ABSTRACT

Accessible, insightful and a must-have toolkit for all final year doctoral students, the founders of the ‘Thesis Boot Camp’ intensive writing programme show how to survive and thrive through the challenging final year of writing and submitting a thesis.

Drawing on an understanding of the intellectual, professional, practical and personal elements of the doctorate to help readers gain insight into what it means to finish a PhD and how to get there, this book covers the common challenges and ways to resolve them. It includes advice on:

  • Project management skills to plan, track, iterate and report on the complex task of bringing a multi-year research project to a successful close
  • Personal effectiveness and self-care to support students to thrive in body, mind and relationships, including challenging supervisor relationships.
  • The successful ‘generative’ writing processes which get writers into the zone and producing thousands of words; and then provides the skills to structure and polish those words to publishable quality.
  • What it means to survive a PhD and consider multiple possible futures.

Written for students in all disciplines, and relevant to university systems around the world, this unique book expertly guides students through the final 6–12 months of the thesis.

The 'Insider Guides to Success in Academia' offers support and practical advice to doctoral students and early-career researchers. Covering the topics that really matter, but which often get overlooked, this indispensable series provides practical and realistic guidance to address many of the needs and challenges of trying to operate, and remain, in academia.

These neat pocket guides fill specific and significant gaps in current literature. Each book offers insider perspectives on the often implicit rules of the game -- the things you need to know but usually aren't told by institutional postgraduate support, researcher development units, or supervisors -- and will address a practical topic that is key to career progression. They are essential reading for doctoral students, early-career researchers, supervisors, mentors, or anyone looking to launch or maintain their career in academia.

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

part I|48 pages

Focusing on the project

chapter 1|9 pages

Defining the project

What is my thesis for?

chapter 2|8 pages

Getting through the crunch

chapter 3|19 pages

Practical project management

chapter 4|10 pages

Working with your strengths and weaknesses

part II|49 pages

Focusing on the person

chapter 6|14 pages

Your harshest critic

chapter 7|4 pages

Getting unstuck

chapter 8|16 pages

Working with your supervisor

part III|70 pages

Focusing on the text

chapter 9|17 pages

Getting words down

chapter 10|34 pages

Making the thesis into a coherent work

chapter 11|15 pages

Making the words good

part IV|22 pages

Finishing the PhD

chapter 13|8 pages

Do you actually want to finish the PhD?

chapter 14|8 pages

Relief and grief of finishing a PhD