GENAI101: Introduction to GenAI for Research

Course Description

This course introduces HDR students and researchers to the effective and responsible use of Generative AI (GenAI) across the research lifecycle. Participants will learn what GenAI is in the context of academic research, what associated tools are available, and explore its benefits, limitations, and associated risks such as hallucinations and bias.

Through interactive elements including prompting techniques, practical examples, and live demonstrations of representative tools, the course shows how GenAI can augment ideation, literature discovery, research design, data handling, analysis, writing, and dissemination — always with human oversight and verification.

Risk mitigation is emphasised throughout, covering transparency and compliance with institutional and publisher guidelines. Participants will learn how to validate AI outputs, document processes, and ensure responsible integration of GenAI into research workflows.

Note: This is a pilot run of a future series of GenAI for Research workshops. Your feedback is valuable and will be captured through our standard course evaluation survey after the session.

You'll learn

• Explain GenAI in research – Understand its capabilities, limitations, and risks.
• Identify research lifecycle applications – Recognize where GenAI can support research tasks responsibly, and what tools are available.
• Use GenAI for ideation and literature – Use GenAI for brainstorming, topic refinement, and literature synthesis.
• Support design and writing – Leverage GenAI for research design and planning, as well as academic drafting.
• Work with data effectively – Use GenAI for data preparation, coding, analysis, and visualization with proper validation.
• Enhance communication – Improve writing, referencing, and dissemination using AI tools.
• Ensure transparency and compliance – Document processes and follow institutional and publisher guidelines.