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www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
Postgraduate Researcher Development
Moving to completion
Dr Duncan Stanley
Student Development
www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
• What is Required & When?
• How to Keep the Examiners Happy!
• Managing Your Time
• Thesis structure
• Action Planning & Further Support
Completing your Research & Writing the Thesis
• Writing
www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
What is Required and When ?
Notify Graduate Office of intended submission date
Submission Date(DEADLINE)
3 Months
Viva Voce
End of Registration Period
Final 12 Months
What Happens After Submission ?
Department of ……..
Student
Graduate Office
Head of Department
Faculty BoardGraduate Dean
Senate
Recommendation
for Approval of Examiners
University of …..
External Examiner
Internal ExaminerSupervisor
Department of …….
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Thesis word limits
College of Arts, Humanities, and Law and College of Social Science
PhD thesis 80,000 words
EdD thesis 55,000 words
DSocSci thesis 50,000 words
MPhil thesis 50,000 words
These word limits include all appendices and footnotes.
www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
University of Leicester Regulations
Research Student Handbook
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/gradschool/current/handbook
http://www.le.ac.uk/ua/ac/Regs/index.html
“To be admitted to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy a candidate shall
have presented a thesis on the advanced study and research which has
satisfied the examiners and contains original work, and contains material
which is deemed worthy of publication, and shall have satisfied the examiners
in an oral examination. A candidate may submit in support of the thesis any
published work in the general field of the approved study.”
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If you want your PhD to be perfect it will never be finished!
You’ve got to stop somewhere
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• Use your supervisor to help you to judge whether your work is ready for submission
• Push your supervisor to comment on your work as an exam piece
“Will it pass?”“Is it PhD
standard?”
Use Your Supervisor
Is it brilliant research ? can you think of anythingelse I should do ?
Ask
Don’t Ask
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Research about writing
• Daily regime improves productivity – Boice 1990
• Writing is a thinking tool/mode of learning – Elbow 1973, Emig
1977
• Need a range of approaches and strategies – Murray 1995, 2000
• Text generation strategies better than cognitive strategies
(learning about how to write) – Torrance et al. 1993
• “To be a successful writer I know of only two methods; read a
lot and write a lot” – Stephen King (ok not really research)
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One strategy: Freewriting
• Write for 5 minutes non-stop
– In complete sentences
– Don’t worry about grammar
– DON’T EDIT OR CROSS OUT
• “What are the main conclusions of my research and
how does this impact my field?”
www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
Why use it?
• “There’s plenty of opportunity for self-doubt. If I write rapidly
I can keep up with my original enthusiasm and at the same
time outrun the self-doubt that is always waiting to set in”
Stephen King
• “The most effective way I know to improve your writing is to
do freewriting exercises regularly … It isn’t just therapeutic
garbage. It is a way to produce bits of text that are better than
usual: less random, more coherent, more highly organised”
Peter Elbow
www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
Using Freewriting to find a structure• Freewrite to ‘What is this document about?’
Analyse for main headings
• Freewrite to ‘What are the themes in this section?’
Analyse for sub-headings
• Freewrite to ‘What are the ideas in this sub-section?’
Analyse for bullet points of key ideas
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Editing and proofreading: aspects to address
• Is the structure coherent, or does it need amending?
• Language (expression): do certain phrases/sentences need to
be improved?
• Language (accuracy): check spelling, grammar and
punctuation
• Has all referencing been done correctly?
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www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
What are the Examiners looking for?
In pairs or small groups divide a flipchart into two halves.Give one half of the sheet the title ‘Magic’ and the other ‘Tragic’.Brainstorm what you think the examiners of a thesis are lookingfor (list under ‘Magic’) and what you think examiners particularly dislike in PhD’s they examine.
Magic
Tragic
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A number of academics were asked what they most disliked
about PhD theses they had marked:
“The examiners really do not want to be concerned with pointing out the deficiencies in the technical production of the thesis. Their job is to examine the research. I'm thinking here of the production of the figures and of the references and the organisation of the thesis”
What Examiners Think…
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Illogical structure and poor flow
What Examiners Dislike!
Reviewing previous work and then ignoring it
Poor spelling and grammar
Waffling – too much ‘padding’ – too long
Poor use of theory
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Your thesis structure?
• What thesis structures are possible?
• Discuss with your group what different structures may work.
• Why might you choose one structure over another?
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Product-based planning
• In groups:
– Start with your end-product – your thesis
– Working backwards, what steps do you need to
take to reach where you are now?
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Tasks Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Design Plan of
Thesis
Format 'Word'
Create Diagrams
Draw Graphs
Write 1st Chapter
Write 2nd Chapter
Write 3rd Chapter
Review 1st,2nd & 3rd
Planning Your Thesis – Gantt Chart
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Postgraduate Researcher Development
Time-Line for the next 4 months
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Week No
Nov 10 Dec 10 Jan 11 Feb 11
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What next?
• What are you planning to do after your PhD?
www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
Postgraduate Researcher Development
Are you interested in an Academic or Research Career?Academic Careers Evening
For the College of Arts, Humanities & Law and the College of Social Science
Postgraduate researchers (Post docs and Early Researchers also welcome)
6pm to 9pm Wednesday November 24th, Ogden Lewis Suite
Explore academic career opportunities
Learn about academic and research career opportunities
Learn about the reality of academic life post PhD
Speakers include both experienced and early career appointed academics
B BOOK your place now at: www.le.ac.uk/pgrd
Booking DEADLINE Friday 19th November 2010
www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/pgrd
Summary
• Know the requirements for your thesis
• Write with your examiners in mind
• Keep a plan and keep it up-to-date
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Action Planning
• Write down three things you will do in the next
month to help you towards completing your thesis.
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Further information…
Resources
Text-based study guides, IT guides,
interactive tutorials, check lists,
templates and recommended links
to external resources.
Consultations
Study skills consultations intended
to complement the specific
guidance you receive from your
supervisor/department.
Workshops
A range of more than 20
different interactive workshops
(don’t forget to book)!
Future events
• Café Scientifique
• Doctoral Inaugural Lectures
• Charity Challenge
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