Practical Instructions Prior to Planning Seminar

Practical instructions prior to planning seminar

The purpose of the planning seminar is for doctoral students to have their thesis plan reviewed and discussed. The plan is a synopsis providing a direction for the thesis,with anacademic formulation of a researchable problem in relation to an application domain and an academic field of knowledge, and the academic as well as practical actuality and relevance. Conceivable theoretical and methodological approaches, as well as possible procedures for analysis shall be outlined. Problems relating to research ethics should preferably be stated together with a discussion about planning the study’s implementation. A satisfactory assessment indicates that the thesis plan is approved in the form in which it has been presented. If the thesis plan needs to be supplemented, the student is notified of this and approval is granted at a later date. The planning seminar shall be held during the first year.

Commitments of doctoral students

• Doctoral students must receive approval from the supervisors before the planning seminar
• Thesis plans are to be made available for the discussant no later than three weeks before the seminar

Commitments of the principal supervisor

• The principal supervisorchairs and leads the seminar.
• The principal supervisor notifies the director of graduate studies: name of the PhD student, preliminary title of the thesis, time, venue, discussant and abstract
• The principal supervisor is responsible for appointing a suitable discussant
• The principal supervisor shall provide instructions to the discussant

Instructions for the discussant

The task of the discussant is to critically review the thesis plan submitted. The seminar is introduced by the discussant giving a brief presentation of the purpose and content of the plan and then making critical and constructive proposals for improvements. This review will take up most of the seminar (1.5 hours), but a certain scope should also be allowed for a general discussion.

Instructions for the seminar leader

The seminar leader opens the seminar and introduces the discussant and the doctoral student. The sequence of events may be presented to the audience. Directly after the seminar a meeting shall be held with the supervisors, the discussant, and the PhD student. The purpose of this meeting is to go through the main comments and input. This meeting is chaired by the seminar leader.

Sequence of events during the seminar

An approximate time schedule for the seminar is as follows:

• Seminar leader´s introduction (4-5 min.)
• Discussant´s summary of the thesis (20 min.)
• Doctoral student´s comments on the discussant´s summary (0-2 min.)
• Discussant’s questions to the doctoral student and discussion (90-120 min.)
• The seminar leader closes the seminar
• Meeting with the seminar leader, discussant, supervisors, and doctoral student to conclude main input from the seminar (15-30 min.)