Whether you're writing essays, conducting research, or exploring new ideas, AI tools can help you work smarter—if you know how to use them effectively and ethically.
To help you build confidence and competence with AI, we’ve embedded AI literacy into our intermediate and advanced Skills at Library workshops. These sessions offer hands-on, practical demonstrations of how AI can support your academic work. You’ll have the opportunity to explore real-world examples, ask questions in real time, and gain a deeper understanding of both the potential and the pitfalls of AI in research.
To build essential AI competencies for academic research, we recommend the learning pathway below for undergraduate students. Postgraduate students and researchers are encouraged to adapt this pathway to suit their specific study and research needs.
Ready to get started? Follow this step-by-step pathway to build essential AI skills for academic success:
Enrol in the 'Information Skills' course on Moodle
This course builds your foundation in information literacy and introduces key concepts in AI awareness.
Attend workshops that feature AI tools
Join the five workshops listed below that feature AI tools in action. These run every term — check our Events page for upcoming sessions.
Can’t make it live? Visit our 'Workshop Materials' page to catch up with presentation slides and resources.
Know the rules
Review the University’s AI guidance for students. Make sure you understand what’s acceptable in your department and for specific assignments—AI use varies across disciplines.
Join an ‘AI for Research’ session
This session is ideal for students who are already confident in finding, evaluating, and referencing information. You’ll explore how AI can enhance your research workflow and learn how to craft effective, ethical prompts.
Practise prompt engineering
Complete the Construct AI Prompts Using the CREATE Framework exercise to sharpen your skills in writing effective prompts—an essential part of using AI tools well.
Skills at Library workshops are designed to help you apply your information skills in practical, research-focused contexts. Whether you're refining your search strategy or evaluating sources, these sessions show you how AI can support your academic work—while helping you think critically about its use.
Intermediate workshops
Intermediate-level workshops build on foundational skills and help you make informed decisions about your research strategies.
Get organised for study and research
Learn how to plan your research more effectively using AI. In this session, you’ll explore each stage of a structured search strategy, then use Bing Copilot (or the tool of your choice) to generate a tailored search plan for your own topic. This hands-on activity not only demonstrates how AI can support your organisation and planning—it also sparks discussion about how to approach research across different subjects.
Take your search techniques to the next level. This session uses Bing Copilot to help you identify keywords and build advanced search queries using Boolean operators and phrase searching. You’ll evaluate the AI-generated results and reflect on how to improve your own search strategies.
Accessing digital readings and sources
Discover how AI can help you prioritise your reading. This session introduces Elicit, a tool that summarises key points from multiple journal articles, helping you decide which sources are most relevant to your topic.
Advanced-level workshops focus on interpreting information, evaluating content, and using sources to build your own arguments.
Checking source quality and verifying information
AI-generated content can be convincing—but not always accurate. In this session, you’ll examine real examples of AI-generated misinformation and learn practical fact-checking techniques. You’ll leave with stronger critical thinking skills and a better understanding of how to verify information in both academic and everyday contexts.
Explore the ethical dimensions of AI use in academic work. This session covers how to reference AI tools appropriately and discusses when and how their use is acceptable. You’ll also reflect on the broader implications of AI in education and research.
This session is for students who already feel confident finding, evaluating, and referencing information. You’ll learn what generative AI tools can and can’t do, how to write clear and useful prompts, and how to use AI to support your research. The session introduces the CREATE framework to help you build effective prompts and includes hands-on practice with AI tools. It also covers how to use AI responsibly while following academic integrity guidelines.
