GRASP

GRASP Newsletter Issue 2, 2026

April 22nd, 2026, by Karen Miller and Claire Hulcup Tag(s): GRASP Newsletter

Hi everyone

Welcome to our second newsletter for 2026.

For those who don’t know, GRASP is the Graduate Research Advanced Skills Program run by the Curtin Library. We offer a range of workshops, services and events to support you at all stages of your research journey.
Here’s some information about some of our upcoming events.

In brief

  • Upcoming GRASP workshops
  • Thesis Blasts and Bootcamps in May/June - Register now
  • Join our all-day Shut Up and Write each Wednesday
  • Consultations
  • What’s new in the GRASP Ideas Hub blog
  • Mental health seminar
  • Just for fun

Upcoming GRASP workshops

Data collection and analysis – upcoming workshops are on nVivo, Stata, R: and Python. Register here.

Research writing and publishing – the series starts on 23rd April. Register here.

All of our workshops are recorded and sent to those who are registered.

Thesis Blasts and Bootcamps in May/June – Register now!

The upcoming Thesis Blast (one day event) and Thesis Bootcamp (3 day event) is a great opportunity to set aside some dedicated time to work on your thesis alongside your peers in a structured, supportive environment that includes timed focus sessions, goal setting and progress tracking.

May Thesis Blasts - Register your expression of interest by 1st May.

  • online: 11 May
  • in-person: 12 May

June Thesis Bootcamps - Register your expression of interest by 15th May.

  • online: 8-10 June
  • in-person: 17-19 June

For more information, visit the GRASP website

Join our all-day Shut up and Work each Wednesday

If you would like to increase your focus and productivity on a regular basis then join our daily 2-hour online Shut Up and Work sessions for independent, silent working alongside others. Like our daily 2-hour sessions, the longer session on Wednesdays is hosted on Teams, with an in-person component. If you are working on campus you can join us for a tea/coffee/snack and a chat in the Postgrad/VC list room on Level 5 on the TL Robertson Library during the check-in breaks. Register for any of our SUAW sessions here.

Find Your Tribe – next online meetup is Tuesday 28 April

Find Your Tribe is an informal group for HDR students, offering a safe space for connecting with one another by sharing stories, discussing challenges, exchanging strategies, and learning from each other throughout the research journey. The meetups are held online and run fortnightly. We also hold in-person events throughout the year and have a Teams channel where we can share information, ideas and resources.

The next Find Your Tribe meet up is entitled “The Long Game: Staying Motivated during Your Research Journey”. In this session, we’ll have an honest, open conversation about motivation, what it actually looks like in a long research journey, why it fades, and what helps us find our way back to it!

Tuesday, 28th April 2026

Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm

Register here

Consultations

Our Research Services team offers in-person and online consultations in: academic writing; data collection and analysis; ‘expert searching’; research data management; research metrics and impact; strategic publishing; and copyright. You can book with the relevant team member by following this link.

What’s new in the GRASP Ideas Hub blog

The Ideas Hub blog, written especially for Curtin HDR students, has been posting regularly, so do check out our latest posts listed below. We have published another wonderful post by a Curtin HDR student, Michelle Vokal, which is about what it’s like writing a creative practice thesis (thanks Michelle!). And yes, we would love to include more HDR-authored posts (email karen.miller@curtin.edu.au with your idea).

Mental health seminar: The Science of AI and wellbeing

Thursday 23 April, 1 – 1.30 pm (online)

If you are interested in the intersection between AI and wellbeing, you might like to attend this free 30-minute online seminar from Dr Warren Mansell, Professor of Mental Health at the Curtin School of Population Health.

The session will cover:

  • The origins of AI companionship and therapy
  • The science of psychological change
  • The Story of Monti, the wellbeing chatbot that asks curious questions

You can register here.

Just for fun

Have you come across the work of Jorge Cham, an engineer and comic writer who, among other things, creates comics at phdcomics.com? Take a look – I’m sure you will relate to many of them! Some of the ones I enjoyed were:

Thanks for reading this newsletter!

Please make any anonymous comments/ feedback, or suggestions for further posts at this link. If you would like to get in touch, or write a post for the Ideas Hub blog, please email karen.miller@curtin.edu.au