Research Guides: Professional Development for Chemistry Graduate Students : Communication

Communication

Opportunities in this category will help you develop your communication skills, from writing effective research articles to presenting your work at conferences and communicating your science to the public.

Graduate Centre for Academic Communication (GCAC)

Workshops
The GCAC also hosts workshop series to address specific challenges in writing or speaking.
Courses
The GCAC offers free, non-credit courses to help improve your academic writing and speaking skills. Courses typically require around 10-12 hours of class contact time (e.g. 2hrs/week for 6 weeks).

Dr. Daniel Aureliano Newman's Writing Groups and Events

Dr. Newman (Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of English) provides writing support to graduate students in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences. Events include: workshops, roundtables, writing groups, peer-review sessions, and writing camps. Click on the links below to learn more, or consider joining the Milestones & Pathways Graduate Student Support Quercus page to get automatic updates on Dr. Newman's writing support activities.

Dissertation and Article Writing Working Groups (DAWG)
DAWGs are designed to provide a structure and community to help graduate students in life & physical sciences write more, faster and better by reducing common impediments like isolation, insecurity, anxiety, lack of accountability and lack of feedback. They are modeled on the classic creative-writing workshop. DAWGs meet weekly over 6 weeks with a week off in the middle.
Upcoming Events
Additional upcoming events, workshops and writing groups offered by Dr. Newman are listed at this link.
Graduate Writing Workshop: From Sitting on Data to Writing (Past Event)
This workshop is hosted by ChemClub and will take place on Monday, January 20 from 2:30pm to 4:30pm in the Davenport East Seminar Room. So you’ve have data and you’ve analyzed it. You have graphs and tables, and pages of notes. If you’re done the research, why is it so hard to “write it up”? This discussion-based workshop begins by challenging the premises of the previous sentence because writing is part of the research process, not a supplemental last step. Addressing the common misconceptions about “writing up,” we will discuss several more or less related strategies for making starting to write, from formative abstracting to key principles of paragraph construction. Additional issues we could discuss include Generative AI, responding to writing feedback from supervisors or reviewers, and any other concern you might have about writing. Eligible for PD hours in either the Communication or Research and Teaching categories.
Writing a Strong Grant Proposal in Chemistry (NSERC / Vanier Edition) 2023 (Past Event)
With application deadlines for external awards coming up fast, Chemistry is hosting a virtual workshop Wednesday, August 23 at 1:00pm on writing strong research proposals. The session highlights strategies for ensuring that your research project is clearly and persuasively presented. These strategies will be illustrated using excerpts from past winning Chemistry proposals.

Centre for Graduate Mentorship & Supervision (CGMS)

CGMS Skill Development Events
An initiative of the School of Graduate Studies, the CGMS was formed to support successful mentorship and supervisory relationships. Check out their event calendar to find training opportunities and workshops to help you build your skills in this area.
Successful Graduate Mentorship and Supervisory Relationships - September 11, 2023 (Past Event)
Are you experiencing conflict in your professional or personal life? Do you want to have a conversation with that person to let them know the impact they are having? Please join CGMS on Sept 11 at 12:15pm in the Davenport East Seminar Room to learn more about their services, and discover some steps to having a difficult conversation. Zoom info TBA.

Presenting at Conferences

Students can claim 1 hour per chemistry conference presentation (poster or talk), for up to a maximum of 3 hours in the Communication category. You must not only attend but also present at the conference in order to gain a professional development hour.

Other Communication Opportunities

Volunteer for UTM Outreach Events with High School Students
The Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences at UTM is holding 5 outreach events from April 7 to April 11, 2025 and they are looking for 2 UTM grad student volunteers for each event. High school students will visit the teaching labs and conduct a first-year experiment. The graduate student will go over laboratory safety with the high school students before instructing them through the experiment. At the end, there will be a Q&A session, where the high school students usually ask the graduate students questions about their university experiences. Interested students should contact Samer Doughan at samer.doughan@utoronto.ca. Events are typically 2 hours and are eligible for either the Communication or Personal Effectiveness categories.
Toronto Science Policy Network (TSPN) Events
The TSPN is a student-run group that hosts events about science policy and advocacy that hosts a variety of workshops, public panels and talks. Scroll down on this page to learn more about their upcoming events.
ComSciCon Workshops
attendees learn and practice valuable skills for communicating their research and scholarship in their field to broad and diverse audiences, while interacting with leaders in technical communication from their local region. Applications required, attendance is free for accepted applicants.
3-Minute Thesis Competition
Every March and April, the University of Toronto hosts the Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®), a competition in which graduate students present their work to a generalist audience in 3 minutes using only one static slide. Students can claim 2 hours for participating in the U of T competition, and 1 additional hour for each of the Ontario and National competitions, should they advance to further rounds.
Volunteer for Science Rendezvous
Science Rendezvous is a free annual all-day festival that brings science out of the lab and onto the street with the ultimate goal of showing how FUN science really is, improving student enrollment as well as free public education opportunities in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (S.T.E.A.M.) fields. Volunteers for this event are eligible for up to 6 hours (or 8 hours for direct-entry PhD students) to complete their hours in any of the three categories: Research & Teaching, Personal Effectiveness, OR Communication.
Green Chemistry Initiative (GCI) Symposium (Past Event)
The GCI's annual symposium is designed to connect students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty members interested in Green Chemistry with current leaders in the field to discuss advances in chemical processes and the future of sustainable research practices. The 9th annual symposium will take place on May 7 - 9, 2025. Attendees can claim a maximum of 6.5 hours towards your professional development requirement through attendance at the following events:
- Networking Events & Lectures: up to 4 PD hours in Personal Effectiveness category
- Green Metrics Workshop: 1 PD hour in Research & Teaching
Communication
- Poster presenter: 1.5 PD hours in Communication
SciComm Training from Visions of Science (Past Event)
Visions of Science, a charitable organization that provides equitable access to STEM to low-income, racialized communities, is hosting a free science communication training series for undergraduate and graduate students in STEM on June 18th and 25th from 12pm to 2pm. All students are welcome to register, however, they are prioritizing Black, Indigenous and other racialized students underrepresented in STEM.
Volunteer for WICTO & CAGIS Polymer Outreach (Past Event)
Interested in sharing your love for chemistry and inspiring the next generation of STEM students? Come join us on our WICTO & CAGIS collaboration event on Sat May 6 2023 @ 2:00-4:00pm where you will get the chance to lead grade 3-8 girls with fun and engaging hands-on polymer experiments! This immersive and stimulating event will help empower girls to pursue a career in STEM. Eligible towards 2 hours in any of the Personal Effectiveness, Communication, or Research and Teaching categories.
Black Science Research Network Communications in Research Workshop Series (Past Event)
The Black Research Network's Communications in Research Workshop Series brings some of the University of Toronto's most savvy communications experts together to help researchers gain basic knowledge of communications practices. This virtual workshop is open to Black and Indigenous U of T researchers.

Research Guides

Professional Development for Chemistry Graduate Students

Communication

Graduate Centre for Academic Communication (GCAC)

Dr. Daniel Aureliano Newman's Writing Groups and Events

Centre for Graduate Mentorship & Supervision (CGMS)

Presenting at Conferences

Other Communication Opportunities

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