Dissertation Project

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

The teaching methods used are based on lectures from some points of the program, as well as on advisor guidance. Periodically there will be joint sessions for the presentation and discussion of the work in progress.

Learning Outcomes

This class seeks to equip the doctoral students with the knowledge necessary to design an autonomous and advanced research project. The ultimate goal is to provide the fundamental theoretical and methodological knowledge to successfully design and implement a research project. Amongst other goals, this class seeks to enable students to formulate their research questions, explain their significance and the models and methods to adopt, as well as to anticipate the implications of the results of their research in the scientific community. This class will also address the design and research strategy, the research questions and the structure of the thesis. This thesis project culminates in a Qualification exam, in which the doctoral students present and defend their thesis project before a panel. There will be monthly meetings and joint sessions with the advisors.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The route ​​this class takes should be very objective and consist of the construction of various components of a work plan for doctoral studies which should include: i) research issue/problem ii) problematic iii) state of the art, iv) research objective(s) v) analysis model and methodology to adopt, vi) work planning and identification of resources needed vii) identify a plan of disclosure/discussion of work in national and international meetings and in professional publications.

Head Lecturer(s)

Maria Manuel Lopes de Figueiredo Costa Marques Borges

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Project: 50.0%
Qualification Exam : 50.0%

Bibliography

Alon, U. (2009). How to choose a good scientific problem. Molecular Cell, 35(6), 726–728.

Cargill, M., & O’Connor, P. (2013). Writing Scientific Research Articles. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

Davies, M. (2007). Doing a successful research project. Basingstoke [England]; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hart, C. (1998). Doing a Literature Review. London: Sage Publications.

Katz, M. J. (2009). From Research to Manuscript. New York: Springer.

O’Dwyer, L. M. (2014). Quantitative research for the qualitative researcher. Los Angeles: Sage

Ogden, T. E., & Goldberg, I. A. (2002). Research Proposals, 3rd. ed. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Tensen, B. L. (2012). Research Strategies for a Digital Age. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Publishing.