Thesis Design, 7.5 credits

Course content

The course aims to provide doctoral students exercise in designing a research plan including problem definition, specification of research questions with a clear relationship in the chosen area of research, specification of methods and goals, timetable and milestones, including specification of publications included in the thesis. The course objective is to develop the ability to make ethical assessments of the proposed thesis project.

The course includes:

• Literature study
• Design study of existing theses
• Dissertation project specification
• Dissertation project assessment
• Research Ethics assessment

Intended course learning outcomes

To obtain a passing grade, the doctoral student shall demonstrate:

1. Ability to identify and summarize the requirements for a doctoral/lic. thesis and use these to assess their own work.
2. Ability to identify needs for new knowledge in the selected area.
3. Formulate a thesis project, including specifying steps and timetable.
4. Ability to assess and discuss various research methods’ benefits for the proposed project.
5. Ability to evaluate and defend various methods’ benefits, and firmly establish one’s project theoretically.
6. Ability to evaluate and defend the project's relevance to current research topics.
7. Ability to evaluate the ethical implications of the proposed dissertation project.
8. Ability to identify one's own need for knowledge related to the proposed plan.