The Graduate School (GS) held its inaugural Writing Retreat on 21 October 2024. There were around 30 postgraduate students joining in the activity.

Postgraduate students used the session to ask questions about writing and formatting academic papers. GS tutors Dr John Patkin and Dr Ripple Lian discussed the challenges involved in reading academic papers, especially the importance of critically analyzing the various sections of journal articles. Students brought along examples of their work and related literature to share with their peers.

The retreat also covered aspects of preparing research proposals for PhD EdD applications. Students were advised to provide a general overview in the introduction and narrow the focus in the presentation of research questions.

Students shared their experiences of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for writing and proofreading. Participants enthusiastically argued the pros and cons of AI. Dr Patkin mentioned that students should take a long term view in the use of AI, as future reviews of academic output might produce different results due to advances in plagiarism detection.

One of the highlights of this workshop was building a bridge between master's students and PhD students. The postgraduate students had the opportunity to form new research connections and establish a research community through the discussions held during the workshop.