best dissertation in the year

Outstanding Dissertation Award

The Outstanding Dissertation Award was established in 1979 by the Graduate School to recognize exceptional work by doctoral students and to encourage the highest levels of scholarship, research, and writing.

The Michael H. Granof Award will be given in 2024 to recognize the University’s top dissertation. The recipient of this year’s award will be selected from one of the three dissertation winners. The Granof Award is considered the top graduate student award. All prizes will be announced in spring of 2024.

Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) chairpersons nominate one doctoral student from their programs for the award. Winners are selected in three categories:

• Area A — Humanities and Fine Arts
• Area B — Social Sciences, Business and Education
• Area C — Mathematics, Engineering, Physical Sciences, and Biological and Life Sciences

A dissertation may be considered in only one competition category. Select the category most appropriate to the topic and methodology of the nominated dissertation.

Professional & Student Awards

Awards Open: November 1, 2023 Awards Close: February 16, 2024

If you have questions, email  Brianna Smallman .

Eligibility

To be eligible for the 2024 award, the dissertation must meet one of the following criteria:

• It will be submitted in final form to the Graduate School by April 26, 2024 for a degree to be awarded in May 2024.
• It was submitted for a degree awarded in August 2023 or December 2023.
• It was submitted after April 1, 2023, for a degree awarded in May 2023.

Nominations

The graduate school's online awards system.

Nominees for the award must be submitted through the Graduate School's dedicated online awards system. The application process entails the nominator filling out the application with the necessary details about the nominee.

To successfully complete the online application, please gather the following documents:

• Nomination Letter : A letter from the chairperson of the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) that succinctly outlines the reasons for selecting the dissertation as the program's nominee.
• The dissertation supervisor
• The graduate adviser
• The department chair
• A committee member
• Dissertation Copy : Include one copy of the complete dissertation, along with the abstract.

Ensure all components are compiled and submitted through the Graduate School's online awards system to facilitate a thorough and efficient nomination process.

The faculty review committees will consider both the methodological and substantive aspects of the dissertations, including the:

• Importance/impact of the subject;
• Originality/creativity of the work;
• Quality of the scholarship;
• Potential for publishing;
• Organization of the dissertation;
• Quality of the writing; and
• Other appropriate factors that denote excellence.

Individuals writing letters of support should be encouraged to keep these criteria in mind as they comment on the significance/major contribution of the dissertation and the particular aspects of the dissertation that distinguish it.

2024 Award Recipients

Faith Deckard

Michael H. Granof Award winner Program: Sociology Dissertation Title: Bonded: Bail Agents, Families, and the Management of Risk

Program: Electrical & Computer Engineering Dissertation Title: Light-AI Interaction: Bridging Photonics and Artificial Intelligence via Cross-Layer Hardware/Software Co-Design

Melissa Santillana

Program: Radio-Television-Film Dissertation Title: Destrúyelo todo: The Women behind the Mexican Feminist Spring

New Technologies with a Twist: Engineering Alumnus Wins Top Dissertation Prize

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2020 Best Dissertation Awards: Outstanding Writing and Research Honored

Each year CEU’s University Doctoral Committee has the distinct pleasure of presenting the Best Dissertation Award to three graduate students. This year Giulia Priora, Rita Peto and Vujo Ilic join the illustrious list of previous Award recipients.

Rita Peto (Department of Economics and Business) was supervised by Professor Adam Szeidl. Her dissertation, Essays in Labor Economics , examines the role of skills and institutions in the evolution of income inequality from three different aspects. The first chapter studies the effects of a foreign takeover on the return to specific skills and found, for example, that it increases the value of independent problem-solving skills.

The second chapter (co-authored with Balazs Reizer) studies gender differences in the skill content of jobs, and shows that having a family significantly increases the gap in skill use between men and women, mainly because of the time allocation differences on the part of the family members. The third chapter (co-authored with Attila Gaspar) uses historical data to show the impact on the labor market of changing a foreign-sounding name to a Hungarian one in early 20th century Hungary, which resulted in the employee earning a higher salary.

Giulia Priora (Department of Legal Studies) was supervised by Professors Caterina Sganga and Thomas Eger. Priora’s dissertation, Distributive Justice in EU Copyright Law: A Function-based Assessment for a Sustainable Harmonization , examines EU copyright law through the lens of a distributive justice framework. The starting point of her analysis is an in-depth study of the functions pursued by the discipline, which serve to unveil the legislator’s intention of avoiding the over and under-protection of both authors’ and users’ interests, especially in regard – but not limited– to digital scenarios. Through a selection of three case studies, the dissertation demonstrates how the quest for a “fair balance” at the EU level could benefit from a distributive interpretation of the law, thus providing valuable insights for judicial settings and policymakers.

Vujo Ilic (Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations) was supervised by Professor Erin K. Jenne. Ilic’s dissertation Cousins in Arms: Social Structure and Civil War Mobilization in Montenegro offers a theoretical contribution to political science civil war literature by explaining mobilization – a process that turns civilians into combatants – through the prewar social structure of society, as well as the wartime behavior of armed actors and their effects on this social structure. To build and test his theory, Ilic relied on the case of Second World War Montenegro, which in the decades before the war was studied by ethnographers for its tribal social structure, and where substantial data was collected about its communist insurgents in the decades following the war. He used this unique combination of ethnographic and historical sources for a detailed micro-level tracing of events and comparative analysis, and showed how social groups, depending on their size and status, behaved in different ways regarding mobilization against the Italian military, and in the subsequent civil war between local armed actors.

The annual Best Dissertation Awards are intended to recognize important scholarly contributions by graduate students from one of the university’s doctoral programs. Dissertations from any discipline that are based on significant original research, raise thought-provoking questions in the field, and open new perspectives are recognized. The University Doctoral Committee aims to reward imaginative research that takes an innovative approach in terms of sources, methodology, and/or research questions.

Congratulations to Rita Peto, Giulia Priora and Vujo Ilic!

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Best Dissertation Award Program

What is the best dissertation award program .

Each year the Graduate School recognizes the University's top recent Ph.D. graduates by presenting 'best dissertation' awards.

The award is given in each of four broad areas:

• arts & humanities (including history and philosophy)
• biological and medical sciences
• physical sciences and engineering
• social & behavioral sciences and education

What is the application window?

The 2024 application window will open February 15, 2024. The submission deadline is April 5, 2024 by 5:00pm central time.

Deadline extensions will not be granted; late submissions will not be accepted.

What is the award?

$1,000 honorarium and consideration for nomination to the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award .

How do I apply?

Program Nomination required. Please reach out to your Director of Graduate Studies or Graduate Program Coordinator .

For Program Nomination, log in to the electronic nomination form .

Application Requirements

A single PDF nomination file should include the documents listed below in the following order:

• Nomination Form
• Curriculum Vitae (not to exceed 5 pages), see details below
• DGS Nomination Letter, see details below
• Letter of Recommendation from Dissertation Advisor
• Layman’s Summary (one page), see details below
• Description of dissertation research and its conclusions, see details below

Required PDF title format: Nominee LastName_FirstName_2024BestDissertation

Who Is Eligible to apply?

Current and former students who will have been awarded the Ph.D., or who will have successfully defended and officially submitted their dissertations to the Graduate Student Services & Progress (GSSP) office, between July 1, 2022 and April 5, 2024., will be eligible to be nominated. UMN-Twin Cities and UMN-Duluth graduate programs that offer the Ph.D. may nominate one student.

If you have any questions, please contact the  Graduate Fellowships Office .

APPLICATION MATERIAL INSTRUCTIONS

+ nominee’s curriculum vitae.

• Maximum of 5 pages in length
• Highlight education and employment history
• List honors and publications

+ DGS Nomination Letter

• Describe candidate pool and selection process within program
• Describe nominee’s originality and importance of research
• Describe nominee’s potential for significant contribution to the field
• Describe nominee’s comparative publication record and quality of the journals, and other excellence indicators, such as: discoveries, unique theories, inventions, creative products, patens, publications, book publication offers, job offers, professional organization honors, etc.

+ Nominee’s Layman’s Summary

• Maximum of one page, should be double spaced
• Include a section on the significance of the research and, if available, the URL of the nominee’s website

+ Letter of Recommendation from Dissertation Advisor

• Recommended length is 2-3 pages
• Expectation of content: letter should evaluate the significance and quality of the nominee's dissertation work

+ Description of dissertation research and its conclusions

• Written by the nominee
• 10 pages maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font
• Each page should contain nominee’s name and page number
• Appendices containing nontextual material, such as charts or tables, may be included in addition to the 10 pages (no page limit for appendices)

+ Further Information

The UMN review committee may ask for a copy of the dissertation in making final decisions.

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Qianqian Zhang-Wu Wins the 2021 Best Dissertation of the Year Award

People in this story.

Qianqian Zhang-Wu

Assistant Professor of English and Director of Multilingual Writing Qianqian Zhang-Wu has won the 2021 Best Dissertation of the Year Award from the Comparative & International Education Society (CIES) Study Abroad & International Students Special Interest Group. The mission of this group is to “promote interdisciplinary scholarship opportunities and critical dialogues by connecting professionals and academics who are involved in serving the international student population.” Zhang-Wu will be recognized for her dissertation, entitled, Exploring the Bilingual Linguistic Functioning of First-Semester Chinese International Students: Myths and Realities, at the vCIES 2021 Annual Conference later this year.

Congratulations, Qianqian!

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Max chapnick publishes article in j19, qianqian zhang-wu publishes article in multilingua.

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The best PhD thesis and dissertations in history

Get ready for a thrilling ride as we explore the world of PhD theses and dissertations!

We’ll uncover the secrets behind assessing these masterpieces, check out some of the most famous theses that changed history, and share some juicy insider tips on how to create an amazing PhD thesis. 

So, buckle up and let’s dive into the captivating universe of academic research that has shaped the way we see the world!

What criteria are used to assess a PhD thesis?

As a PhD researcher who has been involved in the academic world, I’ve witnessed firsthand the criteria used to assess the best PhD theses. Here, I’ll share insider details on how examiners determine which dissertations are deserving of awards and recognition.

One of the primary factors in assessing a PhD thesis is the originality and significance of the research. For example, the 2023 dissertation award, the winning thesis was in the field of astrophysics.

The candidate, under the supervision of a renowned faculty member, developed a groundbreaking framework for understanding astronomical phenomena. This kind of novel research often catches the attention of examiners, who are looking for theses that have the potential to make a significant impact in their respective fields.

Quality of writing is another crucial aspect when assessing a PhD thesis.

A well-received thesis is typically clear, concise, and well-organized. In my time covering theses in history and mathematics, I’ve noticed that the best dissertations have a coherent narrative that makes their content accessible to both specialists and non-experts. This is true for theoretical works like John Nash’s foundational research in game theory, as well as applied research like the work of physicist Richard Feynman.

The defence of the thesis plays a significant role in the evaluation process.

I’ve witnessed how candidates successfully address questions from a panel of examiners, demonstrating a deep understanding of the subject matter and its implications.

A thesis’s potential for publication or real-world application is often considered.

Some of the most memorable theses I’ve encountered, like Albert Einstein’s work on Brownian motion or Claude Shannon’s development of information theory, have had far-reaching implications for their respective fields and beyond.

Criteria used to assess a PhD thesis include originality and significance, quality of writing, defence performance, and potential for publication or real-world application. These factors together contribute to identifying the best PhD theses that stand out among the rest.

Best Famous PhD Theses in History

These theses represent a small sample of the many influential works in history. They have shaped our understanding of various fields and left lasting impacts on scientific and societal progress.

How to write the best PhD thesis possible

As a PhD candidate who has gone through the ups and downs of crafting the perfect thesis, I’ve learned a thing or two about making it the best it can be.

I’m here to share with you some insider tips and juicy details that I’ve discovered on my journey to create an award-winning PhD thesis. 

Key takeaways

• Develop a clear understanding of the literature in your field.
• Ensure the logic in your thesis is flawless.
• Discuss your work with colleagues for feedback and insights.
• Focus on clear writing and organization in your thesis.
• Use formatting tools like bullet points and breakout boxes to highlight key points.
• Proofread your work and consider using tools like Grammarly or hiring a professional proofreader.
• Pay attention to first impressions and follow university printing guidelines for a professional-looking document.
• Keep in mind the importance of small details for winning prizes or earning recognition.

First and foremost, it’s essential to have a clear and concise understanding of the literature in your field. This sets the stage for your dissertation, allowing you to identify gaps and new ideas that your research will address. One critical component is ensuring that the logic in your thesis is flawless. I’ve found that discussing your work with colleagues both inside and outside your field can help you identify any leaps of faith or logical gaps that need to be addressed.

Now, let’s talk about the presentation. I cannot stress enough the importance of clear writing and organization in a PhD thesis.

In my own work, I’ve used formatting tools like bullet points and breakout boxes to highlight key points and make the text easier to follow.

This not only helped me communicate my ideas effectively but also impressed the examiners who reviewed my work.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the importance of proofreading and avoiding grammatical errors.

In my experience, using tools like Grammarly or even hiring a professional proofreader can elevate your dissertation to new heights. These seemingly small details can make all the difference when it comes to winning a prize or earning recognition for your work.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of first impressions. When I submitted my thesis in 2021, I made sure it met my university’s printing guidelines, resulting in a substantial and professional-looking document. This attention to detail can set the stage for a successful PhD thesis that leaves a lasting impact on the world of science.

Wrapping up

And there you have it, folks! We’ve taken a wild ride through the world of PhD theses and dissertations, exploring the assessment criteria, admiring some of the most famous theses in history, and even sharing some insider tips to help you create the best PhD thesis possible.

These incredible works of research have shaped our understanding of the world and inspired countless innovations, discoveries, and breakthroughs.

Whether you’re an aspiring PhD candidate or just a curious soul, we hope this blog has given you a glimpse into the fascinating realm of academic research.

Remember, the journey to creating an exceptional PhD thesis is challenging but rewarding, and the impact of your work could be felt for generations to come. So, keep your eyes on the prize, and who knows – maybe one day, your own thesis will be featured on a list like this!

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

We are here to help you navigate Academia as painlessly as possible. We are supported by our readers and by visiting you are helping us earn a small amount through ads and affiliate revenue - Thank you!

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PhD Dissertation Award

About the award for best dissertation in public policy and management.

The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) seeks to recognize emergent scholars in the field by presenting an award for the best PhD dissertation in public policy and management. 

For the 2024 nominations, any dissertation that has been completed in the academic years 2022 - 2023 or 2023 - 2024, and granted a degree in that period, is eligible for consideration. No dissertation that has been completed prior to May 1, 2022 will be accepted and previously submitted dissertations will not be considered. Dissertations from any discipline are acceptable as long as they deal substantively with public policy issues and are nominated by a faculty member from an APPAM institutional member university. The faculty member does not need to be the major adviser or supervisor of the student’s dissertation, but can nominate the dissertation based on the belief that it makes a strong contribution to policy analysis.  

Nominations are now open through July 17, 2024! Access the nomination form  here .

Congratulations to the 2023 Recipient!

Neil Cholli University of Chicago The 2023 PhD Dissertation Award for Best Dissertation in Public Policy and Management will be presented to  Neil Cholli . Cholli received his PhD from University of Chicago in December 2022 where he completed his dissertation Essays on Social Policy Reforms and Human Capital . He is currently serving as a Klarman Fellow at Cornell University. 

Honorable Mentions Andrew King, University of Massachusetts, Boston Opening the Halls of Power: Implementing a Community Organizing Approach to Parent Engagement in New York City's Community Schools Paula Clasing, University of Michigan The Promise of Free Tuition: The Case of Chile  

Prior Winners

2021 - 2022.

Katharine Nelson, Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP) FHA and the Dual Mortgage Delivery System in Philadelphia

Honorable Mentions Hector Blanco, Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Economic Effects of Public Housing Programs Isabelle Cohen, University of California, Berkeley Essays on Public Finance and Development

2020 - 2021

George Zuo, University of Maryland Essays on Bridging Economic and Educational Disparities in America

Honorable Mentions Zachary Bleemer, University of California Berkeley On the Meritocratic Allocation of Higher Education Brandyn Churchill, Vanderbilt University Three Essays in Health Economics Ezra Karger, University of Chicago Essays on the Measurement of Income in Economic Analysis

Jun Li, University of Michigan Medicare Incentives, Payment Reform, and Quality in the Nursing Home Health Care Sector

2019 - 2020

Cody Tuttle, University of Maryland Government Responses to Crime and Racial Inequality

Honorable mentions Theresa Anderson, George Washington University What If Mom Went Back to School? A Mixed Methods Study of Effects and Experiences for Both Generations When Mothers Return to School

Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Harvard University Essays on the Economics of Education

2018 - 2019

Shiran Victoria Shen, Stanford University Political Pollution Cycle: An Inconvenient Truth and How to Break It

Honorable mentions: Patricio Dominiquez Rivera, Inter-American Development Bank and Elizabeth Pérez-Chiqués, CIDE

2017 - 2018

Garima Siwach, University at Albany, State University of New York Impact of Employment Barriers on Individuals with Criminal Records: An Econometric Evaluation of Criminal Records in New York Honorable mentions: Y. Nina Gao, University of Chicago and Allison C. Kelly, University of Washington

2016 - 2017

Mallory Flowers, Georgia Tech School of Public Policy Green Certification Pathways: The Roles of Public Goods, Private Goods and Certification Schemes Honorable mentions: Alan Zarychta, University of Colorado - Boulder

2015 - 2016

Vincent Reina, University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy The Impact of Mobility and Government Rental Subsidies on the Welfare of Households and Affordability of Markets Honorable mentions: Eric Roberts, John Hopkins University and Daniel Sebastian Tello-Trillo, Vanderbilt University

Manasi Deshpande, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Essays on the Effects of Disability Insurance Honorable mentions: Alexander Smith, University of Virginia and Gabriel Cardona-Fox, University of Texas, Austin

Anjali Adukia, Harvard University The Role of Basic Needs in Educational Decisions: Essays in Education and Development Economics Honorable mention: Sara Heller, University of Chicago

Sarah Anzia, University of California, Berkeley Election Timing and the Political Influence of the Organized Honorable mention: Hosung Sohn, University of California, Berkeley

Daeho Kim, Brown University

Essays in Health Economics

Honorable mentions:

Chloe Gibbs, University of Chicago

Christopher Robert, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Kurt Lavetti, University of California-Berkeley

Essays on the Estimation of Prices in Implicit Markets

Cassandra Marie Doll Hart, Northwestern University

Heidi Williams, MIT

Essays on Technological Change in Healthcare Markets

Kristin Seefeldt, University of Michigan

Judith Scott-Clayton, Harvard University JFK School of Government

2008 - 2009

Steven Hemelt, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Essays in Education Policy: Accountability, Achievement, and Access

None recognized for this year

Haitao Yin, University of Pennsylvania

The Environmental and Economic Impacts of Environmental Regulations: The Case of Underground Storage Tank Regulations

Maria Fitzpatrick, University of Virginia

Jeremy Rosner, University of Maryland

Christopher Herbst, University of Maryland-College Park

Effects of Social Policy Reforms and the Economy on Welfare Participation and Employment of Single Mothers

Douglas Carr, University of Kentucky

Stephanie Cellini, University of California-Los Angeles

Kilkon Ko, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Behaviors of Policy Analysts in Public Investment Decisions: How Policy Analysts Make Decisions

Leah Brooks, University of California-Los Angeles

Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, Northwestern University

Asim Zia, Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy

Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Decision Behaviors in Response to the Inspection and Maintenance Program in the Atlanta Airshed, 1997-2001

Margaret Patrick Haist, University of Kentucky

Sergio Fernandez, University of Georgia

Shreyasi Jha, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Linkages Between Trade and Liberalization and Environmental Policy: Evidence from India

Zhong Yi Tong, University of Maryland

Jesse Levin, University of Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute

Rucker Johnson, University of Michigan

Essays on Urban Spatial Structure, Job Search and Job Mobility

R. Karl Rethemeyer, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Gail Corrado, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Mark Long, University of Michigan

The Effects of Education Policy on College Entry and Household Savings

Brian Jacob, University of Chicago

Katherine Magnuson, Northwestern University

Jacob Hacker, Yale University

Boundary Wars: Political Struggle Over Public and Private Social Benefits in the U.S.

Jean Marie Abraham, Carnegie Mellon University

Shanti Rabindran Gamper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Susanna Loeb, University of Michigan

Economic Analyses of Elementary and Secondary School Resource Provision

Laura J. Dugan, Carnegie Mellon University

Patrick McEwan, Stanford University

Meredith Phillips, Northwestern University

Early Inequalities: The Development of Ethnic Differences in Academic Achievement During Childhood

Karen Baehler, University of Maryland

Carol Silva, University of Rochester

Kevin Volpp, University of Pennsylvania

Market-based Reforms and the Impact on Quality of Care: An Examination of the Quality Impacts of the Transition from Hospital Rate-Setting to Price Competition in New Jersey

Kim Rueben, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Katherine Baicker, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Xavier De Souza Briggs, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Brown Kids in White Suburbs: Housing Mobility, Neighborhood Effects and the Social Capital of Poor Youth

Ingrid Gould Ellen, New York University

Rebecca London, Northwestern University

Sheila E. Murray, University of Maryland-College Park

Two Essays on the Distribution of Education Resources and Outcomes

Johannes M. Bos, New York University Wagner School of Public Service

The Labor Market Value of Remedial Education: Evidence from Time Series Data on an Experimental Program for School Dropouts

Kathryn A. Foster, Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

Special Districts and the Political Economy of Metropolitan Service Delivery

Thomas J. Nechyba, University of Rochester

Fiscal Federalism and Local Public Finance: A General Equilibrium Approach with Voting

Kenneth Langa, University of Chicago Harris School of Policy Studies

Medicaid Cost-Containment in the 1980s: Did It Encourage Interpayer Differences in Hospital Care

Thomas J. Kane, Harvard University JFK School of Government

College Entry by Blacks Since 1970: The Role of Tuition, Financial Aid, Local Economic Conditions and Family Background

About the 2019 Recipient: Shiran Victoria Shen, University of Virginia

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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Department of History

Dissertations.

Since 2009, we have published the best of the annual dissertations produced by our final year undergraduates and award a 'best dissertation of the year' prize to the best of the best.

• Best Dissertations of 2022
• Best Dissertations of 2021
• Best Dissertations of 2020
• Best Dissertations of 2019
• Best Dissertations of 2018
• Best Dissertations of 2017
• Best Dissertations of 2016
• Best Dissertations of 2015
• Best Dissertations of 2014
• Best Dissertations of 2013
• Best Dissertations of 2012
• Best Dissertations of 2011
• Best Dissertations of 2010
• B est Dissertations of 2009

Best Dissertation Award

The Financial Accounting and Reporting Section seeks to advance financial accounting and reporting research by recognizing and rewarding outstanding work of junior colleagues. Accordingly, a Best Dissertation Award is given each year to recognize the author of an outstanding financial accounting/reporting dissertation completed during the previous year. Submitted dissertations are judged by an Awards Committee appointed by the President of the Section. In selecting the award recipient, the Awards Committee considers the importance of the financial accounting/reporting issue, the quality of execution of the study, and the contribution of the research.

The Best Dissertation Award carries with it a $1,500 cash prize for the winner and an engraved plaque for both the winner and the dissertation chair. The winner is announced and recognized at the Section's meeting during the AAA Annual Meeting in year of the award.

Rules and Submission Procedures

The completed dissertation must have been defended during the most recently ended calendar year. The author of the dissertation must be a member of the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section.

Authors wishing to be considered for the award should submit the following materials to the Awards Committee Chair NO LATER THAN  March 1  for dissertations defended during the previous year:

• A detailed dissertation abstract in WORD or PDF format, not to exceed 7 pages. The abstract should explain the research question addressed in the dissertation, the importance of the research, how the dissertation builds on prior work, samples, hypotheses, methodologies, and research results.
• A letter from the dissertation committee's chair (in Word or PDF format), not to exceed 2 pages, attesting that the completed dissertation was defended during the most recently ended calendar year. This letter may be in the form of a nomination and may include an assessment of the importance and quality of the work.
• The complete dissertation in PDF format.

The nominee's dissertation chair should submit the required materials as an email attachment by the deadline to the Chair of the Best Dissertation Award Committee:

Chair of the FARS Best Dissertation Award — Lian Fen Lee ([email protected])

Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year

Supporting the profession graduate, application deadline: november 14, 2022 | award type: national.

The Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award is designed to encourage high quality research relevant to college student services administration and to student affairs.  This award recognizes outstanding dissertation research conducted by doctoral degree recipients presently in or intending to enter the student affairs profession. This award is proudly sponsored and made possible with funding from the NASPA Foundation .  

2024 Current Recipients

                                                       congratulations to our 2024 hardee dissertation of the year winner and runner-up.

Lauren M. Brown | 2024

Student Organization Recognition Coordinator Texas A&M University

LaTisha Mitchell | 2024

Associate Director, Regional Alumni Engagement Emory University

The NASPA Foundation Hardee Award—named after student affairs and higher education pioneer Dr. Melvene D. Hardee of Florida State University—honors the best emergent scholarship in the field as demonstrated through a completed dissertation, in addition to the mentorship that shapes these scholars and the passion of the newly minted doctoral degree. These are a few hallmarks of quality graduate education. Dr. Hardee, herself, was an advocate for graduate students and graduate education. In 1958, she helped form the Higher Education program at Florida State University, where she stayed the duration of her career, shepherding more than 100 students through the masters and doctoral degree process. In 1988, NASPA was fortunate enough to give Dr. Hardee the Robert H. Schaffer Award in recognition of her continued commitment to the professional growth of students. The student affairs and higher education community was fortunate to have such a strong advocate for the profession. For over 36 years, the NASPA Foundation has recognized scholars and administrators who have made their mark on the field. The honorees include associate or assistant vice presidents of Research-I institutions, former deans in private intuitions, chancellors, professors, assistant professors, and so on. Our NASPA Hardee honorees also work in community colleges, state education offices, and for university systems. They are a reminder that there is no one way to do student affairs work, but that our objective as scholars and practitioners remains the same: We all work towards the healthy social, emotional, and cognitive development of students. 

The Dissertation of the Year committee reviews all submitted materials in great detail.  The top 3-5 applicants are invited to submit a copy of the dissertation in full which is read and evaluated by the committee.  The committee will select the winner and runner-up based on the top dissertations submitted.

Award Winner Will Receive

• Certificate to be awarded at the NASPA Annual Conference.
• Complimentary NASPA Annual Conference registration.
• Monetary award for future research from the NASPA Foundation .
• Presentation of dissertation research in a workshop at the NASPA Conference; and
• Consideration for publication in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice.

Formatting Requirements

Submitted documents for the Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award must follow these formatting requirements to be considered:

• The executive summary must be double-spaced.
• No identifying references, such as college or town names, should appear in the executive summary.
• A brief bibliography, not to exceed 2 pages.
• The body of the executive summary must not exceed 10 pages and should be divided into four sections:
• Research rationale and brief literature review;
• Statement of the hypothesis/problem;
• The methodology employed and rationale for its selection;
• Significant findings and relevance to student affairs in particular and post-secondary education in general.

Dissertation of the Year

Marylu mcewen dissertation of the year award .

The purpose of this award is to recognize a completed dissertation that demonstrates scholarly excellence and makes a substantial contribution to knowledge in the general field of student affairs / student services.  It may be in any scholarly tradition or methodology and focus on any topic in the field.  The Dissertation of the Year Award is named in honor of Dr. Marylu McEwen, Professor Emerita in the Student Affairs concentration with the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The ACPA Foundation will recognize the winner with a cash award and a plaque during the ACPA Convention. The recipient will also receive a complimentary registration to the Convention and a reserved educational session to present their work.  Additionally, the recipient’s dissertation advisor will also receive a complimentary registration to attend Convention.

Eligible dissertations must have met all requirements of the applicant’s institution and have been signed off by the applicant’s dissertation committee between  April 1 and July 1 .  The deadline for submissions is mid-July.

Additional details on the application process for this award will be released at the beginning of the next award cycle.

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.

CIB Best Doctoral Dissertation Award 2024 now open

Launched in 2021, and now in its fourth year, the CIB has issued a call for emerging researchers to participate in the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award 2024.

CIB, through the Future Leaders Committee, works to advance built environment research by recognizing and rewarding the outstanding work of emerging researchers, and the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award 2024 will be awarded in recognition of researchers whose PhD is considered worthy by an Awards committee appointed by the CIB Board. In selecting the award recipients, the Awards Committee considers the following: importance of the built environment issue; writing style, readability, and flow; methodology; and the contribution of the research.

The Best Doctoral Research Award carries with it a   €1,500 cash prize for the winner and a €500 cash prize each for the 2 top runners-up.

Previous winners

The standard of previous awards has been very high, with candidates researching a range of topics including Investigation of Buoyant Plume Wind Enhancement , Methodology for Estimating Embodied Carbon in Construction Supply Chains through a Blockchain-based System , and Artificial intelligence enhances digital asset management . To learn more about the award winners, click on their images below.

How to enter

Rules and submission procedures.

The completed dissertation must have been confirmed by the faculty advisor no earlier than 18 months before the application deadline. The award eligibility period of 18 months will allow for students who might confirm the PhD at the end of the cycle to submit in the following year’s competition; however, students can only submit once.  The author of the dissertation must be a member of a CIB Student Chapter, and those who submitted in 2023 are not eligible in 2024.

Doctoral researchers wishing to be considered for the award should submit the following materials to their university CIB Student Chapter Faculty Liaison:

• A detailed dissertation abstract in PDF format, not to exceed 4 pages. The abstract should explain the research question addressed in the doctoral thesis/dissertation, the importance of the research, how the dissertation builds on prior work, samples, hypotheses, methodologies, and research results.
• A letter from the researcher’s committee chair (in PDF format), not to exceed 2 pages, attesting that the completed dissertation was confirmed during the period 1 April 2023 and 30 September 2024. This letter may be in the form of a nomination and may include an assessment of the importance and quality of the work.
• The completed dissertation submitted in PDF format.

Each university with an active Student Chapter may select only 1 doctoral thesis/dissertations to submit to CIB for consideration. Therefore, individual universities and CIB Student Chapters are responsible for deciding their process for selecting the lone nominee.  The university’s CIB Student Chapter Faculty Liaison should submit the required materials for the nominee as an email attachment no later than 30 September 2024 to  [email protected] .

Shortlist Selection

An Awards Committee selected by the CIB Board will evaluate all applications. The top 3 doctoral researchers will be notified by 1 November 2024 of their selection and, as part of the judging process, will be invited to deliver a presentation to the panel at an event open to all CIB members in November 2024, to compete for the CIB Best Doctoral Dissertation Award assessment. The short presentations will be followed by a question and answer session. A winner’s webinar will be held in early 2025.

The application deadline is 30 September 2024.

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Chicago teen earns doctorate at 17 years old from Arizona State

Dorothy Jean Tillman II spoke at her commencement this month at Arizona State University. She successfully defended her dissertation to earn a doctorate in integrated behavioral health last December.

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Graduate Profile: Oorja Joshi, MDiv ‘24

Memorable Moment 

The time I spent with HDS Muslims in my first year—going apple picking when we barely knew each other, celebrating Eid together, going to the nearby ocean towns, and all the chai times. 

A second moment is when Professor Rivera said yes to being my thesis advisor.  

And some of the best adventures I've had were with Eve, Coco, Fatima, Minahil, Nathan, Mayank, and Hamza. 

Message of Thanks 

There are so many people to thank. 

I would like to deeply thank my parents Akhilesh ji and Archana ji for supporting me to be here, my teachers—Professor Mayra Rivera, Professor Kimberley Patton, Professor Teren Sevea, Dr. Aaliyah El-Amin, and Professor Melissa Kelley—who I am indebted to for their teaching that opened my heart and mind even more to this world. I am very grateful for the support and teachings of my chaplain mentor Reverend Amy Fisher, and the graduate students Asma and Nazma who worked with me at SU Interfaith Center! 

I am very thankful for the love and care of my friends Eve (and Coco!), Auds, Shir, Alejandra, Minahil, Fatima, Sana, Mayank, Nathan, Fawaz, Souman, Bilal, my other Sana, Akhil, Emily, Rebecca, Michael, Azka, Hamza and so many more friends I made in the area, at HGSE, and at Boston College! 

What I hope to be remembered by 

I hope to be remembered by joyful energy, care, enthusiasm for spontaneous hanging out, love for the ocean, and always being up for creative play and fun! :) 

Future Plans 

I hope that wherever I am led, I can keep creating intergenerational communities of care, based in decolonial ethics! And that I can keep learning to love boundlessly from the ocean and the Sun. 

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Healwell AI stock: turnaround has room to run

H ealwell AI (TSX: AIDX) has had an impressive turnaround, making it one of the best-performing Canadian technology companies this year. Its stock is already up by over 100% in 2024, helped by its investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), its partnership with Well Health Technologies, and its improving balance sheet.

It has jumped by ~620% in the past 12 months, beating popular AI names like Nvidia (NVDA) and SoundHound AI (SOUN).

Turnaround continues

Healwell AI, formerly known as MCI OneHealth, has implemented a strong turnaround that has saved the company from bankruptcy. Before this turnaround, MCI OneHealth operated two primary businesses in Canada: its primary healthcare clinics and an innovation arm.

As part of its turnaround, the company folded its struggling clinics and sold them to Well Health. Well Health, which I covered here in 2022, has now grown to become the biggest operator of outpatient clinics in Canada. Its technology solutions provide services to over 9,400 providers in the US and Canada.

Well Health’s acquisition of MCI OneHealth also included equity investments that made an equity investment in HealWell, becoming its biggest shareholder. Hamed Shabhazi, Well’s founder, was appointed the Chairman of Healwell earlier this year. The two are also big partners, with HealWell providing technologies to Well Health.

At the same time, HealWell is now a leaner company that shed hundreds of jobs following its divestment of its clinics business. It has also boosted its balance sheet by raising additional cash. It raised $29.5 million through convertible debt and equity.

Healwell aims to be a leader in healthcare AI

The Artificial Intelligence technology is expected to have major implications in the next few years. A report published earlier this year showed that the global AI in healthcare industry was valued at $4.88 billion in 2020 and that it was expected to reach $2028 billion in 2028.

A separate report revealed that the industry would have a CAGR of 48.1% by 2029, reaching over $148.4 billion. This view is supported by the size of the healthcare is and ways that the technology can help.

AI can help in drug discovery and development, research, disease diagnostics and testing, precision medicine, and clinical trial among other areas. Healwell aims to be a major player in the AI industry by leveraging its partnership with Well Health and through making strategic investments and buyouts.

Through its partnership with Well Health, the company powers the Well Health.ai platform. This platform helps to streamline patient documentation and provide more clinical decision support. Healwell also provides AI Inbox Admin and AI Decision Support.

Healwell has invested in companies like Khure Health, PolyClinic, and Pentavere. Khure Health is an AI company that enables clinics to use big data to rapidly screen and identify patients with rare diseases. The solution is already being used by Well Health USA and Circle Medical Technologies.

Meanwhile, Healwell has a big share of Pentavere Research Group which has created an AI engine to identify patients eligible for approved medications or interventions. Like Khure, the service is already being used in key clinics in the US and Canada.

It also owns Intrahealth, a SaaS-based Electronic Health Records (EHR) company that is expected to generate about $12 million in revenues this year.

Healwell aims to continue investing in these products to grow its market share in the US, Canada, and in other countries. It also aims to acquire other early-stage companies that are using AI technology to disrupt the healthcare sector.

Revenue growth is continuing

I believe that Healwell’s turnaround strategy will help to supercharge its revenue momentum in the coming years. The most recent financial results showed that its total revenue came in at $7.32 million in 2023, a sharp decline from $10.2 million a year earlier.

Its revenue had been in a downward spiral after peaking at over $37 million in 2021. This decline was because of the weak performance of its clinics business, which explains why the divestment makes sense.

Healwell’s management believes that its business will continue recovering this year as its portfolio companies thrive. In a recent interview, the company’s CEO said that the hope is that it will become cash flow positive by the end of 2024 or 2025.

Risks to the thesis

There are a few risks to this bullish view. First, there is the valuation element as Healwell AI has a market cap of over $124 million against 2023’s annual revenue of $7.32 million.

This means that it has a trailing price-to-sales ratio of 16.7, which is higher than most companies, including Nvidia and Super Micro Computer. This valuation is still better than that of Soundhound AI, which has a P/S ratio of 17.8.

Therefore, Healwell AI will need to justify its valuation by demonstrating strong revenue and profitability growth.

Second, there is the lingering risk of AI fatigue among investors, as evidenced by the recent drop of top AI companies. Nvidia has moved into a bear market by falling by over 21% from its highest point this year. The same is true among other AI companies like SoundHound, AMD, and SMCI.

Third, there is always a risk for companies focusing on growth through acquisitions. Data shows that between 70% and 80% of all M&A deals fail to achieve their desired goals. The best example of this is Teladoc’s acquisition of Livongo Health in 2020, a deal that created a $37 billion company. Today, the combined company is valued at just $2.2 billion.

Finally, there are dilution risks. While the company has adequate cash balances, there is a risk that the management will take advantage of the rising stock price to raise additional capital to deploy in acquisitions.

Bottom line

Healweall AI’s management has implemented what is turning into a strong turnaround for a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy because of its clinics business. Today, the company has become an asset-light organization in the fast-growing AI space. Its balance sheet is quite strong and the management expects to become cash flow positive this year.

However, as explained above, there are risks to the bullish view, which could affect its stock performance.

The post Healwell AI stock: turnaround has room to run appeared first on Invezz

Top 7 Dissertation Editors to Consider in 2024 – The Ultimate List

Writing a dissertation is complicated, but editing your work when you have finished the writing part is even more challenging. Academic editing requires the students to check the papers for style checks, grammatical issues, structural clarity, formatting requirements and tone inconsistencies. That is why dissertation editors are required to do the job for the researchers and PhD scholars.

In this age, multiple AI thesis editors can quickly scan your papers for mistakes and fix all types of errors in them. Also, there exist plenty of editing and proofreading services which can make the online dissertations error-free within the deadlines you give them.

So, no matter if you are looking for AI editors or professional dissertation proofreading services , we have covered all in this article. Let’s explore the list of helpful dissertation editors online without wasting further time.

The Ultimate List of Top 7 Dissertation Editors in 2024

Choosing the best online dissertation editor starts with defining what you want the tool to accomplish. Do you want general proofreading or adjust the tone of your work?  Consider the type of professional help you need and then choose the editor for dissertations. Here is a list of the top 7 best dissertation proofreading and editing resources for you:

Let’s explore these dissertation editors’ tools and resources in further depth now.

Writer is a robust AI editing and proofreading tool that is designed to help students enhance their academic writing process. It is one of the professional dissertation editors available online because it can support the writing, editing, and refining process of written material. Not only that, but it also provides users with a comprehensive set of tools for improving their style, writing quality, and grammatical style. You can use this resource to enhance the vocabulary you used in different sections of your dissertation.

Best Features

• Provides the clients with a readability analysis
• Can help users with plagiarism detection
• Performs quick spelling and grammar checks
• It also offers assistance with the clarity and style enhancement of a dissertation.

The basic plan starts at $18 per user per month (up to 5 users).

2. The Academic Papers UK

The Academic Papers UK is another dissertation editing powerhouse that has been providing services to clients since 2003. Their dissertation editors strengthen your doctoral papers by assisting you in avoiding too much jargon, slipping into passive voice, writing over-complicated sentences and more. Unlike an AI proofreading tool, they do not provide you with mere suggestions but make corrections in your papers wherever necessary. This way, this writing agency not only makes your writing perfect but it makes your work more effective for the readers as well.

• 100% safe and secure
• Provides the readers with a comprehensive report of changes
• Secure payment gateways
• Has a 3X revision policy of papers

The price per page for an undergraduate dissertation starts from £12.95 only.

3. Grammarly

Grammarly is one of the most popular editor dissertation tools available online, and it has 30+ active users. You can integrate this platform seamlessly with MS Word or Google Docs. It has a user-friendly interface. What sets Grammarly apart from other dissertation editors is that it can detect and correct grammar and spelling errors in real time. Not only this, it also offers helpful insights to the readers for the improvement of their writing skills. You can also get different word suggestions to replace the original text and make your writing more varied and unique.

• The free version has an efficient suite of features
• It can be adjusted to various formality levels
• The premium version comes with a plagiarism checker
• Easy to use with MS Word, online browsers, and websites

It has a free version. The prices of the paid version start from $12 per month.

4. Affordable Dissertation UK

Serving in the world of academia for 20+ years, Affordable Dissertation UK is an agency that offers excellent editing and proofreading services to clients around the globe. Their seasoned dissertation writers have a knack for refining papers in multiple academic styles, and they provide a guarantee of top grades to their clients. All that you need to do is to submit your initial drafts to them and make the payment. Within the given time, they will come back to you with refined papers. The best thing about Affordable Dissertation UK is that they have reasonable prices and also offer a 100% money-back guarantee.

• Offers AI detection along with plagiarism checking
• Boasts 97% client satisfaction rate
• Available round the clock
• Editors have 20 years of experience

The price per page for a graduate dissertation starts from £13.95 only.

The recent updates of Ginger have made it one of the best proofreading tools online in the market. It is especially best to be used by an audience whose first language is not English. The most useful of its features is that it can read text aloud from MS Word, Outlook emails, PowerPoint, and some other websites that can be opened with Firefox, Edge, and Chrome. It lets you hear how your dissertation sounds and helps you find opportunities to strengthen your word choice and syntax. The premium version has even more features, which make it one of the best dissertation editors out there.

• Good for catching grammar and spelling errors
• It can be used with multiple browsers
• Facilitates more than 60 languages in the premium version
• Available on Android, Mac, Windows and iOS

Ginger has a free trial mode, and no credit card is required. It also offers a subscription plan with prices starting from $13.99/month.

6. Dissertation Writers UK

Dissertation Writers UK is another academic writing company that also provides paper editing services to clients. Their dissertation editors have worked on millions of academic documents, dissertation or thesis papers, and homework so that they know the methods for refining the work of clients. Not only this, they also provide a plagiarism check and detect AI-written content. If you buy dissertation online from them after reviewing their free samples, they can edit and proofread your papers for free. Also, all the revisions on this platform are free and there are no hidden costs.

• A quick turnaround time, i.e., up to 3 hours
• Multiple freebies in the dissertation editor cost
• Best for scanning and editing documents having long word count
• It provides you with a Turnitin plagiarism and AI report

The price per page for a Master’s dissertation starts from £12.95 only.

7. ProWriting Aid

This tool, ProWriting Aid, looks for punctuation and grammatical mistakes in the dissertations you submit to it. One impressive thing about this tool is its ability to check for structural issues like clichés, repetition and a lack of diversification in the sentences. The browser extensions of this tool are free. The dissertation editor services of this tool also come with a detailed report which outlines the vocabulary comparisons, big-picture feedback, and a graph of sentence lengths. Apart from this, it also provides the users with a list of the most used words in their papers.

• Helps you find how dynamic your vocab is
• Assists you in reducing repetition in your work
• Like efficient dissertation proof readers, it provides style suggestions
• Works well with Windows and Mac

The basic plan is free. The price of the premium plan starts from $10 per month.

So, these 7 are the best dissertation editors in 2024 that you can use to make your dissertation free of all kinds of errors and mistakes. Every researcher needs to get their work edited by professional helpers before it is released to the public. You can use any of the thesis proofreading resources we have mentioned in this article. Some of them are free and others provide you with value for money.

It is a fact that AI proof readers and content checkers cannot replace human dissertation editors. So, for complete peace of mind, you should acquire professional dissertation editing services online , and rest assured that seasoned proof readers will refine your doctoral papers to perfection.

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