How to start and finish writing a Ph.D Thesis?

Vinay Gupta and Majid Hameed KoulPh.D Students

Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Delhi

25 Feb. 20151

Before I Start

• This presentation is intended – particularly for scholars who are about to write the

thesis

– In general for other scholars too

• It may help you to think in a better way

• Every thesis is different

• Use your own mind and imply

• Oversell your thesis or its claims

• Be honest and you will be respected

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Contents

• Introduction

• When to start?

• Preparations

• Few questions

• Structure

• Gantt chart

• Start With

• One word for each chapter

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Introduction

What is a Ph.D Thesis?

• The thesis is a monograph, i.e., a self-contained piece of work, written solely by the PhD candidate and no-one else.

• Your Ph.D Thesis is a significant piece of independent writing that you want to be proud of, for years to come.

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• If the research is poorly executed, it dose not matter how good your writing is.

• No matter how good your research is, you MUST write a good thesis.

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When to Start?

• Your supervisor/guide gives a green signal

• Have 2 – 3 contributions in your field

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Preparations

• Writing skills

• Platform for writing: word/latex

• See thesis of your seniors/guide

• Discussions with the seniors writing thesis

• Read some literatures on thesis writing

• Sitting place at home and lab, etc.

• Storage devices: hard disk, pen drive.

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Why this is required?

Communication, Clarity

GrammarPapers

Few Questions

• How to start?

• What my thesis should contain?

• How to end?

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Structure

• Abstract• Introduction• Literature Review• Chapter 1• Chapter 2• Chapter 3 • …..• Conclusions• References• Appendix• Brief Bio-data of the author

Make probable contents for your Ph.D Thesis

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Gantt Chart

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Start With

Introduction or Chapter?

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One Word

• Title (and title page) - conveys a message• Abstract - for the librarian• Contents Listing - shows the right things are there• Acknowledgements – Account for blessings!• Introduction - says “I am going to look at the following things”.• Review of Previous Work - show you know the subject• Philosophy of Approach - show you can pick out important ideas succinctly• Plan of Attack - show you approached the problem in a systematic way• Description of the work - details, so that others can follow what you did• Critical analysis of the results - show you know its limitations• Future Work - show you know what’s missing• Conclusions - repetition of the intro, but with reference to the detail.• References - Cover the “field; examiners will look for the key references• Appendices - Nitty Gritty details that would clutter your eloquent description

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…finish writing a PhD thesis

Majid Hameed Koul

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Contents

• Planning

• Organizing

• Contents of my PhD thesis

• Timelines

• Inside the thesis

• An overall look

• Compilation

• Admin formalities

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Time devotion

Choosing a platform

Collocating data

Organising your work

Pending work

Exp/Sim

Paper writings

Project demands

1. Planning

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Choosing the right platform

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2. Organizing

• Organize your work folders/files according to the contributions/chapters

• Figures and pictures can be separately put in the folder for each chapter

• Preserve raw data from the analysis or experiments

• Choose a uniform format for figures, including size, background, font type, font size, etc.

– Pdf, eps, jpeg, jpg, tiff, png, bitmap

• Organize your references using BibTeX, Endnote, Procite, CiteULike, Mendeley etc.

• Take regular backup (once in one/two weeks, in a day during last moments of writing).

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3. Contents of my PhD thesis

• Title page (2), Certificate, Acknowledgements, Abstract• Contents, list of figures, list of Tables, Nomenclature• Introduction• Literature Review• Chapter 1• Chapter 2• Chapter 3 • …..• Conclusions• References• Appendix• Brief Bio-data of the author

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Some key suggestions

• No matter how good your research is, you MUST write a good thesis

• Don’t be afraid to change your mind– As you write the thesis, your ideas will evolve– Don’t wait for them to stop evolving

• It’s much easier to change an outline that you’ve written down than one you haven’t

• Reviewers are busy people– thesis may be read in trains, planes, etc. – clarity and flow should be maintained

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No shortcuts please

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4. Timelines

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Introduction

Literature

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Conclusions

Appendix

Time devotion may vary

Actual Time New Time Expected Time 21

Abstract

• A brief summary of the problems in the respective area, the hypothesis andthe techniques proposed to overcome the same

• Should preferably be a one page write-up• First para may include the introduction to subject/topic/field• Rest of the para’s may have specific issues and contributions thereby

Introduction • Introduce the topic/field

• Topic sentence

• Writing by hand may be preferred sometimes

• First para may have generic idea

• Subsections may have introduction to broad areas of research

• Research objectives, Research contributions

• Thesis organization

5. Inside the thesis

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Literature Review

• Cite– Significant work in your area – Old celebrated papers, few of them

– Recent works in your area – In the last decade

– Related work in your area – old and recent

– Other associated works – may be from different domain

• Criticise – previous methods/techniques – in a clever and intelligent way

– Do not be overconfident

– Do not criticize something not reported by the researcher

• Include– Features that support your work – techniques/previous results

• Avoid – Things which may not directly influence your work

– Literature which may not have significant publication value

– Internet source, blogs, etc.

• Summary of the literature review– list important points

– Identify research gaps

– Problem definition 23

Chapter 1,2,3,…

• Briefly discuss the topic of the chapter first

• Discuss the previous approaches/techniques

• Discuss the proposed approach or techniques

• Discuss the conditions and assumptions in experiments or simulations

• Discuss the experiments or simulation thoroughly

• Explain with few examples/illustrations

• Discuss the results thoroughly and compare with a few conventional or previous works

• Clarity of writing - very important – be clear and straightforward

• A good thesis is clearly understood by a new researcher

• Summarize each chapter

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Conclusions

• A brief summary of your work in 2-3 pages – say what your hypothesis was and what was the conclusion from the experiments and simulations

• List important contributions in paragraphs

• Future scope of your work – A good thesis is the one that paves the way for a couple of thesis in near future

Appendix

• Part of the thesis that may not be directly related to your contribution

• Few derivations or definitions that may be needed for proper understandings of the contents of the thesis

• Further understandings or observations about a part in the thesis

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Bibliography/References

• Use a proper format for reference list

– Typically of a major journal in your field

– Mechanical Engineering – ASME, IEEE, Springer, Science Direct, etc.

– Keep complete references• page numbers, volume numbers, editors names, locations and dates for

conference proceedings, etc

• Reference in the thesis

– Numbered or Author name, year format, Mixed

– [1, 2] / [1],[2],

– Hogan (1989), Colgate and Schenkel (1995),

– Hogan [1], Colgate and Schenkel [2]

– While referring to a statement … (Saha, 1999)

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Example

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6. Compilation

• Check the following thoroughly – Abstract (Flow)– Introduction (Check if you renamed certain chapter titles, etc. for

changes in the thesis outline section)– Results and discussions of each chapter (Does they convey clear

picture)– Summary of each chapter (It should not be a conclusion, rather a

chapter summary) - Optional– Conclusions chapter – Does it have a flow– Thesis contributions – Aren’t you missing something

• Contents – Check again if manually done. No need to check for automatic generated ones

• Check ? Symbol for LaTeX users, signifying errors• Check Appendix, Equations, Figure, Table numbers thoroughly• Acknowledgements (you will remember the names, give sufficient time at the

end of writing the thesis)

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7. An overall look

• Corrections from your supervisor/s – chapters (Once)

• Hand corrections with pencil/pen - Important

• Corrections from your supervisor/s – thesis (may be once or twice)

• Final check up by supervisor/s – thesis (Once)

• Get your thesis read by a person good in English

• India follows UK English style (e.g., favourable – UK, favorable – US, etc.)

• Read as if you are the reviewer of the thesis. Read once again.

• After printout read once more and then submit

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8. Admin formalities - Submission

• Send hard and softcopy of Synopsis through department office along with DRC minutes to Dean Academics. Also send the same through your guides email to pg_eval@admin.iitd.ac.in

• For thesis submission, check synopsis date in the Dean Academics register and take– Thesis submission form– Submit thesis evaluation fee – Rs. 400 (Yellow form at Canara Bank) on the day of

submission– Submit the thesis

• 1 guide: 3 copies + 1 self = 4• 2 guides: 4 copies + 1 self = 5

– Submit two copies of abstract– Sign on the certificates and acknowledgements– Every starting page should be on the right side – Turnitin – Plagiarism check < 20 %, your supervisor has the login

• Printing thesis– Dada (Library)– Scoops– Nalanada– Bersarai

• Submit the thesis for evaluation – Take receipt 30

Thank you and best of luckfor the DEFENCE

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References

• How to write a good (no, great) PhD Dissertation, Priya Narasimhan, CMU, Pittsburg

• The short guide to writing a thesis fast, James Hayton

• How thesis get written: Some cool tips, Steve Easterbrook, University of Toronto

• How to write a good PhD thesis and survive the viva, Stefan Ruger, The Open University, UK

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