dissertation writing group

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Expand Your Pack: Start or Join an Online Writing Group!

Are you looking for a way to get started on a summer writing project? While we often think of academic writing as a solitary pursuit, we can benefit from the community of other writers, whether they share advice about their processes, give feedback on our work, commiserate with our struggles, or simply work beside us virtually. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and amid busy schedules, online writing groups have proven an indispensable source of support for academic writers seeking accountability, motivation, and community .

Last fall, the Graduate School Professional Development Team launched the GradPack Slack Space for grad and postdoc trainees to join or start peer-lead online writing groups. Members can browse Slack channels to find virtual writing support groups with a variety of formats or disciplinary focuses. Alternatively, members can propose new writing groups based on their needs and interests and create new Slack channels for their groups.

To explore the benefits of online writing groups and best practices for leading them, we reached out to six current and former peer group leaders for their perspectives: Claudia Alberico (Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management PhD), Abida Haque (Computer Science PhD), Iwinosa Idahor (Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development PhD), Kate Jones (Geospatial Analytics PhD), Dr. Alex Milliken (a recent graduate in Computer Science), and Honey Minkowitz (Public Administration PhD).

Why Should I Start an Online Writing Group?

Help colleagues be productive and accountable

As Honey explains, “by becoming a leader, I could help other people that were in the same process.” Claudia adds that “working on Zoom was good for us to have that accountability, be able to share our anxieties, and learn from each other”. Iwinosa elaborates on the value of leading online writing groups for maintaining energy on writing projects: “I really enjoyed the momentum that we gained during the [spring 2020 online] retreat , and I didn’t want to lose that.” By forming a writing group, she connected with “other students who didn’t want to lose that either, so we were able to keep that going.”

Build community

Kate explains that “even though I’ve never met these people in person, I do feel very connected to them and their projects”.

For Iwinosa, “a big component was making sure that we were holding each other accountable and providing a community.” Honey agrees that the “biggest lesson for me was providing that opportunity for collaboration and connection” among writing group members. Moreover, Alex suggests that leading a virtual writing group can be an “opportunity to interact with folks outside your discipline or lab group.”

Practice leadership skills

All writing group leaders cultivate transferable skills such as maintaining meeting schedules, communicating with group members, and listening to members to establish meeting formats that work with their needs. As Abida notes, “I like to work with other people [and] I also like to lead things, so I thought it would be nice to lead a group, use my ideas, and experiment with them.” Alex specifically found the leadership aspects motivating for their own writing accountability: “if I personally lead things, then I’m more likely to be accountable as well. Knowing that I was going to be able to help others, in turn, guides me to get my own stuff done.”

Carve out dedicated time to make progress on writing projects

Kate finds that leading a group helps her to be intentional about scheduling writing time: “I’ve been setting aside a very structured hour every single week, which makes it seem less daunting to really carve out more writing time when needed.” Abida, too, notes that as a writing group leader, “honoring those times is really important also for yourself,” even if group members are not able to attend every meet-up.

What Type of Writing is Best for Me?

Here are a few common writing group formats that you could start or join based on the types of writing support that you are looking for:

• Productivity Groups meet regularly in real time to write together, for example on Zoom or other video conferencing platform. Members often start the session by sharing their goals and end the session by reflecting on their progress, and may incorporate techniques, like the Pomodoro technique , to divide a longer session into manageable working blocks.
• Accountability Groups meet briefly (for example, 30 minutes every month) to discuss goals and setbacks on writing and provide external peer accountability. Members might participate in accountability groups asynchronously by exchanging messages in a group chat app to motivate each other, share common struggles, and report small victories.
• Feedback Groups provide feedback on each other’s writing, such as advice about the structure/organization or style, by meeting via Zoom or other videoconferencing platform. These groups may meet less often than working groups depending on members’ writing timelines and goals (ex. monthly versus weekly or biweekly meetings).

Your writing group may combine aspects of these formats depending on members’ needs and interests. For example, Abida uses Slack to organize “hashtag writing sprints,” or virtual Pomodoro working sessions that do not require members to be on Zoom: “I’ll put a message on #general [Slack channel], and I’ll say, ‘Hey, everybody, I’m going to start sets of 20 minutes’.” She shares a link to the cuckoo.team collaborative timer tool to announce the start and end of each working block and break times. With this tool, users do not need to be on Zoom to participate in a virtual working session.

You can also join multiple writing groups for help with different aspects of the writing process. As Kate puts it, “don’t necessarily feel like you need to be in just one group. I know of four or five members who write in multiple groups” based on their writing goals.

How Can I be a Good Group Leader?

Be clear and consistent about the purpose and logistics of the group : As Alex suggests, “the group worked well when we had a scheduled meeting time,” and Iwinosa adds that it’s good to “stick to one time” for consistency.

Before the group begins, you should send a survey to prospective members about their availability. You should also have an informational meeting to determine regular meeting times and formats that are best for members’ needs and interests. For example, do members want to meet regularly to write together on Zoom, meet to discuss common writing challenges, or give feedback on each others’ work?

As the group starts, you should have a communication plan, such as when and how you will remind members about meetings and how members can communicate with each other (ex. Slack messaging, emails).

Abida likewise recommends having a consistent meeting time “because when people know [the meeting times], they can trust you, they can expect you to show up and to help them out.”

Create “rituals” to structure meetings : Your group should create a routine for every meeting. As Claudia explains, “I took a leadership role to actually get the group started, to say, ‘okay, we’re meeting to get to know each other,’ and we’ll decide what we’re going to do from there.” In her group, members greeted each other, discussed writing progress, and set goals for the working session before beginning to work using the Pomodoro technique. They also took a few minutes at the end of the session to reflect on their work period and set new goals.

Iwinosa suggests creating norms to manage expectations: “We set up guidelines [such as] ‘we’re doing it virtually,’ ‘we keep our cameras on,’ just to be able to see each other and to hold each other accountable”.

Honey’s group for public administration majors also has a routine. As she explains, “we talk for a while, catching up with lives and how things are going during COVID. And then we write in silence for a block.” These “rituals” build structure into the meeting and can help prospective members understand what they will get from the group.

Build rapport in a virtual setting : Likewise, it’s especially important now to create rapport, or an emotional connection, with group members. Admittedly, this can be challenging in a virtual setting like Zoom, but it’s crucial to create that connection and community when we are physically isolated from colleagues. Alex recommends establishing this rapport during the first meeting: “Try to get to know them [your group members], as opposed to just get to know what they’re working on. Ask them about extracurricular activities, or other things that they do that they enjoy.” These brief conversations can become part of your group’s routine, as Kate suggests: “Take that five or six minutes at the beginning of the writing meeting to still establish community”.

Be flexible, supportive, and responsive to group members’ needs : Effective writing group leaders listen to group members and negotiate norms that work with their needs. They also make adjustments when the current format isn’t working. For example, Honey mentions that “I’ve tried to hone it into what people are interested in.” Her group started as a motivational listserv for writers across disciplines but evolved into a feedback group for writers in her field of public administration: “A discipline-based writing group might be more beneficial” to connect writers with similar background knowledge and goals. Iwinosa likewise advises to “be as flexible as possible and offer a variety of options”. For example, you may need to shift the focus from milestone projects, like dissertations, and word counts to a broader set of “writing-related activities,” like analyzing data, summarizing literature, and practicing conference presentations that keep group members productive and motivated.

Good group leaders also cultivate empathy and help members celebrate small victories, “serving as that cheerleader for your group,” as Iwinosa puts it. Alex, moreover, suggests that leaders can “show that they [your writing groups members] can be proud of themselves for completing tangential, relevant tasks to their writing project” even if they did not accomplish their initial goal for the session.

Sometimes, group leaders have to reach out to members who are less responsive. This can be difficult, but, as Alex recommends, “if you notice that maybe someone is falling behind, or maybe they’re not showing up, reach out” using tools like email or Slack direct messaging. Iwinosa agrees that it’s important to be understanding and “show grace to your group. Understanding that there may be days where you’ll be the only one in the session, and then there’ll be times where the entire group shows up”.

However, writing group leaders should not feel pressured to micromanage members. Rather, the goal is to cultivate a positive, supportive environment for group members who engage and to recognize when your group’s working routines may not be the best fit for everyone. Abida explains that “what’s worked better for me…is to just be someone that is encouraging” to colleagues facing similar writing struggles and create a supportive virtual space for members to work together on writing.

Model good writing habits : As Iwinosa explains, being a group leader involves “encouraging not only your group, but also yourself as a peer leader, to take care of yourself, modeling what it looks like to take breaks to practice self care in order to stay focused and motivated.”

Get Involved!

For step-by-step guides on getting started with an online writing group, see these resources from Inside Higher Education and UNC Writing Center .

If you have questions or would like to share about a writing group you are currently leading, contact Dr. Katie Homar on the Professional Development Team.

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Dissertation Writing Groups

The invites applications for Humanities Dissertation Writing Groups. These competitive grants will encourage supportive and critical discussion of dissertation prospecti and drafts of dissertation chapters in the humanities.

The funds will provide support for small groups of interdisciplinary graduate students to convene regularly to share drafts of dissertation chapters and to discuss research and writing strategies for approaches to the group's common interdisciplinary focus. The selected groups of graduate students will meet throughout the 2024-25 academic year and, preferably, through the summer of 2025.

Grants of $250 per participant will be made available to groups of 4-5 participants who can demonstrate that their research interests productively converge. These groups would include students working in at least two different humanities graduate fields or groups within a single field whose research lends an interdisciplinary approach to their fields. The use of these funds will be flexible, from copying and dinner/refreshments to financial support for special research materials or trips to be shared by the group.

Applications should include a schedule of meetings (roughly one every 2-3 weeks) to be held in the course of the academic year, which would necessarily include regular circulation to the group of chapters-in-progress by each member. Such sessions should offer substantive response and discussion by the group of each individual chapter. If the groups consist of students who have very recently passed the A-Exam, their sessions could be focused on penning a prospectus.

All applicants must have completed the A-Exam by September 15, 2024, with at least two members of the group having completed the A-Exam by September 1, 2024. 

The competition will be adjudicated by the Humanities Council.

Application Guidelines

Applications for Humanities Dissertation Writing Groups should be submitted by one member who will assume organizational responsibility for an additional stipend. Each writing group should consist of  a minimum of four members (with no more than five) . Groups should be prepared to convene by September 1, 2024.

Applicants should submit the following materials as  one .pdf file :

1. A dissertation writing group title and statement of no more than 750 words describing a rationale for linking the work of participants from different disciplines or disciplinary perspectives. The statement should show how each participant's perspective would contribute to elaborating and enriching a common context for writing.

2. A one-paragraph description of the dissertation project from each participant.

3. A CV for each member of the group.

4. A schedule of meetings and activities for the coming year. The basic requirement is a series of meetings organized around the circulation, presentation, and discussion of 2 chapters in progress by each member (a prospectus counts as a chapter).

No budget proposal is necessary.

Deadline: March 22, 2024

Please send all application materials in a single .pdf to Amanda Brockner at [email protected] .

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Academic Creating Effective Peer Writing Groups

Basic page sidebar menu penn gsc, by elizabeth bynum.

Whether you’re working on a dissertation, a class project, or a piece of fiction, writing can be a solitary task. As graduate students, our seminars and classes are all about dialogue and learning from our peers. However, in many fields, when it’s time to write, it’s just us and a blank page. Writer’s block, coursework, family obligations, and other responsibilities can sap our motivation and make it difficult to make progress. As a PhD Candidate in Penn’s School of Arts and Science working on my dissertation, I also found that the isolation created by the pandemic became yet another obstacle to my writing. Over the past year, I’ve received a lot of support and motivation from my peers through supportive writing groups.  

Based on your goals, you might approach a peer writing group in a few different ways. You might use a writing group to co-write with your peers at a specific time each week. Alternatively, your writing group might be a support system for regularly sharing goals and creating accountability. During the summer of 2020, a few of my colleagues in the Music department created a WhatsApp group. Each weekday, we shared our writing goals and checked in with one another. It was nice to be more in touch with this set of colleagues, and the group helped me feel more accountable for completing the goals I established. In January of this year, I signed up for the Grad Center’s virtual dissertation boot camp. Through that program, I was paired with a few peers for daily goal check-ins. After the boot camp ended, we continued to meet each week to share goals and scheduled regular co-writing sessions via Zoom.    

If a writing group sounds like something that could help you meet your goals, there are a few concrete steps you can take to form a group. 

Identify people you would like to form a writing group with. These may be people in your cohort, your program, a class you are taking, or even friends from outside grad school. They may be in your discipline, but they but don’t have to be. Your initial ask can be simple: is anyone interested in forming a writing support group? You can also join the  Virtual Grad Center’s Slack channel  or be paired in an  Accountability Group . 

Agree on your goals collectively. Once you’ve found people to form your writing group, it’s time to work out the details. What do you each want from a writing accountability group? To make these decisions, ask your peers questions like: do we want to organize co-writing sessions? Do we want to share goals on a weekly basis? Is anyone interested in exchanging drafts for feedback? Last summer, with my colleagues from music, we exchanged writing regularly, including abstracts, essays, and grant applications. This worked especially well since we were in the same discipline.  

Establish a set meeting time. This could be the time you meet to write together or when you share goals. Try to pick a day and time of the week that will work for you consistently. I found it helpful to have a consistent meeting time when my peers and I were trying to have synchronous check-ins. Of course, you don’t have to schedule synchronous meetings. You can share goals via a group chat, or other platforms. However, I've found that regular meetings helped me to stay connected with my peers.  

Implement a clear process for meetings. Think about how you’ll start meetings. Do you want to each share your progress from the past week, and then outline new goals? What kind of feedback would you like to offer each other? If you are doing co-writing sessions, think about how you might build in breaks to those, and check in with each other to chat and build community. 

Regular communication between meetings. Think through how you’ll stay in touch. One of the most important things I’ve found for staying consistent with a writing group was having a specific way to stay in touch. That way, when schedules changed or something came up, it was easier to reschedule and regroup. Would your group like to use a shared WhatsApp chat, Slack thread, or another forum for staying in contact? Additionally, if you’re all connected on one thread, you could share goals throughout the week in between meetings.  Try to check in periodically every few weeks to confirm that the schedule and system are working for everyone. 

Building in peer support through a writing group has encouraged me to think through specific goals each week. Over the past year, when I hit stumbling blocks, the regular check-ins have also been a space to troubleshoot. Writing feels a lot less lonely with peer support to help me meet my goals and create a community around the work we’re all doing. 

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Current peer-review groups, dissertation writing in the humanities peer-review groups —fall 2021.

Writing a dissertation in the humanities? Find collegiality, structure, and inspiration by joining a peer review group. Facilitated by Graduate Writing Lab Fellows, these small writing groups offer the guidance and motivation of peers by allowing you to receive feedback as you work on a chapter of your dissertation. You will set weekly writing goals and take turns giving and receiving feedback as your drafts progress. Group members support one another by sharing strategies and troubleshooting challenges in their writing process.

Groups will be organized by fields of similar interest. They will start in late September and meet every week. The meeting day, time, and location (including online or in person) will be determined based on participants’ schedules.

Register through this link.

Dissertation Writing in the Social Sciences Peer-Review Groups —Fall 2021

Writing a dissertation in the social sciences? Find collegiality, structure, and inspiration by joining a peer review group. Facilitated by Graduate Writing Lab Fellows, these small writing groups offer the guidance and motivation of peers by allowing you to receive feedback as you work on a chapter of your dissertation. You will set weekly writing goals and take turns giving and receiving feedback as your drafts progress. Group members support one another by sharing strategies and troubleshooting challenges in their writing process.

NIH NRSA F30/31 Fellowship-Application Peer-Review Groups—Fall 2021

If you are looking for a collaborative atmosphere to get feedback on your NIH NRSA F30/31 application, join our Peer-Review Group, facilitated by a GWL Writing Consultant and NRSA Fellow! You will meet weekly in a small group setting to provide each other with constructive criticism and tips for improving your application essays. Group members will be expected to provide feedback for their peers in addition to receiving guidance on their own work. You will improve the quality of your NRSA application and enhance the overall clarity and effectiveness of your writing style in a friendly, welcoming environment!

The groups will aim to start the first or second week of October . All meetings will be virtual (via Zoom), and the meeting format and schedule will be determined based on participants’ needs. Meetings will be 60-90 minutes.

Register through this link .

NSF GRFP Fellowship-Application Peer-Review Groups—Fall 2021

If you are looking for a collaborative atmosphere to get feedback on your NSF Graduate Research Fellowship application, join our Peer-Review Group, facilitated by GWL Writing Consultants and successful NSF Fellowship applicants! You will meet weekly in a small group setting to provide each other with constructive criticism and tips for improving your application essays. Group members will be expected to provide feedback for their peers in addition to receiving guidance on their own work. You will improve the quality of your NSF application and enhance the overall clarity and effectiveness of your writing style in a friendly, welcoming environment!

The groups will aim to start the week of September 13th , and go until mid-October. All meetings will be virtual (via Zoom), and the meeting format and schedule will be determined based on participants’ needs. Meetings will be 60-90 minutes. 

RITM Dissertation-Writing Peer-Review  Groups—Fall 2021

The Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration dissertation writing groups provide a space for doctoral students, in all programs and departments, who are writing dissertations on topics related to race, indigeneity, and/or transnational migration. Participants share their own work and provide constructive feedback to others, while making progress towards their degrees. Groups of 4-6 members each will meet weekly for 90 minutes, followed by voluntary group writing time. A facilitator from the Graduate Writing Lab will coordinate meetings and discussions.

Participants are expected to attend consistently throughout the semester. Applicants should be doctoral students who have an approved prospectus and are eager to share their work and receive feedback from their peers.

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Dissertation and Thesis Support: Writing Groups and Resources

General Workshops

Marilyn Gray, UCLA Graduate Writing Center Director

This workshop covers strategies and best practices for organizing writing groups for thesis and dissertation writing. The presentation focuses on independent writing groups organized by graduate students and offers tips on establishing meeting rules and structures for running meetings effectively. The workshop also addresses other campus resources available to support dissertation and thesis writers. (Approx. 20 mins.) This workshop was recorded in 2020.

Click here for the presentation slides: Dissertation Writing Groups Resources slides.pdf

This presentation work by the UCLA Graduate Writing Center is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License .

How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

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The mission of the  Dissertation Writing Group (DWG) is to provide doctoral students with an expanded network of support to encourage completion of the dissertation writing process. The DWG is open to doctoral students from all programs, and is a joint effort sponsored by the Graduate School, the UM Writing Center, and UM Libraries. 

The Dissertation Writing Group meets every week via Zoom and the schedule for meetings this semester will be:

During the weekly check-in meetings on Monday, we will go around and everyone will go over their accomplishments from the previous week, goals for the upcoming week, and any particular challenges or questions they might have.

For the writing sessions, we will get together and independently. The goal of these sessions is to help build structure and accountability into your writing process.

Meeting Link invites will be sent out each week but here are the permalinks to the meeting rooms: 

Monday/Wednesday/Friday Morning Meetings: https://miami.zoom.us/j/91682033588?pwd=VllpN1RCeWdkanF6T29LSmNpZ1d6UT09  

Tuesday Writing Sessions: https://miami.zoom.us/j/97297163600?pwd=TlBuaE1nT0VramJpVDhGMVZOZDlNQT09  

Conference Links To schedule a writing conference, use this link: https://um-dwg.youcanbook.me/   At the time of your scheduled conference, join me on Zoom at: https://miami.zoom.us/my/ndeyo  

The purpose of these sessions will be to provide a shared writing space. The time will mostly be spent silently writing together, but there may also be brief discussions of daily/weekly goals and time for some general Q&A. The sessions will be run by Dr. Nathaniel Deyo, a Writing Program lecturer who received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Florida in 2016. He has since turned his dissertation into a book, Film Noir and the Possibilities of Hollywood, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2020. For more information, please email Dr. Deyo at  [email protected] .

"The main reason for me to join a writing group was because it forced me to concentrate on making some progress with my writing project, made me stay off my cellphone, and pushed me to try to remain as focused as possible on the task and goals I promised myself I’d accomplish during the session. I enjoy the writing groups because I have a lot of unstructured time since I’m at the latter end of my Ph.D. program." - Oshea Johnson, Ph.D. student in Sociology

Read our full interview with Oshea on how writing groups have helped him stay focused and be productive. 

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We’re Moving!

Doctoral Writing Support is now under Professional Development & Postdoctoral Affairs (PDPA), BU’s on-campus resource dedicated to supporting doctoral and post-doctoral students. Check out their PhD Writing Support resources!

While the ERC will continue to offer its Graduate Writing Support Resources through the duration of the FALL 2023 semester, we’re confident that this move will allow BU’s doctoral writing support resources to continue to effectively meet the needs of doctoral students in the future!

Fall 2023 Graduate Writing Support

Is it difficult to meet the writing targets that you set for yourself? Do you sometimes find yourself overwhelmed by the writing process? For many graduate students, writing can be an isolating experience and finding motivation can sometimes be difficult. The ERC’s Graduate Writing Support programs build cross-disciplinary community to support you in setting realistic goals and maintaining consistent progress toward your writing objectives. Click the links below to learn more about our offerings!

Our Fall 2023 application is now closed. No application is required to join our Thursday Write Togethers in person or virtually. If you have questions about our Graduate Writing Support initiatives, please email us .

Dissertation Writing Group

Are you looking for structured writing time and a community of like-minded peers where you can make significant progress on your prospectus, dissertation, or other related writing projects? The Dissertation Writing Group (DWG), which convenes on Mondays, 10am–1pm ET , offers both! The beginning of each three hour session is devoted to setting achievable writing goals and sharing them with a small group of peers. The next 2.5 hours are devoted to writing, and at the end of each session, writers share progress made, writing challenges, and victories while setting concrete goals for the coming week. The DWG is facilitated by a professional staff member who will introduce guided reflections and share effective strategies you can build into your writing routine. Join us this fall to build camaraderie across disciplines and get words on the page!

ELIGIBILITY

You must be a BU doctoral candidate actively writing either your dissertation prospectus or dissertation to participate in the Monday Dissertation Writing Group. We encourage candidates who are engaged in fieldwork or data collection to apply at a later time. If you are a master’s, professional, or doctoral pre-candidate, please explore our other programs below !

APPLICATION (NOW CLOSED FOR SPRING 2023)

The application will ask you to:

• briefly describe your dissertation topic
• identify specific, attainable writing goals for the coming semester
• commit to regular attendance in the group. Those with significant conflicts are discouraged from applying. If a schedule conflict arises, communicate this promptly to the DWG facilitator

Accountability Partners

Accountability Partners matches you with an interdisciplinary group of 3–4 other graduate writers for one-hour, weekly writing check ins. During each meeting, participants report on their progress over the past week, reflect on challenges, and set goals for the coming week. Groups are also encouraged to maintain a shared daily writing log, and each group will be provided with a private Slack channel where members can share updates and resources throughout the week.

Open to all BU graduate students (master’s, professional, or doctoral) who are in the process of writing a scholarly article, master’s thesis, dissertation prospectus, dissertation chapter, or similar. Once the matching process is complete, each group is required to complete a one-hour, online orientation and submit a group contract.

• describe your research topic
• identify concrete personal writing goals for the coming semester
• specify your availability for weekly meetings

Workshop Circles

Workshop Circles matches BU graduate students in similar stages of their degrees into interdisciplinary groups where they can share their work-in-progress and receive feedback from scholars outside of their committee and department. Groups meet at least four times during the semester to workshop their members’ writing on a rotating basis. Please note: writing feedback will focus on higher-order concerns such as argumentation and structure rather than sentence-level proofreading. Workshop Circles will receive guidance and best practices for offering and receiving peer feedback.

• describe your research topic and the specific piece of writing you would like to workshop in the coming semester
• identify concrete personal writing goals for the semester

Write Together

Join our Write Together sessions for structured writing time in a quiet, goal-oriented space where you can write with the camaraderie and support of your peers! This hybrid (in person and virtual) writing space is open to all graduate and professional school students who are actively writing research proposals, scholarly articles, and chapters.

Write Togethers convene on Thursdays , 2-5pm ET in 100 Bay State Road, room 545. Alternatively, you may join us remotely (Zoom link, BU login required).

Each session will begin with a brief goal setting exercise, followed by focused writing time. At the end of each Write Together, participants will share their progress and reflect on their writing process. Please arrive a few minutes before 2pm to sign in & set up your work station. As a courtesy to your fellow writers, please plan to stay for the duration of the three hour session ; late arrivals and early departures are disruptive to your fellow participants.

Fall 2023 dates : September 21, 28, October 5, 12, 19, 26, November 2, 9, 16, 30, December 7 and 14.

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Dissertation writing retreats & institutes.

Applications for our Spring Writing Retreat and Summer Dissertation Writing Institute is not yet open. Please check back in later in the Spring for information and the application, or join our Slack Channel for the most up-to-date information on programming and weekly resources.

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This program aims to help graduate students maintain regular progress on their dissertations during the academic year, as well as introduce various strategies and resources available to them.

After a start-of-semester orientation session, groups of up to eleven participants will meet once a week. Based on students’ familiarity with writing theory, they can select one of two types of group: Foundation groups provide new participants with texts about goal-making and writing habits, while Solidarity groups give seasoned writers more time to put these theories into practice.

Each three-hour Foundation meeting will consist of about an hour of group discussion facilitated by a WTS graduate tutor on topics including writing and motivational strategies. Discussion will be followed by 5-10 minutes in which group members share their progress since the last meeting and set goals for the remaining two hours of the session, which is devoted to structured writing time. While this time will be focused on individual work, the WTS facilitator and other members of the writing group will be available to answer questions and offer support. In the final fifteen minutes of the session, students meet up again to discuss the goals they met and to establish week-long goals in advance of the next session.

Each three-hour Solidarity meeting will begin with 10-15 minutes in which group members share their progress since the last meeting and set goals for the following session. The following two and a half hours are devoted to structured writing time focused on individual work. Finally, in the last fifteen minutes, students come together and discuss the goals they met during the session and those that remain until the next meeting.

Participants will

• Commit to regular, punctual attendance for the full fourteen-week session
• Share their experiences writing on a weekly basis with progress updates, and on a reflective basis by describing their writing habits and goals
• Learn about the graduate school experience in other disciplines
• Support their fellow participants in positive solidarity

Dissertation Group Facilitators will

• Lead a 45-60 minute discussion at the beginning of each session (Foundation Group Facilitators only), and a 15-minute check-in at the start and end of each session
• Facilitate group discussion of goals, strategies, and long-term writing plans
• Encourage participants to remain on-task and achieve their goals with check-ins
• Be available to offer advice or feedback on the writing process

Eligibility

We ask that all participants

• Have successfully defended their dissertation proposal or be writing substantial portions of their actual dissertation as part of the proposal (advisor’s acknowledgement required)
• Commit to attendance at all sessions except for rare exceptions such as days on which they are aware for a conference, family emergency, or urgent health problem
• Fully complete application materials per instructions; unfortunately, we cannot consider incomplete applications

For information or questions about the program, please contact [email protected] .

Applications for Summer 2024 Dissertation Groups are open now.

We plan to offer four solidarity writing groups this summer. If you are interested in participating, please complete this form  electronically by  5:00pm (Eastern Time), Wednesday, May 1st, 2024.  Applications will be considered on a competitive basis.

Find out more about dissertation writing groups

Contact WTS via email at [email protected] or call us at (812) 855-6738 if you have questions about dissertation writing groups.

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Dissertation Writing Groups now forming for Spring/Summer 2023

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In collaboration with the Rackham Graduate School, the Sweetland Center for Writing coordinates several student-led writing groups for graduate students writing their dissertations. These interdisciplinary writing groups provide structured support in a facilitated peer-based setting to aid dissertators working through long-term projects.

Dissertation Writing Groups  place writers from various disciplines but in similar stages of their dissertation projects together to share work in-progress and encourage ongoing writing production. Groups will also be organized based on student meeting mode preference (in-person or remote).

Dissertation Writing Groups consist of four-five members including a group leader. Participants must be in the writing phase of their dissertations and available to meet at least eight times per semester to workshop group members’ writing on a rotating basis. Each group will determine meeting schedules and expectations.

Dissertation Writing Group Leaders

Those interested in becoming group leaders must provide additional information with their applications. Dissertation Writing Group Leaders’ duties include:

• Participating in two mentoring sessions with the DWG coordinators
• Managing the logistics of the writing group;
• Facilitating group sessions and coordinating correspondence among group members.

Leaders earn a $600* stipend for their services. If you would like more information about the group leader position before applying, contact April Conway ([email protected]) or Stephanie Moody ([email protected]).

Application

Application due by  Sunday, April 19, 2023 . Leaders and participants will be notified of acceptance by April 24.

Please contact Laura Schuyler if you have questions.   [email protected]

A note on continuing groups: Dissertation Writing Groups may continue to receive support from Sweetland for one additional semester, with a new group leader. If your group would like to continue for a second term, each member must reapply and list the new group leader and the other group members. The new group leader must answer the leader application questions.

*Leader compensation pending per new Rackham graduate student 12 month funding.

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May 15, 2024

Tips and Resources for a Successful Summer of Dissertation Writing

By Yana Zlochistaya

Summer can be a strange time for graduate students. Gone are the seminars and workshops, the student clubs, and the working group, that structured the semester and provided us with a sense of community. Instead, we’re faced with a three-month expanse of time that can feel equal parts liberating and intimidating. This double-edged freedom is only exacerbated for those of us in the writing stage of our dissertation, when isolation and a lack of discipline can have a particularly big impact. For those hoping not to enter another summer with lofty plans, only to blink and find ourselves in August disappointed with our progress, we’ve compiled some tips and resources that can help.

According to Graduate Writing Center Director Sabrina Soracco, the most important thing you can do to set yourself up for writing success is to clarify your goals. She recommends starting this process by looking at departmental requirements for a completed dissertation. Consider when you would like to file and work backwards from that point, determining what you have to get done in order to hit that target. Next, check in with your dissertation committee members to set up an accountability structure. Would they prefer an end-of-summer update to the whole committee? A monthly check-in with your chair or one of your readers? Setting up explicit expectations that work for you and your committee can cut through the aimlessness that comes with a major writing project.

For those early on in their dissertation-writing process, a committee meeting is also a valuable opportunity to set parameters. “One of the problems with the excitement for the discipline that happens post-quals is that it results in too many ideas,” says Director. Soracco. Your committee members should give you input on productive research directions so that you can begin to hone in on your project. It is also important to remember that your dissertation does not have to be the end-all-and-be-all of your academic research. Ideas that do not fit into its scope can end up becoming conference papers or even book chapters.

Once you have a clear goal that you have discussed with your committee, the hard part begins: you have to actually write. The Graduate Writing Center offers several resources to make that process easier:

• The Graduate Writing Community. This is a totally remote, two-month program that is based on a model of “gentle accountability.” When you sign up, you are added to a bCourses site moderated by a Graduate Writing Consultant. At the beginning of the week, everyone sets their goals in a discussion post, and by the end of the week, everyone checks in with progress updates. During the week, the writing consultants offer nine hours of remote synchronous writing sessions. As a writing community member, you can attend whichever sessions work best for your schedule. All that’s required is that you show up, set a goal for that hour, and work towards that goal for the length of two 25-minute Pomodoro sessions . This year’s summer writing community will begin in June. Keep your eye on your email for the registration link!
• Writing Consultations : As a graduate student, you can sign up for an individual meeting with a Graduate Writing Consultant. They can give you feedback on your work, help you figure out the structure of a chapter, or just talk through how to get started on a writing project. 
• Independent Writing Groups: If you would prefer to write with specific friends or colleagues, you can contact Graduate Writing Center Director Sabrina Soracco at [email protected] so that she can help you set up your own writing group. The structure and length of these groups can differ; often, members will send each other one to five pages of writing weekly and meet the next day for two hours to provide feedback and get advice. Sometimes, groups will meet up not only to share writing, but to work in a common space before coming together to debrief. Regardless of what the groups look like, the important thing is to create a guilt-free space. Some weeks, you might submit an outline; other weeks, it might be the roughest of rough drafts; sometimes, you might come to a session without having submitted anything. As long as we continue to make progress (and show up even when we don’t), we’re doing what we need to. As Director Soracco puts it, “it often takes slogging through a lot of stuff to get to that great epiphany.”

Yana Zlochistaya is a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Comparative Literature and a Professional Development Liaison with the Graduate Division. She previously served as a co-director for Beyond Academia.

• Dissertation Advisory Committee
• Introduction

Harvard Griffin GSAS strives to provide students with timely, accurate, and clear information. If you need help understanding a specific policy, please contact the office that administers that policy.

• Application for Degree
• Credit for Completed Graduate Work
• Ad Hoc Degree Programs
• Acknowledging the Work of Others
• Advanced Planning
• Dissertation Submission Checklist
• Formatting Your Dissertation
• Publishing Options
• Submitting Your Dissertation
• English Language Proficiency
• PhD Program Requirements
• Secondary Fields
• Year of Graduate Study (G-Year)
• Master's Degrees
• Grade and Examination Requirements
• Conduct and Safety
• Financial Aid
• Non-Resident Students
• Registration

Dissertation Advisory Committee; Thesis Acceptance Certificate

The Dissertation Advisory Committee formally approves the dissertation by signing the Thesis Acceptance Certificate . In PhD programs that are not lab-based, this committee also guides the student in writing the dissertation. The committee should work cohesively in supporting the student to produce their best work. The signatures of these faculty members on the Thesis Acceptance Certificate indicate formal acceptance of the student’s scholarly contribution to the field.  

In some fields, especially in the sciences, the Dissertation Advisory Committee described below is known locally as the “Dissertation Defense Committee.” In these programs, a separate additional committee (also called the Dissertation Advisory Committee) that includes the student’s primary advisor, will guide the student’s progress until submission for formal review by the DAC/defense committee. The members of the DAC/defense committee give formal approval to the finished work, but the student’s work will be understood to have occurred under the guidance of the primary advisor. The changes to the DAC/defense committee as described below do not in any way affect the essential structure of dissertation advising that already exists in lab-based PhD programs. 

The following policy applies to every Harvard Griffin GSAS Dissertation Advisory Committee formed on or after July 1, 2024. Any Dissertation Advisory Committee approved before July 1, 2024 is subject to the rules outlined below, see “Grandfathering.”  

Effective July 1, 2024:  

•  The graduate thesis for the PhD shall be accepted, and the Thesis Acceptance Certificate signed, by at least three advisors, who will form the Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC). At least two members of the committee shall be on-ladder faculty members. 
• In FAS-based programs, the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair or Area Chair shall sign off on the proposed committee.  
• For programs based outside the FAS, the Program Head shall sign off. 
• A program may petition the Dean of Harvard Griffin GSAS to consider a variation to the above requirement. 
• A Professor in Residence or Professor of the Practice may serve as a non-chairing member of the DAC, as long as the committee composition is consistent with “1.”  
•  Senior Lecturers and other non-ladder faculty may serve on the DAC as the third member when appropriate, as approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, Department Chair, Area Chair, or Program Head, as long as the committee composition is consistent with “1.” 
• Tenured emeriti faculty members (including research professors) may serve on the DAC. They may co-chair the DAC with a current on-ladder faculty member from the student’s department or program but may not serve as the sole chair. 
• Non-Harvard faculty of equivalent appointment rank to on-ladder faculty at Harvard may serve as one of the non-chairing members of the DAC.  
• A committee with co-chairs shall require a third member, consistent with ”1.” 
• Additional members may be appointed to the DAC, as long as the core three-member committee is consistent with ”1.” 
• They may continue to serve as a committee member if they have moved to another institution with an appointment rank equivalent to on-ladder at Harvard.  
• Or, if they are no longer serving on the DAC (by choice of the student, the student’s program, and/or the departing faculty member), the advisor must be replaced in accordance with ”1.” 
• If the departing faculty member will remain as chair on the DAC, a co-chair must be designated in accordance with “1.” The co-chair may, in this instance, be the Director of Graduate Studies in the student’s program if a faculty member with field expertise is not available to serve in this capacity. 

Please note:

• “On ladder” refers to faculty members with tenure or who are tenure-track. The phrase “on ladder” is generally not used at HMS, but all HMS and HCSPH assistant, associate, and full professors are considered to be “on ladder” according to HMS Faculty Affairs, and, for the purposes of this legislation, may serve on the DAC/defense committee. 
• With regard to paragraph 3.b.ii, and in keeping with the spirit of this legislation, ordinarily a scholar appointed as a College Fellow would not be ready to serve as one of the three core members of the committee. 
• With regard to paragraph 3.b.iv, individuals who do not fit this category (e.g., a scholar holding a non-ladder faculty position at another institution) may sit on the committee as a fourth member, in accordance with paragraph 3.d.  
• On the rare occasion that a situation requires special consideration, programs are advised to consult with the Dean of Harvard Griffin GSAS.  

Grandfathering

Grandfathering, and rules applying to all dissertation advisory committees, regardless of status prior to July 1, 2024:  

For dissertation advisory committees approved before July 1, 2024 under the former policy ( Two signatories must be members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS); FAS emeriti (including research professors) and faculty members from other Schools at Harvard who hold appointments on Harvard Griffin GSAS degree committees are authorized to sign DACs as FAS members. Harvard Griffin GSAS strongly recommends that the chair of the dissertation committee be a member of the FAS. If approved by the department, it is possible to have co-chairs of the dissertation committee as long as one is a member of FAS) , the following rules apply:   

Dissertation Advisory Committees approved prior to July 1, 2024 will be grandfathered, except in two situations:  

• An existing DAC chaired by an individual whose faculty appointment does not meet the requirements of the new rules will need to be adjusted. A co-chair should be designated, with the option of appointing the DGS to serve as co-chair, as allowed in paragraph 3.e.iii;  
• An existing DAC with fewer than three members should be updated, and the new member(s) should be consistent with the new policy.   

Thesis Acceptance Certificate

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Meet the Participants of the 2023-2024 Dissertation Completion Program

Related missions.

This year, the Public Policy Center launched its first ever Dissertation Completion Program (DCP) . The DCP aims to support advanced graduate students in the final years of their dissertations or final creative projects. Selected participants are provided with private offices to work, as well as $1000 in funding to support their research travel and other project costs. Additionally, participants meet regularly to share updates, discuss roadblocks, and workshop drafts.

“We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with these students as they develop their dissertations.” said Mark Berg, director of the Public Policy Center. “Their work is groundbreaking. It will help our communities better understand and address a range of important challenges. I look forward to watching these researchers continue to make significant advancements in their fields.”

The 2023-2024 DCP cohort includes five doctoral students from three University of Iowa colleges.

The next round of applications for the Dissertation Completion Program are anticipated to open in Fall 2024.

• About company
• GENERAL CONTRACTOR

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LICENSE OF MINISTRY OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS

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SYSTEM OF ECOLOGIAL MANAGEMENT

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