Current Students Student support services Learning Centre Research Literacy

Research Literacy

Research Literacy

Sessions introduce practical frameworks and tools, with opportunities to apply them directly to your own work. Workshops are announced regularly via HDR email lists—see examples below and keep an eye out for upcoming sessions.

What’s Really Going on Here? Reading and Writing Academic Texts with a Critical Eye

Academic writing is more than structure: it’s a layered, meaning-making practice where writers build arguments, position themselves in disciplinary conversations, and engage with critique. This workshop uses the onion model to explore how description, analysis, persuasion, and critique work together, helping you apply these insights to your own research writing.

Why Does My Study Matter? Understanding Research Rationales

One of the biggest challenges for PhD and HDR candidates is clearly explaining why their research matters. A strong research rationale is essential for positioning your study, securing funding, and making an impact in your field. But what makes a rationale effective? This workshop explores the nature of research rationales, identifying four main types and how they function across disciplines. We’ll unpack how different fields justify research significance and discuss strategies for making these expectations explicit.

Structuring the thesis

In the workshop, we’ll explore the various PhD structures, covering guidelines and principles to help you effectively organise your research, refine and structure your ideas, and create a compelling narrative for your thesis. A follow-up session is available to delve deeper into exemplary PhDs in your field.

Cohesive writing

Flow refers to writing that is clear, logical, and easy to follow, so readers don’t have to stop or reread to understand connections between ideas. This series of workshops explores how to achieve flow using concepts from linguistics and sociology, combining key tools with guided practice. You’ll develop practical techniques to improve the clarity and coherence of your own writing.

How Writing Works: Structure and Flow

Expert writers produce clear and persuasive texts by using rhetorical strategies, but what are rhetorical strategies, and how do they work? This workshop introduces the concept of rhetorical moves to help deepen your understanding of how successful texts are structured and flow in your own discipline.

Confidence and Sophistication: Finding Your Voice

Finding your voice in academic writing can be challenging and complicated. This workshop introduces language and discourse strategies to help you project the confidence and sophistication of an expert.

*Workshop attendance can be credited to your HDR PD plan.

All workshops have the option of a personalised follow-up consultation. For more information, contact Mr Daniel O’Sullivan or email ✉ learningcentre-singapore@jcu.edu.au

We help students with writing and communicating research. We deliver workshops, sessions and programs that are tailored to the specific needs of research students. We draw on frameworks that offer accessible, context-based understandings of the key issues that students face and practical ways of unpacking, making sense of and addressing these issues. Support is coordinated by Mr. Daniel O’Sullivan

We can help you better:

  • view language as a system of choices related to the organisation, style, flow, mechanics, and presentation of your research
  • understand language as a resource to express knowledge and meaning
  • connect language/literacy to specialised knowledge in your research


Source: https://cdn.stocksnap.io/img-thumbs/960w/8Y0EDX4VP9.jpg

We can help you find your:

  • voice to successfully communicate your knowledge and meaning
  • confidence in communication skills to articulate the value of your research
  • sophistication of expression to take a legitimate and authoritative position

We facilitate ad-hoc workshops designed to introduce you to applicable frameworks and tools to help you develop your writing. Bring your own writing to the workshop to apply what is being learned.

How Writing Works: Structure and Flow

Expert writers produce clear and persuasive texts by using rhetorical strategies – but what are rhetorical strategies and how do they work? This workshop introduces the concept of rhetorical moves to help deepen your understanding of how successful texts are structured and flow in your own discipline.

Confidence and Sophistication: Finding your Voice

Finding your voice in academic writing can be challenging and complicated. This workshop introduces language and discourse strategies to help you project the confidence and sophistication of an expert.

*Workshop attendance can be credited to your HDR PD plan.

All workshops have the option of a personalised follow-up consultation. For more information, contact ✉ learningcentre-singapore@jcu.edu.au

Refine your knowledge of how language works, elevate your research and communication skills, and unlock your full academic potential with our HDR Grammar Masterclass. This Masterclass is tailored specifically for HDR/PhD students and is designed to help you achieve your academic and research goals by fine-tuning your language, grammar, and writing style.

Key benefits

  • Enhance Language Proficiency: Develop a deep understanding of language intricacies to elevate the quality of your writing.
  • Boost Grammatical and Stylistic Awareness: Learn how to write with precision, coherence, and elegance.
  • Principled Writing Choices: Gain insights into making informed choices in your writing to strengthen communication.
  • Effective Self-Evaluation: Acquire the tools to assess and improve your own writing.
  • Feedback Decoding: Learn how to interpret and act upon feedback effectively for continuous improvement.
  • Confidence Building: Gain confidence in expressing your research and ideas with clarity and impact.

Course details and schedules

The HDR Grammar Masterclass comprises:

  • 4 x 90-minute sessions
  • Completion of weekly activities (min. 2 hours)

Attendance at all sessions is required to fully benefit from the insights offered.

Participation in these workshops may be counted as part of Professional Development for PhD/MPhil candidates.

This workshop runs annually – keep a lookout for announcements via HDR email lists.

Students seeking guidance on their research writing are encouraged to contact Learning Centre through ✉ learningcentre-singapore@jcu.edu.au

Students can arrange a face-to-face consultation with a learning advisor by sending an email to ✉ learningcentre-singapore@jcu.edu.au

The Academic Writing and Editing (AWE) course is delivered online and is facilitated by Dr. Liz Tynan. The course is available to all JCU HDR candidates as part of their flexible professional development program. Successful completion includes eight hours of class time (either face to face or on Collaborate), two hours of the AWE Candidate Conference, and up to two hours of individual editorial consultation.

  • up to two hours of individual editorial consultation available in JCU Singapore
  • face-to-face or online consultations

For more information, email ✉ learningcentre-singapore@jcu.edu.au