Assume that the thesis defense focuses on the critical criteria used by examiners to judge the merit of your thesis as they read it and create the agenda for the assessment report, or for questions to ask in the defense event. This will also determine the level of award that they will recommend to your university. So, knowing what the criteria are and what questions will possibly be asked, provides a framework from which to approach and undertake your research. Making the destination explicit should be the starting point and guide to the subsequent planning and execution for your doctoral research.

The workshop will introduce inescapable pre-requisites for a thesis to become doctoral- worthy. It will provide insights on what examiners consider to be the determinants of ‘Doctorateness’ in a thesis so that you can incorporate them right from the start of your writing. It will offer strategic practical tools to apply in your thesis and help candidates and readers appreciate:

 1. The ‘whole’ and the’ parts’ that form ‘synergy’ between the account of the research that has been undertaken and the written text. 

 2. The high quality of conceptualisation expected from a doctoral thesis and recognized by presentation of argument and structure, which make the thesis a coherent piece of research. 

The workshop will include both theory and practice where participants will be able to interact with each other and discuss issues regarding their own research.

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