Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba
An indicative calendar of SGSSS training events to help you plan your 2026/27 academic year.
Our training is open to all social science PhD students, as well as SGSSS-funded Research Masters students, unless otherwise noted. Some events are for PhD supervisors, and a few are by invitation only.
All training events can be registered for via the SGSSS Portal. Registrations typically open 3-4 weeks before the advertised date.
Go to SGSSS Portal →Please note these dates are subject to change and confirmation. Check the SGSSS Portal and sign up to our Friday Digest for firm dates and registration processes.
37 events across the academic year
| Date | Event | Theme | Location | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | ||||
| Date20 Aug | EventWriting Lived Experience: Creative Autoethnography as Research | ThemeStudent-Led Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll Students |
| Date25 Aug | EventConducting Longitudinal Research with Quantitative Datasets | ThemeSkills | LocationStirling | AudienceAll Students |
| Date25 Aug | EventTo Code, or Not to Code, That Is the Question: Analysing Data Otherwise in (Post)qualitative Research | ThemeStudent-Led Training | LocationGlasgow | AudienceAll Students |
| Date27 Aug | EventShort-Form Research Filmmaking for Research Dissemination: A Practical Workshop for PhD Students | ThemeStudent-Led Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll Students |
| September 2026 | ||||
| Date2 Sep | EventProject Manage Your PhD | ThemeSkills | LocationOnline | AudienceAll Students |
| Date4 Sep | EventPlaying with Futures: Speculative Tabletop Games as Participatory Research Methods | ThemeStudent-Led Training | LocationEdinburgh | AudienceAll Students |
| Date8 Sep | EventRSE Curious Festival – Policy Pitch Event | ThemeResearch in Practice | LocationEdinburgh | AudienceAll Students |
| Date16 Sep | EventProductive Writing: Techniques, Planning and Finishing | ThemeSkills | LocationOnline | AudienceAll Students |
| Date22 Sep | EventSupporting Diverse Candidates | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| Date23 Sep | EventGenerative AI and the Researcher | ThemeSkills | LocationOnline | AudienceAll Students |
| Date30 Sep | EventAttracting Research Funding: Writing and Applying for Fellowships | ThemeSkills | LocationOnline | AudienceAll Students |
| October 2026 | ||||
| Date12–16 Oct | EventBecoming a Confident Social Science Researcher: Residential Week | ThemePhD Foundations | LocationEdinburgh | AudienceESRC students, by invitation |
| Date20 Oct | EventGiving Feedback and Writing | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| Date27 Oct | EventSupervisor Induction | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceESRC student supervisors |
| Date29 Oct | EventCreating Counter-Spaces Using Arts-Based Methods | ThemeStudent-Led Training | LocationEdinburgh | AudienceAll Students |
| November 2026 | ||||
| Date4 Nov | EventStudent Induction | ThemePhD Foundations | LocationStirling | AudienceESRC students, by invitation |
| Date10 Nov | EventPeer Mentoring Group (1 of 4) | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| Date11 Nov | EventPrinciples of Good PhD Supervision | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| Date17 Nov | EventSupporting PGRs in Writing | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| Date23 Nov | EventScience Communications for Social Scientists | ThemeResearch in Practice | LocationEdinburgh | AudienceAll Students |
| December 2026 | ||||
| Date3 Dec | EventSGSSS Data Linkage Policy Event | ThemeResearch in Practice | LocationEdinburgh | AudienceAll Students |
| Date7–12 Dec | EventSGSSS Winter School | ThemeMethods | LocationOnline | AudienceAll Students |
| Date9 Dec | EventSupporting International Candidates | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| January 2027 | ||||
| Date19 Jan | EventGenerative AI and the PhD | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| February 2027 | ||||
| Date2 Feb | EventPeer Mentoring Group (2 of 4) | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| Date10 Feb | EventBeyond the Project: Guiding PGRs through Professional Development Opportunities and Post-PhD Careers | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| March 2027 | ||||
| Date1 Mar | EventApplied Social Research Training | ThemeResearch in Practice | LocationTo be confirmed | AudienceAll Students |
| Date9 Mar | EventCoaching and Mentoring | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| Date23 Mar | EventPeer Mentoring Group (3 of 4) | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| April 2027 | ||||
| Date20 Apr | EventEthics Session: Doing Ethical Research Responsibly | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| April–May 2027 | ||||
| DateVarious | EventSpring into Methods Workshops | ThemeMethods | LocationVarious | AudienceAll Students |
| May 2027 | ||||
| DateTBC | EventDoctoral-Led Symposium | ThemeOther | LocationTo be confirmed | AudienceAll Students |
| DateTBC | EventCollaboration Showcase | ThemeResearch in Practice | LocationTo be confirmed | AudienceBy invitation |
| Date18 May | EventSupporting PGRs Doing Emotionally Demanding Research | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| Date25 May | EventPeer Mentoring Group (4 of 4) | ThemeSupervisor Training | LocationOnline | AudienceAll PhD Supervisors |
| June 2027 | ||||
| DateTBC | EventSGSSS Summer School | ThemeMethods | LocationTo be confirmed | AudienceAll Students |
| DateTBC | EventBeyond the PhD Conference | ThemeOther | LocationTo be confirmed | AudienceAll Students |
Our Friday Digest carries confirmed dates, newly opened registrations and last-minute places.
| Month | Date | Event | Theme | Location | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 22 September | Social Network Analysis Masterclass | Methods | Heriot-Watt University | Open registration |
| 25 September | Policy Event – Understanding Society Data | Research in Practice | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| October | 1 October | Policy Event – Population Ageing and Social Policy | Research in Practice | Edinburgh | Open registration |
| 6–10 October | Core Methods Module Residential | PhD foundations | Edinburgh | By invitation | |
| 9 October | Postdoctoral Fellows Induction | Information | Edinburgh | By invitation | |
| 21 October | Supervisor Induction | Information | Online / In person | By invitation | |
| 29 October | NVivo for Beginners | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| November | 3–4 November | Student Induction | PhD foundations | Technology and Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde | By invitation: ESRC students starting PhD (Oct 2025) |
| 6 November | Co-Create, Communicate, Collaborate: Public Engagement and Participatory Approaches for Impactful Research | Student-Led Training | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 7 November | Student-Led Open Competition – Open Hour Webinar | Information | Online | Drop-in | |
| 11 November | NVivo – Going Further | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 13 November | Policy Event – Mental Health and Wellbeing | Research in Practice | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 17 November | Crafting Your Research Story: Pitching and Storytelling Skills for PGR Impact | Student-Led Training | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 19 November | Disrupting Method: Adventure and Creativity in the Postqualitative Paradigm | Student-Led Training | Glasgow | Open registration | |
| 19 November | Bayesian Statistics Masterclass | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 24 November | Crafting Your Research Story: Pitching and Storytelling Skills for PGR Impact | Student-Led Training | Online | Open registration | |
| 24 November | NVivo – Coding Workshop | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 28 November | Theatre of the Oppressed techniques as research methods: possibilities and challenges | Student-Led Training | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| December | 5 December | Navigating Ethics in the Field – Research with Children | Student-Led Training | Edinburgh | Open registration |
| 9 December | Introduction to Meta-Analyses with R | Student-Led Training | Online | Open registration | |
| 15 December | Intro to Mixed Methods | Methods | Online | Open registration | |
| 16 December | What Next for Human Rights? Setting the Research Agenda | Advanced Training | University of Glasgow | Open registration | |
| 12 December | Social Science in the Age of AI: A Critical Guide | Computational | Online | Open registration | |
| January | TBC | Mentorship Launch Event | Information | Edinburgh | By invitation |
| 19 and 26 January | Narrative Analysis | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 27 January | AI and Literature Reviews | Computational | Online | Open registration | |
| February | 24 February | Collecting Digital Data: The Role of Web-scraping and APIs | Computational | Online | Open registration |
| 20 February | Grounded theory: an introduction | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| March | 2 March | Thinking Longitudinally – Quantitative approaches | Methods | Stirling | Open registration |
| 24 March | Introduction to Research Data Management: Primary Data (UKDS) | Methods | Online | Open registration | |
| 25 March | Thematic analysis Part 1 | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 25 March | Science Communication for Social Scientists | Research in Practice | University of Abertay | Open registration | |
| 27 March | Text Analysis for Social Scientists | Computational | Online | Open registration | |
| April | 21 April | Introduction to Data Management: Secondary Data (UKDS) | Methods | Online | Open registration |
| 28 April | Machine Learning for Social Scientists | Computational | Online | Open registration | |
| 29 April | Thematic analysis Part 2 | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 29 April | Media Engagement | Research in Practice | University of Abertay | Open registration | |
| April–May | Various (Apr–May) | Spring into Methods | Methods | Various | Open registration |
| May | 1 May | Generative AI and The Researcher | Computational | Online | Open registration |
| 13 May | Collaboration Showcase | Research in Practice | Edinburgh | By invitation | |
| 29 May | Working with panel survey data | Methods | Edinburgh | Open registration | |
| 8 May | Doctoral-led Symposium | Other | Dundee | Open registration | |
| June | 9-11 June | SGSSS Summer School | Research in Practice Methods | Queen Margaret University | Open registration |
| 23 June | Beyond the PhD Conference | Other | Glasgow Caledonian University | Particularly for students completing in the next 12 months |
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