Thesis Bootcamp

UCD Thesis Boot Camp

Drop and give me 20,000 words!

• Are you a late-stage PhD student struggling with the writing-up battle?
• Do you put off writing tasks until ‘tomorrow’?
• Are you finding it tough ‘going it alone’?

We have just what you need – Thesis Boot Camp! Dedicated solely to helping you write your first draft, we’ll help you get over that final hurdle, or to kick-start your writing progress if it has stalled.

Sign up to join other graduate researchers in a no-excuses, no-time-for-procrastination, take-no-prisoners intensive writing Boot Camp. Thesis Boot Camp recruits will learn how to battle through late-stage blues, address writer’s block and overcome thesis fatigue to achieve significant progress on their manuscript.

Introductory sessions will include motivational talks, goal setting and strategies for writing quickly and well. Attendees will be required to complete pre-programme planning activities and to commit to their own tangible aims for the Boot Camp, such as completing a thesis chapter draft or similar.

Are you up for the challenge?

More about Thesis Boot Camp

There are many ‘boot camp’ style writing programmes at universities around the world, though the award-winning Thesis Boot Camp — designed and developed by Dr Peta Freestone in 2012— has proved a winning formula for more than a thousand graduate researchers in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.

But don’t just take our word for it! After Thesis Boot Camp was introduced at the Australian National University, Dr Inger Mewburn of the popular Thesis Whisperer blog said:

The experience was amazing for me as an educator and the students loved it. They told others how great it was. Several people who had been contemplating quitting altogether actually handed in their thesis. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) kicked in again and students who missed out the first time around actually lobbied ANU for more. 

You can find out what others have said over at (opens in a new window)www.thesisbootcamp.com

Who can attend Thesis Boot Camp?

Thesis Boot Camp is a free event provided by UCD Graduate Studies. You are an eligible Thesis Boot Camp recruit if you are:

• a late Stage 2 PhD research student at UCD
• in the final stages of completing your research degree and are ready to ‘write up’. The ultimate aim of Thesis Boot Camp is to write up to 20,000 words of first draft material. It is not for editing, revising, preparing presentations or grant applications etc. In other words, you must be able to identify the particular chapter(s) of your thesis that you will specifically work on as part of your Thesis Boot Camp goal
• able to clearly identify how you would benefit from an intensive boot camp of drafting a particular section of your thesis
• willing and available to attend all sessions and to commit to the ethos of dedicated writing required at Thesis Boot Camp
• able to provide details of an academic referee to support your application (e.g. your supervisor or member of your Research Studies Panel).

The event is limited to 35 participants and we may receive more applications than there are available places. Please note that due to this, we cannot guarantee participation for all eligible applicants. This also means that you should complete all sections of the application in full, with the above eligibility criteria in mind.

Dates and times

The dates for the next Thesis Boot Camp will be announced here in due course.

All sessions take place virtually.  The programme outline is typically three consecutive days from 10-6pm.

Applying

Applications are now closed.