Workshops

The final hurdle: top tips for finishing your PhD

Over the years, I’ve worked with thousands of PhD students. I’ve also ‘been there and done that’, so understand the challenges of this period in the journey. Perhaps you’re exhausted, frustrated, completely ‘over’ your topic, or you’re finding it hard to carve out the time to finish, especially if you’re balancing your thesis with employment or family care responsibilities. In other words, it’s hard. Really hard!

That said, the next few months can result in a finished, submitted thesis. Or, they can vanish before your eyes, leaving you feeling as if you’ve procrastinated away the best part of a year. This session covers ways you can prevent the latter happening (or even finish earlier than you hoped!). It offers strategies for: creating and protecting writing time, setting savvy goals, staying motivated, and working with your supervisor at this crucial stage of your degree.

You’ve finished (or almost finished) the first draft of your thesis. Congratulations! You might now be thinking ‘where do I even start with editing?’ You’re not alone! This session will cover editing approaches and practical methods to help you turn an overwhelming prospect into manageable tasks, while hands-on exercises will empower you to transform your rough draft into a polished thesis ready for submission.

Topics covered include:

• The stages of drafting and editing a thesis
• How examiners read a thesis and how to make a good first impression
• Highlighting strengths and addressing weaknesses
• Structure, argument and finding your voice
• Strategies for proofreading
• Planning your revision workload

From first chapter to finished thesis: supervising the writing stage

There are various interpretations of what ‘writing up’ means during a research degree—some believe it starts with the first notes taken from early reading, others see it as a distinct, time-bound phase toward the end of the PhD.

Regardless, getting from an initial chapter draft to a polished thesis is one of the biggest challenges a PhD candidate faces—posing risks to timely completion and, in some cases, leading to attrition.

This session covers the most common reasons students struggle with thesis writing, as identified through designing and delivering late-candidature writing programs in Australia, Asia and Europe, including the internationally successful Thesis Boot Camp. It offers practical tips for supervising students during this phase, including strategies for supporting candidates whose writing has stalled.