Digital Skills Clinics
Practical Support For Everyday Digital Work
Digital skills clinics help you apply digital skills to your own research, study or professional work. Bring a task you find difficult, a process you want to improve, or a question about choosing and using digital tools, and work through it with an experienced instructor.
You do not need to write code or have attended a course to take part. Your starting point might be a spreadsheet, a shared folder, a report, an online form, a recurring administrative task or an unfamiliar piece of software.
The aim is to make progress on the immediate task while helping you understand the choices involved and build skills you can reuse independently.
π Clarify
Describe what you want to achieve, identify where you are getting stuck, and agree a manageable question to work on together.
π§ Explain
Explore the tools, steps and decisions involved. Understand why an approach fits your task and how to check whether it has worked.
π οΈ Practise
Try the approach with guidance, then leave with a practical next step, useful resources and a way to continue building confidence.
What A Digital Skills Clinic Is
A clinic is a focused one-to-one or small-group learning session shaped around your own work. It gives you space to ask questions, try an approach and discuss decisions that may be difficult to explore in a larger workshop.
You might need help getting started, applying something from a course, troubleshooting an unexpected result or improving an established routine. You can also bring an early idea: a clearly described task is enough to begin, even if you do not yet know which tool to use.
Clinics focus on learning and practical capability. You remain responsible for your work; the instructor helps you understand and carry out the next steps. If your question needs specialist IT support, formal approval or a larger project, the session can help identify an appropriate route.
1. Agree A Goal
Explain the task, who it is for, what you have tried and what a useful result would look like. Together, choose one or two questions that can be tackled meaningfully in the session.
2. Work Through The Reasoning
Look at the current process, compare suitable options and try a small example. The instructor explains their reasoning while you practise the steps and ask questions.
3. Leave With A Next Step
Review what changed and how you checked it. Identify what you can now do yourself, what needs more practice and which resources or support will help you continue.
Who Clinics Are For
Clinics are useful for postgraduate researchers, research staff and professional services colleagues at different levels of digital confidence. You might be learning the basics, returning to a tool after a break or looking for a more reliable way to complete a familiar task.
Working with your own example connects the learning to something that matters to you. It also makes everyday judgement visible: how to break a task into steps, choose a tool, check an output, document a decision and recognise when to seek further help.
For a small group, a shared task or recurring difficulty provides a useful focus. Colleagues can compare approaches and agree a consistent way of working.
Skills Built In Clinic Work
- Choosing tools that suit the task
- Organising files, information and data
- Collaborating and documenting shared work
- Checking accuracy and interpreting results
- Troubleshooting unfamiliar behaviour
- Reducing repetitive work
- Explaining decisions and asking clearer questions
What You Can Bring
These examples show the range of questions a clinic can explore. The focus is on the task and the skills you need, rather than on a particular software package.
Digital Tools And Collaboration
Work through how to organise shared documents, use collaboration tools or make a team process easier to follow. Discuss file versions, responsibilities and sharing choices so colleagues can find and use the right information.
Example: βOur team keeps emailing different versions of the same document. How could we organise the work more clearly?β
Spreadsheets And Data Handling
Explore how to structure a spreadsheet, use formulas, check inconsistent entries or summarise a dataset. Practise checking your results and recording changes so you can explain how an output was produced.
Example: βI need a monthly summary from this spreadsheet, but I am unsure whether my formulas and totals are correct.β
File Organisation And Research Data
Review folder structures, naming conventions, documentation and the practical steps involved in storing and sharing project data. Identify questions about access, retention or governance that need specialist advice.
Example: βSomeone else needs to use my project files. What structure and notes would help them understand the data?β
Reporting And Communicating Results
Choose a useful table, chart or report structure for your audience. Discuss labels, units, accessible presentation and the checks needed to make sure your message is supported by the data.
Example: βI have several charts, but I need help deciding which ones answer the question and how to explain them.β
Everyday Automation
Map a repetitive task and consider whether templates, forms or an automation tool could simplify it. Start with a small test and think through exceptions, checks and who will maintain the process.
Example: βI repeatedly collect form responses and send reminders. Which steps could be made more consistent or automated?β
Responsible AI Use And Coding
Explore whether an AI tool is suitable for a task, how to give it clear instructions and how to evaluate its output. Coding questions are also welcome, including scripts, error messages, notebooks and reproducible analysis.
Example: βCould AI help me draft a summary, and how would I check it?β or βWhy does this script produce an unexpected result?β
How To Prepare
Choose one task that would make a useful difference to your work. Write a few sentences explaining your goal, the tools you currently use, where you are getting stuck and anything you have already tried.
Bring a small example if you can: a sample spreadsheet, a screenshot, a draft report, a folder outline or a sketch of the steps in your process. If something is going wrong, note what you expected to happen and what actually happened.
Use a copy or a safe sample for practice. Remove personal, confidential or sensitive information from anything you submit or share; invented data can often demonstrate the same question. Check that you can access the relevant tool, without sharing passwords or account details.
Useful Information To Include
- The task and the result you want
- Your starting point and confidence level
- The software or systems involved
- A specific question or example
- Any access constraints or deadlines
- Accessibility requirements or learning preferences
If you do not have an example yet, describe the task in plain language. You do not need technical terminology to ask for help.
What You Can Expect To Take Away
A useful clinic combines progress on your task with an understanding of how to continue. Larger questions may need further work, so the session should finish with a realistic next step and a clear account of anything still unresolved.
π― A Practical Improvement
A tested formula, a clearer folder structure, an improved chart, a documented process or a small working example that you can build on.
π§ͺ A Reusable Method
An understanding of the steps taken, why they were appropriate and how to check the result when you apply the same approach again.
π A Learning Plan
Brief notes, relevant guidance or a practice task, with a recommendation for further training or specialist support where needed.
How Clinics Connect To The Programme
Courses provide a structured introduction; clinics help you apply that learning to your own situation. You can use a clinic to identify a starting point, consolidate a workshop skill or decide what to learn next.
- Essential Digital Skills develops foundations in digital tools, collaboration and research data management.
- Methods for Data Science explores collecting, organising, interpreting and communicating data.
- Automating Business Processes introduces practical workflow automation.
- Responsible Use of Generative AI supports thoughtful use and evaluation of AI tools.
- Applied Data Science with Python and R offer programming pathways for analysis.
Register Interest
Use this form to describe the digital task or skill you would like help with. Include your goal, the tools involved and whether you are asking as an individual or a small group. This helps us understand your needs and identify a suitable focus for the clinic.
A brief description is enough at this stage. Please keep examples free of personal, confidential or sensitive information.