Course Essential Research Skills for PhD Students at Arts and Humanities

Course description

This course is provided by Aarhus University Library in Emdrup, Copenhagen, in collaboration with administrative and research staff from Aarhus University. It aims to provide PhD students in Arts at Aarhus University with essential skills in various subjects central to the research process, from collecting data, to disseminating results. This course offers practical tools and best practices that PhD students can readily apply in their daily work. 

Although the course materials and examples are tailored to Arts PhD students, the course is open to all PhD students. The course consists of different sessions with presentations, discussions, cases and hands-on activities.  

 Experts in the following subject areas will present on:  

• Academic search  

• Data management 

• GDPR  

• Digital tools to collect, sort and analyse literature  
• Publication strategies 

As Aarhus University Library supports the Open Science movement, we prioritize conveying an Open approach to the topics 1, including Open Access publishing and FAIR data. 

Aim/Learning outcomes

At the end of this course, the student will be able to: 

• use different search strategies and search tools, including systematic search, in their research. 

• continuously describe and fill out their data management plan as well as confidentially administer and potentially publish their collected data in a secure manner. 

• understand how digital tools can help optimize workflow in literature analysis. 

• consider important aspects regarding publication strategies, including Open Access pathways, the benefits of openly sharing research outputs and on where to publish your research. 

Requirements for participation

• None

Target group/Participants

• This course is aimed at early stage PhD

Workload

• Course/ teaching hours: 10,5
• Preparation hours: 10-15
• Written assignments etc.: 1

Language 

• English

Lecturers

• Hazel Engelsmann, AU Library/Det Kgl. Bibliotek

• Ida Lunde Jørgensen, AU Library/Det Kgl. Bibliotek

• Karl Weis-Fogh, AU Library/Det Kgl. Bibliotek

• Mathias Michelsen, AU Library/Det Kgl. Bibliotek
• Jens Jan Andersen, AU Library/Det Kgl. Bibliotek

• Uffe Jankvist, MSc, PhD, Professor, DPU, Aarhus Universitet 

Literature

• Circle U (2023), Open Science Passport – A Practical Guide for PhD Students https://oer.uclouvain.be/jspui/handle/20.500.12279/902 

• Boote, D. N., & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before Researchers: On the Centrality of the Dissertation Literature Review in Research Preparation. Educational Researcher, 34(6), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X034006003 

• Gusenbauer, M., & Haddaway, N. R. (2021). What every researcher should know about searching – clarified concepts, search advice, and an agenda to improve finding in academia. Research Synthesis Methods, 12(2), 136–147. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1457 

• Holmstrand, K.F., den Boer, S.P.A., Vlachos, E., Martínez-Lavanchy, P.M., Hansen, K.K. (Eds.) (2019). Research Data Management (eLearning course). doi: 10.11581/dtu:00000047. https://medarbejdere.au.dk/en/research-data-management/e-learning-course 

• Aagaard, K. (2025) Set research free: A broader perspective. AU.dk. https://rb.gy/10e452 

• Engelsmann, H.C. & Michelsen, M (2025) A Guide to Creative Commons Licenses in Scholarly Communication. LearningLib. https://learninglib.org/2025/09/29/a-guide-to-creative-commons-licenses-in-scholarly-communication/    

Venue

Emdrup, 7210-A414

Course dates:

• 09 March 2027 10:00 - 15:30
• 10 March 2027 10:00 - 15:00