This face to face course is run by the Researcher Academy as part of the Medicine and Health Sciences Faculty Training Programme.

The Researcher Academy courses are very popular and the majority are run in both semesters to give you the opportunity to attend at a time of the year that suits you. 

Target audience: This short session is for Postgraduate Research Students from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the School of Pharmacy only

Final year (or beyond) doctoral students who are writing up, or just about to start writing up. The doctorate write up series is repeated annually, you will gain maximum benefit from attending these sessions when you have finished your data collection and the majority of your time/focus is on writing your thesis. If this does not apply to you then you should attend the sessions in 2020.

If you are at an earlier stage of your doctorate, Researcher Academy has workshops covering more detailed information on these topics that you should attend instead.

Course description:

This session is part of the Doctoral thesis write up support series offered by the Medicine and Health Sciences Graduate Centre. This session on ‘The University of Nottingham regulations and formatting your thesis properly from the beginning' will highlight what you need to consider when formatting your thesis and during your thesis pending period/preparing for thesis submission.

Process: This session is led by a facilitator who will guide the group discussions as well as providing valuable information relevant to the topic and their own experiences of good practice. This is an informal discussion group (not a lecture/seminar).

This series will provide a platform for sharing your experiences and for discussion of any problems/uncertainties you may be facing whilst writing your thesis with fellow doctoral students and the session facilitators it is not a substitute for attendance at training workshops.

Related sessions

Doctoral thesis write up support series (M&HS) 

• What is a Thesis?

• Getting over a blank screen

• Supervisor’s comments – how much should you give them, how often, and not taking the first draft edits personally

• The viva: the doctoral candidate’s perspective

• The viva: the examiner’s side of the table

• Not falling at the last hurdle: dealing withe the stress and isolation of writing

Related training courses

Graduate School- Research development programme

• Structuring you thesis
• Creating a strong argument for your thesis
• Editing Academic Writing
• Problems with academic writing
• Shut Up and Finish (A one-day writing retreat)
• Thesis Boot Camp 

If there are no dates listed below then the instance(s) of the course has (have) already taken place for 2019/20 academic year.

Course Accessibility

The following table shows a summary of what is needed to participate in the course. 

If you feel you will experience any difficulties participating, please let us know via the ‘special requirements’ tab, providing as much information as possible. The special requirements tab can be completed when you book your place. Alternatively, you can contact us directly at ra-training@nottingham.ac.uk.

Print off pre-requisite paperwork/ resources & bring them to the course (optional)
Bring your own laptop/ PC to the course (optional)
Access seminar room on campus
Attend the course at the specified date and time
Watch and listen to the course tutor(s) and/or other attendees
Follow presentation slides during the course

Booking Conditions

Latecomer policy

Researchers should plan to arrive prior to the advertised course start time. Except for exceptional reasons, there will be no admittance to a Researcher Academy or Faculty Training Programme (FTP) course 15 minutes after the advertised course start time.

Importance of booking commitment

When booking on to a Researcher Academy short course you are entering into a commitment to attend. If you find that you are no longer available to attend you MUST cancel your place (on the system if more than three days before the course) or if at short notice by emailing ra-training@nottingham.ac.uk. This will ensure that your place can be offered to another researcher on the waiting list. Failure to cancel a place results in other researchers missing out on places through the waiting list process.

It is unacceptable for researchers to just not attend when booked onto a course. The Researcher Academy maintains records of those who repeatedly do not attend courses they have booked. This may affect future eligibility to book onto further Researcher Academy courses and will affect considerations for Researcher Academy funded opportunities.

Web Notes