Major events

Major events

In addition to the many regularly offered workshops, GRADventure and campus partners host several recurring special events on specific topics. These events often include a keynote speaker, multiple workshops and opportunities to network with your peers. Review the following list for details regarding the routinely offered major events: 

Academic Career Conference: Hosted by the Centre for Career Action, the Academic Career Conference is held annually in October. This full-day conference, open to PhD students and postdocs, will help to better prepare you for the academic work search, including document and interview preparation as well as advice and insights from faculty members. For more details, visit the 2021 Academic Career Conference event page. 

Dissertation Boot Camp: Hosted by the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC), Dissertation Boot Camp is designed to help dissertation writers get a jump start on meeting their 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. For more details, visit the WCC's Dissertation Book Camp web page. 

Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Network (GPDN) Annual Conference: Every year GPDN hosts a conference focused on current topics related to professional and career development for graduate students and postdocs. More information is available on their GPDN Annual Conference event page, which will provide details on past and upcoming conferences, including instructions for how to register. If you would like to view recordings from past virtual or hybrid conferences, you can visit our past GPDN conferences web page. 

GRADventure Professional Skills Conference: Launched in 2019, this conference is designed to better prepare graduate students and postdocs for careers outside of academia by focusing on key skill areas sought after by employers. Not ready to think about your next step yet? Don’t worry. This conference emphasizes skills that will help you succeed now, while you’re doing research at Waterloo, and later, in your future career. visit the GRADventure Professional Skills Conference web page to learn more. 

Intellectual Property (IP), Commercialization and Copyright: GRADventure, in collaboration with the Library and the Office of Research, has held several events to help graduate students and postdocs understand IP, commercialization and copyright issues related to publishing and commercializing your research. For more details on the topics covered at past IP, Commercialization and Copyright events, visit the 2018 event page for Commercialize your Research, or the 2017 event page for Research matters: Copyright, intellectual property, commercialization and negotiating authorship.

Non-Academic Career Conference: Hosted by GRADventure, in collaboration with the Centre for Career Action, this full-day conference was designed to better prepare PhD students and postdocs for careers outside of academia. Due to the success of the Non-Academic Career Conference, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Office has expended this event and is thrilled to announce the GRADventure Professional Skills Conference. For more details, visit the GRADventure Professional Skills Conference event page.

Rock your Thesis: Get ready to write: Hosted by the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC), Rock your Thesis: Get ready to write (previously known as Fundamentals for Writing your Thesis) is a three-part program that will guide graduate students through the first phases of planning and writing a thesis or dissertation. For more details regarding topics covered, please visit the WCC's Rock your Thesis: Get ready to write webpage. 

Speak like a Scholar: Hosted by the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC), Speak Like a Scholar is a 20-hour intensive workshop designed to help doctoral students develop their voices as independent scholars and give effective academic presentations with confidence. For more details, visit the WCC's Speak Like a Scholar web page.