How to ensure the timeliness of the PhD writing process? - workshop for PhD supervisors

October 7^th, 2022

Choosing a (timely) topic for a doctoral thesis and conducting the research project in such a way as to maintain this timeliness requires a sensitivity that comes from experience and that candidates may not have developed yet. On the one hand, the timeliness of a theme depends on the trajectories of a discipline, which are not easy to grasp. On the other hand, the initial theme develops and changes during the realization of the thesis. Finally, the path of the PhD is long and what may be new today may not be more so at the end.

It is the tutor's duty to guide the students, without replacing them, by glimpsing the opportunities and potential traps related to the development of the thesis, and not visible to students who face this task for the first time.

During this seminar we will look at the different phases of the development of a doctoral thesis project, trying to understand the fundamental steps to ensure the timeliness and relevance of the research. In particular, the seminar will address the following topics:

• The non-linear nature of the research process;

• Research philosophies • Formulating an initial research topic;

• Reviewing the literature and managing the feedback on the research topic;

• The design of the study and the “problem” of data;

• Writing the dissertation: drawing a schedule and managing time.