How to host an educational workshop

You may choose to run an educational workshop to teach a technique/topic of research to people in your institution or visiting delegates.

• Define the purpose: what do you aim to achieve?
• Devise a timetable: how many days will the workshop last, how will you divide the days (factor in time for breaks and sessions over-running)?
• Decide who will deliver the training sessions and the nature of the sessions (lectures, interactive, lab-based, computer-work).
• Decide whether you will send introductory reading material before the workshop starts.
• Decide whether there will be an assessment at the end of the workshop and the format that this will take.
• Consider contingency planning (e.g. reserve slides/sessions in case speakers don’t arrive or talks run short).
• Arrange the following:
  
  
  • funding – will you apply for a grant? will delegates be charged a fee?
  • catering
  • venue (room hire)
  • accommodation
  • transport
  • for the presentation slides to be emailed to you in advance so that you can pre-load them onto the computer (ask permission for them to be shared with delegates after the workshop)
• Create the following documents:
  
  
  • itinerary for delegates/delegate pack
  • feedback forms/survey
  • certificates
• After the session:
  
  
  • collect feedback
  • issue certificates
  • upload presentations/documents to a Cloud server/Dropbox/Google Drive etc. or email to delegates (if agreed by the speakers)
  • update your CV