As a graduate student, you are likely facing new academic challenges. The ideas about which you are reading, thinking, and writing are becoming increasingly complex, yet you need to find clear, concise, and engaging ways to express them. You are shifting from a focus on consuming information to a focus on producing and disseminating new knowledge and insights. You are expected to be fluent in the conventions of your discipline and to produce work that is free of grammatical and spelling errors.
Academic Skills works closely with graduate students to help them develop as scholars and writers as well as teaching assistants. We hope that you will take advantage of the many services that we can offer you.
Learn more:
- Services for Graduate Students
- Individual Appointments
- Workshops - Fall 2026
- Grad Skills Retreat - Fall 2026
- Graduate Writing Group: Motivation Mondays - Fall 2026 Info Coming soon!
- Three Minute Thesis - 2027 Info TBA late 2026/early 2027
- Services for Teaching Assistants
- Resource: Graduate Student Writers Sharepoint Site
Services for Graduate Students
Individual Appointments
Graduate students are welcome to book a free, confidential one-on-one appointment with an Academic Skills instructor.
Synchronous video, in-person, and asynchronous appointments are available to book in the Student Experience Portal.
Writing Conferences
You can book a free and confidential appointment to discuss any aspect of your writing. Academic Skills instructors can help you organize your ideas, outline, or upgrade your grammar skills. They can also look at partial drafts and comment on grammar, organization, and clarity.
Time Management for Graduate Students
Graduate work often involves long-term research and writing projects that have few check points along the way. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of what you need to accomplish and, as a result, to procrastinate your work. You can book an appointment with an Academic Skills Instructor to discuss time management problems and to create a project plan that will work for you.
Grant Applications and Personal Statements
Academic Skills provides several resources to help you as you write graduate school or grant applications. Academic Skills is not an editing or proofreading service, but our instructors can comment on the strength and clarity of your writing and organization.
Workshops – Fall 2026
Graduate Academic Integrity and Using Sources in your Writing
Wednesday, September 16 @ 1-3PM on Zoom - Register here via the SEP
Did you know that plagiarizing, cheating, and dishonesty are violations of Trent’s Graduate Academic Integrity policy? Do you know how to prevent plagiarism, especially with the introduction of AI generators, such as ChatGPT? This workshop will help graduate students protect their academic integrity by introducing them to Trent’s Graduate Academic Integrity Policy. We will delve into prevention strategies by using paraphrasing, attributing techniques, and citing of sources.
Project Management for Grad Students
Wednesday, Oct 14 @ 1-3PM on Zoom - Register here via the SEP
Feeling overwhelmed by your research project? Strengthen your project management skills by learning how to break down your research into phases and strategize ways to address unforeseen challenges. We will also discuss how to find balance between your research and personal commitments.
Strategies for Organizing and Synthesizing the Grad School Reading Load
Wednesday, Nov 18 @ 1-3PM on Zoom - Register here via the SEP
Managing and synthesizing readings is a key graduate-level skill. This workshop explores strategies for organizing sources, identifying trends and gaps in the literature, and synthesizing information across multiple texts. Participants will learn how to read with purpose, evaluate sources critically, take effective notes, and use evidence strategically in their academic work.
Grad Skills Retreat – Fall 2026
Sharpen your academic toolkit with academic skills!
When & Where: October 27, 2026 @ 9am to 4pm in-person and on Zoom – Register Here via MS Forms
What & How: Academic Skills and the Trent Library will present hybrid sessions for graduate students to help build and strengthen skills for grad school success. See schedule and session descriptions below to pick which you wish to attend.
| Time | BL 411 | Zoom | BL 402 | Zoom |
| 9-9:45am | PRIME yourself for Grad School This session focuses on strategies for Persistence, Resilience, Identity, Motivation, and Empowerment as grad students. We’ll cover day to day and long-term goal setting, learning who you are as a researcher, and how to stay motivated and feel empowered. If you’re new to grad school, this presentation is for you! | Thesis Prep 101 This session is for grad students who are beginning, or have begun, to write their thesis. We’ll review thesis styles, basic formatting for Trent requirements, and how to find examples. If you’ve been working on your research for a while, and are thinking about defending, this presentation is for you! |
| 10-10:45am | Library – Zotero This session is for grad students who are new to Zotero, a citation management software that enables you to cite, organize, and create a reference list. Learn the highlights of Zotero, so that you can get the most out of this free, versatile tool. Facilitated by a Trent librarian. | Library – MaDGIC This session is for graduate students unfamiliar with MaDGIC. It will introduce MaDGIC resources from Trent library including research computing capability, data analysis tools, and analytical software. Facilitated by a Trent librarian. |
| 11-11:45am | Writing Lit Reviews This session is for grad students seeking support with understanding the basics of literature reviews. We’ll cover how to identify important studies, and ways to use integrating and synthesizing multiple sources in your writing. If you’ve never written a lit review before, or wish to improve on your lit review skills, this presentation is for you! | Writing Cohesion & Coherence This session is for grad students who have started writing and are seeking support in refining their writing be it for their thesis, publication, grants, and more. We’ll explore how to connect sections, paragraphs, and sentences. If you’ve received feedback such as “connect these ideas more clearly” or “work on your flow”, this presentation is for you! |
| 12-1pm | Bring your own Lunch & Skill Share (BL 411 | Padlet) | |
| 1-4pm | Social Writing (BL 411| Zoom) | |
Graduate Student Writers’ Group – Motivation Mondays
Fall 2026 Sessions coming soon!
The graduate student writing group helps to develop writers with tips to improve their writing as well as create a community of writers to encourage and celebrate achievements of writing.
Graduate students will be encouraged to set realistic writing goals on a weekly basis to monitor their progress and to maintain momentum with their writing. The progress reporting will be a personal assessment followed by a discussion of progress as a group.
Mondays at 11am on Zoom
Beginning Monday, May 25 and running to Monday, June 29
Register to attend Motivation Mondays remote sessions
Download our writing goals template to set up your weekly writing goal(s)!
Services for Teaching Assistants
Referring Students
As a teaching assistant, you can refer students to Academic Skills for help with their math, reading, listening, writing, and grammar skills. Referrals can be made either by emailing acdskills@trentu.ca (please cc the student on the email) or by providing students with information about our services. Students can book appointments directly at www.trentu.ca/sep
Welcome to the New SharePoint site for Graduate Students!
Note: This site will be phased out following the 2026-27 academic year. Stay tuned for new/updated resources for grad students.
Trent graduate students may request access to the Graduate Student Writers’ Group Sharepoint Site. This site contains information about Academic Skills support for graduate students, including programs and events geared to graduate students. Also, the SharePoint site contains a repository of presentation slides from these events. You will receive an email inviting you to join this site; be sure to follow this site to access these valuable supports.
Navigate to Graduate Student Writers Group Sharepoint Site (note you must be signed in to myTrent with your Trent graduate student account to access this site)
