DWLresearch

Our speakers at the July thesis forum will be Dr Shujaul M. Khan (Biology) and Dr Georgios Patsiaouras (Management). Shujaul passed his viva in May so he will be able to provide a very recent account of the PhD process. Georgios completed his PhD at Leicester in June 2010 and returned as a Lecturer in September 2011. There will also be plenty of time for group discussion and informal chat. Hope to see you next Tuesday!

Dr Christiana Tsaousi (School of Management) was our second speaker at the June thesis forum. She completed her PhD at Leicester in 2010 and recently returned to take up a position as Lecturer in Marketing and Consumption. She reflected on her experience of completing a PhD and preparing for the viva. She described the difficulty of working in a new area of study but emphasised how important it was to talk to her supervisors throughout the process. She found that meeting them and discussing data left her feeling confident and with a renewed energy and purpose. Frequent deadlines worked well in keeping the thesis on track and regular feedback helped to chart progress. Unlike our other speaker , Christiana didn't use any manuals or guides during her PhD. She said that help books can be useful but it is still down to you to produce the dissertation. Her own dissertation only had real structure a few months before submission. Remember that every PhD is unique! It might be that yours ...

Ashley Dodsworth (3rd year, Politics) was the first speaker at our June thesis forum. Ashley gave an honest talk about the doctoral experience so far and her plans for her final year. She had plenty of useful advice for those just starting out. She advised finding out what conventions your department and the University expect you to adhere to (formatting, style) and stick to these from the start. Doing lots of preparation in the early stages will save time later on. Compile a list of common abbreviations and spellings to ensure you remain consistent throughout your thesis. Ashley advised first year students to make the most of opportunities early on in their candidature and then aim to reduce their activity, whether teaching or attending conferences, in the final year. A key piece of advice for the writing process was giving yourself permission to write badly! Your work will be re-drafted and edited a number of times, so don't worry that you need to get it perfect first time. B...