The story I would repeat to get 20 again
This one is long, but if you are doing your thesis it should be useful :)
Here you can see my dissertation:
ria.ua.pt/handle/10773/44118
Here you can see my presentation:
presentation.pdf
Half the grade is already defined before it starts
The thesis grade is heavily influenced before there is even a topic or a supervisor. At the beginning, you need to ask yourself “what grade do I want to get on my thesis?” and from there, understand the size of the work that comes next. That answer will affect everything you do, from choosing the supervisor to the way you write the dissertation.
It is also important to understand the weight this document has in a student’s life. In many cases, it is the only piece of legacy the student leaves at the institution. On top of that, the thesis has a very personal part, the acknowledgements page. That increases the responsibility because we are putting there the names of the people we love the most.
Choosing the Topic and the Supervisor
Then comes the choice of the topic and the supervisor. Here you need to combine two things: the topics you like working on and the professors you want to work with.
You should speak with the professor and with students who have already been supervised by them. From the professor’s side, you want to understand their working method and availability, and it is important to say your goal right away. From the students’ side, you want to understand how the experience went and what grade they got. This helps you understand the environment you are getting into and make a more conscious choice.
I will share what happened in my case. In my first meeting with the professor, even before the topics were assigned, I told him I had high goals and wanted to have a meeting with him every week. That, together with the fact that the topic was also very interesting to him, made all the difference in the supervision and in his involvement. It is also worth saying that this professor already had some kind of friendly relationship with me, because of the interest I showed inside and outside class. Today I consider him a great friend and I will be grateful for life for the support he gave me and for the doors he opened. For those who do not know him, it is Prof. Pedro Prates.
Boat Adrift (Beginning)
At this point we already have a goal, a topic and a supervisor. Now we need to build the system around us to work in an organized way. This was my example:
- For communication: Teams.
- For time management: calendar (Google).
- For knowledge storage: Miro.
- For storing and managing papers: Mendeley.
- For writing the document: Overleaf.
- For efficiency: ChatGPT.
For GPT, in practice, we customized two models.
One was "GPT-Prof 2.0", with custom knowledge in the field and access to our documentation. The other was "GPT-Escriba", focused on scientific writing, adjusted to our style and restricted to rewriting content created by us.
For extra help, it is very important to contact a set of specialist friends in relevant areas who may be useful.
Now comes the moment where you feel that you are a boat in the middle of the ocean, kind of adrift. We need to turn on the engines in a clear direction: understanding the topic, the problem and the goals. If the goals are not defined yet, it is important to define them early and accept that they may change as the work progresses. With those goals in hand, we draw a plan that, sorry to say, will not clearly represent reality. Another important point is to make sure we have access to the evaluation rubric used to grade dissertations.
To understand the topic, it helps if the supervisor suggests some content that works as the “core”. It can be any type of documentation, but preferably PhD theses. After having that base documentation in Mendeley, we start studying and storing knowledge in Miro. The doubts that come up and the answers we find should stay there, so we can return to them when needed. If the professor allows it, we should also record the audio of the meetings to listen to them later with attention. In the beginning, it is important to define the structure of the document, but there is one especially interesting part: writing the state of the art. When we have good core documentation, we can collect all the information and build a structure around it, creating a state of the art based only on what is most relevant to us. From that point on, it is practice and writing in parallel, because this is critical to stimulate reasoning and consolidate knowledge.
Iterations (Lean)
The idea behind building the document is to work with drafts, the MVPs, and validate them with the supervisor throughout the process. In other words, we write the draft of a chapter and validate it with the professor as the text starts taking shape. This is important because it avoids wasting time and energy on paths that do not make sense for the dissertation.
These drafts always need to have a purpose and should be written by us, based on the knowledge we have acquired. Here we want to use GPT-Prof 2.0 to structure and organize the concepts we want in the document. Later, after the chapter is validated, we iterate with GPT-Escriba to refine the details of what started as a draft.
We should always respect the university rules regarding AI tools and clearly mention their use. It is also important not to let GPT generate the core of the document. Everything written can be used as a basis for questions in the defense. Another critical part is the visual consistency of the document. We want a document that is consistent and easy to read. For that, we define a color palette for figures and tables and always respect font sizes and margins, even if that means rewriting content and moving part of it to appendices.
From here on, it is discipline. The iterative process will be as intense as the ambition of the goal.
Almost Submitting
This phase is usually the worst. It is where almost everyone is under the most pressure, and that is not surprising. Most of the time, we leave things until the end.
So it makes sense to submit the document early enough for one last review from the supervisor. They also have other responsibilities and, if they cannot review the work in time, we lose room for final corrections. Ideally, the document comes back full of red notes with corrections we missed, because after so many readings it is normal to keep missing the same mistakes. Usually, these corrections no longer require much energy if we followed the iteration logic throughout the work. If we have the chance, we should also ask our network to take a look.
After the final submission, it is important to schedule a date that gives us enough time to prepare the defense calmly. At this point, the grade is practically defined. Most of the time, we are going there to discuss plus or minus 1 point. All the work we did before, from the document itself to the interest we showed, has already had a significant impact on the final grade.
Preparing the Defense
At this stage, the document is already submitted and we have everything we need to build a defense that reflects it. We look again at the grading rubric to understand what the examiners will evaluate. Speaking of them, it is useful to know the examiners at least a little, understand each one’s background and their strengths in the field. This helps adapt the presentation to the people evaluating it.
The next step is defining the slide structure. The presentation should show the juice of what was done. Personally, I like presentations that spend almost no time on the state of the art and simply introduce the topic and the work developed, but that is up to each person.
The slide content should serve two things at the same time: help with the presentation and work as support during the questions. After the official slides, it makes sense to prepare a few extra slides just to answer questions we anticipate. The idea is to study what questions or gaps may appear and prepare answers beforehand, mainly for the things that are harder for us to explain. Another interesting strategy is to leave a few open points during the presentation to trigger questions we have already studied.
When the base presentation is ready, it is time to train. Here I do not recommend memorizing text. I prefer a more natural approach, supported by the slide content. If possible, we should rehearse with several people and with the supervisor, to receive feedback on different aspects. If there is a chance, rehearse in the actual defense room and go to the back of the room to check whether graphs and figures are readable. Do not forget to bring a printed version of the dissertation with your notes to the defense. It will be useful.
Another question is who we want in the room. In my experience, having a lively auditorium gives seriousness to the moment and creates an environment that is favorable to higher grades. Obviously, when we are satisfied with the work, it feels good to show what we did, and that also matters.
The Day Arrived
Here everything is ready. At this point, there is nothing else on the table. The nervousness we feel is a sign of responsibility and we should be aware that we need to live with it.
We go straight to the goal, knowing that around 5% of the work is still missing. What is missing is the presentation and an attempt to have a conversation about the work with the examiner. I call it an attempt at a conversation because I have experienced it and seen it happen many times. It is still question and answer, but the best grades I saw came when that exchange was more fluid. Well before starting, it is important to make sure everything is set up: check the connections, the slides, confirm that everyone can hear us and that we own the stage.
When the time comes, we thank the people in the room and move forward. The stage is ours, we are steering the boat. The nervousness usually lasts three slides and, after that, it is worth trying to enjoy the moment and smile a little :)
Then come the questions, which is the most challenging part. Here the rule is to stay calm and think before answering. Usually, the hardest questions do not come first, so the student can gain momentum and create some flow in the answers.
I will also share how it went for me. I had a lot of fun in my defense, it was an incredible experience. In the first question, I did not really know the answer, so I said I needed to think and that I was not sure, and the grade was still good, so do not worry if you do not know something very deep. From that point on, I felt that the questions created a flow, almost like a dialogue full of traps that forced me to think, smile and answer. In my case, the questions were very detailed, and that makes sense when the work has quality. The basic questions stop making sense. I also remember a moment when I stood up with my computer and went to the professors’ table to explain an answer better. If you are afraid to step up, you get nowhere. This is a moment to try to create some kind of relationship with the examiner, as much as possible. I can say that around 70% of the questions were not prepared beforehand, but that also means the other 30% were ready to go.
After the defense, you just wait for the grade and close the chapter.
In short, you need Agency.
Hope this helped. Good luck :)