshops

The Student Success Office (SSO) offers access to intercultural learning modules part of an Open Educational Resource (OER) called Advancing Intercultural Competence for Global Learners. This can be accessed in both English and French.

Writing and Communication Centre workshops

The Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) offers several grad-specific workshops. WCC workshops will be available on the Writing and Communication Centre's LEARN siteWCC is offering both asynchronous workshops in LEARN and their new one-to-one workshops facilitated by a writing and communication advisor. 

Self-register for the LEARN course titled "WCC Workshops" to gain access to the asynchronous workshops, which can be found under the Content tab of that course. These can be completed at your own pace.