The Dissertation House

Helping to move you from ABD to PhD!


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Winter Dissertation House 2024

Turbocharge Your Dissertation Writing in a Supportive and Structured Environment!

Join us from 9 AM – 4:30 PM on Tuesday, January 16 to Friday, January 19, 2024, in the Commons 329, UMBC, for a transformative experience designed to help you overcome challenges, learn valuable strategies, and make substantial progress on your dissertation.

Are you a doctoral student looking to make significant headway on your dissertation this new year? The Winter Dissertation House 2024 is the perfect opportunity to supercharge your writing, learn practical techniques, and connect with a supportive community of fellow dissertation writers. Take advantage of this chance to take your dissertation to the next level!

Event Details

  • When: 9 AM – 4:30 PM on Tuesday, January 16 to Friday, January 19, 2024
  • Where: Commons building, room 329
  • Who: Doctoral students from all disciplines committed to making progress on their dissertations or proposals, Master students working on their thesis or capstone project.
  • What to do: During the Event, Everyone would post their daily updates/ progress in the form of comments! 

What to Expect

At the Summer Dissertation House, you’ll benefit from the following:

  1. Dedicated Writing Time: Make the most of structured writing sessions to concentrate on your project without distractions.
  2. Expert Coaching: Receive personalized guidance and feedback from an experienced mentor during one-on-one sessions.
  3. Interactive Workshops: Participate in workshops covering essential topics such as time management, effective writing strategies, overcoming writer’s block, and maintaining motivation.
  4. Supportive Community: Connect with fellow students, share your experiences, and create lasting relationships.
  5. Post-Event Resources: Gain access to valuable resources and tips to help you maintain momentum and stay on track after the event.

How to Apply

  • Application Period: The application period ends on January 2, 2024 . Take advantage of this opportunity to accelerate your progress!
  • Selection Criteria: Participants will be selected based on the quality of their applications. Apply early to increase your chances of being selected.

To join us online:

  1. Go to the comment section below and introduce yourself (name, school, department.) Note: You may use your full name or an alias. If you have a blog, you may use your blogger ID; however, you do not need a username or password to participate.
  2. Tell us what you are working on and what you plan to accomplish today or over the next few days.
  3. Blog daily, preferably twice a day (morning and afternoon/evening), to report your goals for the day, your daily accomplishments, and your goals for the next day.

How to Apply

  1. Create a single Word document with the following settings:
    1. font size 11-12 pt
    2. 1 inch margins
  2. Divide it into 2 sections – Part 1 and Part 2
  3. In Part 1, type your header information on one page:
    1.  Name
    2. Address
    3. Telephone numbers (mobile, home, office)
    4. E-mail address
    5. Academic Program
    6. Year in program (1st year, 5th Year, etc)
  4. Type up a brief description (maximum 2 pages) describing the project you wish to accomplish during the Dissertation House period.
  5. In Part 2, type up the following:
    1. Summary of the project, including research question(s), data, texts, and methods
    2. Amount completed on the project to date
    3. Any obstacles you have encountered that hinder completion of the dissertation

Email the application to promise@umbc.edu using the subject line format: “Dissertation House 2024 Winter Application: FirstName LastName”

Eligibility Criteria

  1. You must be a student enrolled in UMBC.
  2. We give priority to those who are near completion of their degree or program.

Applications will only be reviewed or accepted during the application enrollment period. 

Questions?

We’re here to help! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at promise@umbc.edu. We look forward to supporting you on your writing journey!

21 responses to “Winter 2024 Dissertation House”

  1. promiseagep Avatar
    promiseagep

    Welcome to the dissertation house! We are glad to see you joining us this Winter, on a snowy January week to get jump started on your writing goals and rip the bandage! Remember that a good dissertation is a DONE dissertation!

    Reply
    1. HealthPolicyPhDStudent Avatar
      HealthPolicyPhDStudent

      Thank you for this unique opportunity! Day 2 and I’ve already learned a lot from Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale. During these four days to push my dissertation forward, my goals include: 1) writing the methodology section of my proposed paper two, by detailing all my datasets and variables, 2) writing the background section of my proposed paper two, by explaining how I am using policy scholar Miller’s (2005) State Policy Adoption Model for my state-level public health workforce research, and 3) merging my spreadsheets of datasets I have already compiled into one file in preparation for my multivariate regression analysis course. Looking forward to a “Done Dissertation Proposal” and in the future a “Done Dissertation!”

      Reply
    2. HealthPolicyPhDStudent Avatar
      HealthPolicyPhDStudent

      Day 2 I summarized Miller’s (2005) conceptual framework for my proposed paper two, wrote down the subsection headings from the article I am following, and started my variables table. Day 3 I am filling in my variables table and writing up my description of data sources. I’ll write up and practice my 2 minute spiel for a lay audience.

      Reply
    3. HealthPolicyPhDStudent Avatar
      HealthPolicyPhDStudent

      I loved the dissertation house and plan to attend another one, as I am currently writing my dissertation proposal. I hate that I have had a 4 day total break from my PhD due to taking care of various issues and home responsibilities, but I’m planning to write more for my paper two tonight. I’m obtaining a hourly daily planner for 2024 so that I can always do as Dr. CV says, write or do other PhD work for at least 15 minutes a day. I think blocking out minutes or hours will be useful. Now my google calendar, has only PhD and job duties on it, but does NOT include reality – family duties, errands to run, bills to pay, health (exercise/walks/PT), cooking dinner, etc. time blocks. Hopefully scheduling everything will enable me to do dissertation work daily, no matter what! 🙂

      Reply
  2. aholden19765fe325b Avatar
    aholden19765fe325b

    Today I accomplished the following:
    – Applied to 2 on campus research grant funds for my dissertation study
    – Drafted a committee update email and sent to my advisor
    – Reviewed materials related to the 3rd party assessment tool I’m planning to use for my data collection and sent them an email with questions
    – Resubmitted my IRB application with requested edits
    – Started on updates to my table of contents/chapter outlines
    – Made progress on lifestyle and calendar changes toward target graduation date

    Tomorrow I plan on:
    – Revising curriculum for my study’s intervention
    – Updating table of contents/chapter outlines
    – Preparing for upcoming meetings with advisor and program partners

    Reply
  3. Neil R Kpamegan Avatar
    Neil R Kpamegan

    I was able to accomplish half of a section. I will complete the sensor section tomorrow.

    Reply
  4. phdprincess Avatar
    phdprincess

    Almost done with code changes. Finishing rest of code by tonight.
    Following days plan to work on getting results and analyzing them. And in terms on writing will be working on a paper’s abstract, introduction and methodology.

    Reply
  5. UMBC Champion Avatar
    UMBC Champion

    I am able to work on my theoretical framework. I hope work on my experimental setup description.

    Reply
  6. PhDoingIt Avatar
    PhDoingIt

    Today I was able to create a detailed timeline for dissertation writing including when everything needs to be turned in to my advisor and when each chapter needs to be written by. Then I was able to continue working on a draft for my paper. Tomorrow I plan to finish drafting the results and discussion section and start working on the conclusion and introduction.

    Reply
  7. químicachica Avatar
    químicachica

    Today I was able to read through some literature and get guidance on how to organize them in a spreadsheet to quickly make connections on how my independent proposal will address knowledge gaps.

    Tomorrow, I will continue reading and filling out my spreadsheet. If time allows, start crafting a detailed outline for my IP.

    Reply
  8. Ryan Grant Avatar
    Ryan Grant

    Today I was able to make substantial edits on my independent proposal paper and create a few figures for said paper.

    Tomorrow, I will complete the edits on this proposal if I haven’t done so this evening, and begin making progress on editing the next chapter of my dissertation

    Reply
  9. Mac Avatar
    Mac

    I made good progress today. I completed a section of my introduction chapter I was stuck on for a while.
    Tomorrow, I am going to start with a second section of my intro (consolidating KMT and expanding Set3).

    Reply
  10. UMBC Champion Avatar
    UMBC Champion

    Completed theoretical frame work, completed the description of experimental setup. Hoping to start off with the introduction tomorrow.

    Reply
  11. químicachica Avatar
    químicachica

    Today I continued reading for my IP to work towards crafting a solid research question for my IP to make my literature review more focused. I also started making a list of experiments that I would like to work on towards completing my dissertation project.

    Tomorrow. I will work on making progress on my IP outline and add detailed bullet points to my introduction.

    Reply
  12. PhDoingIt Avatar
    PhDoingIt

    Today I was able to make good progress on my results and discussion section and edit and create a few additional figures.

    Tomorrow I plan on wrapping up the discussion section, introduction, and conclusion sections of the paper and moving on to outlining my second paper.

    Reply
  13. Neil R Kpamegan Avatar
    Neil R Kpamegan

    Will Work on the Automotive Cybersecurity section today.

    Reply
  14. químicachica Avatar
    químicachica

    Today, I took a pause from IP work and decided to shift towards planning out experiments for my dissertation project. I spent a good amount of time going through old slides to pull old figures and made an organizational tool to not only keep track of experiments, but included a section for (expected) outcomes/discussions. I took the time to draft out some major discussion points for each experiment. The idea would be to use this as a tool to help organize thoughts for dissertation writing.

    Reply
  15. PhDoingIt Avatar
    PhDoingIt

    Today I worked on finalizing some paper edits. Additionally I did some zombie activities this afternoon because my brain was not having it. I worked on finalizing a bunch figures and tables for my dissertation.

    Tomorrow I plan on drafting out a chapter of my dissertation and wrapping up the introduction of my paper.

    Reply
  16. Janerra Allen Avatar
    Janerra Allen

    Wow, what a week. On day 1, my plan was to work on my methods section for paper 1, but I spent a considerable amount of time editing the demographic table which consists of patient and control differences, accounting for a multitude of variables. I calculated these differences using t-test and chi-test comparisons and feel comfortable to write a paragraph explaining these differences. My goal for Wednesday was to 1) write up these conclusions and 2) add these to the methods section. I also have to give my advisor an update and will include some of this in the report. If there is time on Wednesday, I will continue to define the neuropsychological testing types performed in the study, so that I could add it to the methods section, as well.

    Reply
    1. Janerra Allen Avatar
      Janerra Allen

      For the remainder of the week, I switched tasks to focus on scholarship essays which required a short research synopsis. Like the two minute thesis exercise, this was extremely helpful in simplifying my research for a lay audience to understand and digest. My conference abstract was accepted, so I submitted an application to request funding. Although I’m comfortable with using the writing advisor, I will make it my goal to see them once or even twice a week for the remainder of the semester. This will reinforce the writing/editing/revising process to ensure that I am making progress.

      Reply
  17. Neil R Kpamegan Avatar
    Neil R Kpamegan

    As Dissertation House comes to a close, I was able to finish 2 of the 3 sections I needed for Chapter 2 of my dissertation proposal. I was also able to share a portion of my draft and was able to get some feedback. I also gained the tools I needed to finish. It was a great week!

    Reply

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What is dissertation house?


The Dissertation House program is an intensive writing retreat designed to help graduate students overcome the barriers that often impede progress on their dissertations. Developed by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the program provides a supportive and structured environment where students can focus on their writing, receive feedback, and learn effective time management and goal-setting strategies. Over several days, students work in groups, participate in workshops, and receive coaching from experienced facilitators. The Dissertation House program has been highly successful in helping students make significant progress on their dissertations. It is widely regarded as a valuable resource for graduate students seeking to complete their degrees.

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