By Gabriella Culina-Jones, MSc Stem Cells and Regenerative Therapies: From Bench to Market
Dissertations are always stressful but with some careful planning they don’t have to be.
Thinking back on my own dissertation, there were many things I‘m glad I did, but also some things I wish I had done differently. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll have a list of tips that will put you on the road to success.
Mini-deadlines to keep you on track
The length of the dissertation can often feel intimidating, however giving yourself mini-deadlines can help. Count how many weeks you have to complete your thesis, break the work into the same number of chunks and aim to complete one chunk per week. Using a calendar can really help you visualise your progress.
I advise you to aim to completely finish your dissertation a couple of weeks before the deadline, to allow for any unforeseen issues and so that you can check your work calmly without an approaching deadline looming over you.
The power of the King’s email
Unfortunately, not all information can be found online at the click of a button. Some knowledge is spread through word of mouth. I found this to be especially true for my indication which was a rare and not thoroughly researched disorder. The only thing I could do is reach out to medical professionals to get the answers I needed, and for those who choose to do this I recommend you use your King’s email. What you’ll find is that professionals are more likely to answer your King’s email than your personal one.
Contacting a specialist not only gave me key insights into the incidence and standard of care for the disease but also let me run my ideas past someone who has the experience and knowledge to tell me whether I’m going in the right direction or not.
This is also applicable for what technology you choose to use. In retrospect, I wish I had thought of that at the time.
Tables and Graphics
Tables and graphics don’t use up your word count while still being effective in displaying key information. The size of the word count may seem daunting but as you start to write your dissertation, you’ll soon wish it was bigger.
Using tables allow you to display all the key information without using up your word count. Therefore, in your actual text, you can discuss important points and make critical conclusions without worrying about the word limit.
Graphics can be very powerful especially when trying to describe your product. For those who plan to design a treatment with a physical component, like a bone covering, 3D modelling software can help you visualise your product. The software I used was SketchUp. I chose this tool because it was fairly easy to download and use, while still providing good quality graphics.
I hope this post is helpful to you in the coming weeks, and I wish you all the best of luck in your dissertations!